Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

First stuff your capons with saveray, With parsley, a little, hissop
I say; Then take the neck, remove the bone; And make a pudding
thereof at once With an egg and minced bread also With hacked liver
and heart thereto... Then boil the capon, as I they say, With
parsley, sage, hissop, saveray... With slices of bacon embrawded here
and colour your broth with saffron dear... (Mrs Groundes-Peace's Old
Cookery Notebook)

1.8 kg/4 lb boiling fowl with neck and giblets 2 tablespoons finely
chopped, mixed fresh savory, parsley, hyssop and sage Salt and pepper
700 g/1 1/2 lb piece boiling bacon 425 ml/15 fl oz/2 cups strong dry
cider Extra herbs to garnish For 'Pudding': Neck, liver and heart
from the bird 1 teaspoonful of the herb mixture above Salt and pepper
8 tablespoons soft white breadcrumbs 1 egg, beaten

This was a cheap and easy dish on which youngsters could practise when
learning to carve poultry.

Ask a kindly poulterer to cut off the bird's head and to supply the
whole neck in its skin along with the prepared bird and giblets. Mix
the herbs together and put a tablespoonful aside. Add a light
seasoning of salt and pepper to the rest and fill the mixture into
the body cavity of the bird. Stitch or skewer the cavity openings
securely. Truss the bird for boiling and place it on a trivet in a
stewpan which will also hold the bacon and liquids.

To prepare the neck, ease the spine and surrounding flesh out of the
skin as if peeling off a stocking. Do not break the skin. Chop the
liver and heart finely and mix with half the reserved herbs, a little
seasoning and the breadcrumbs. Bind with the egg. Fill this mixture
into the skin, allowing room for the bread to swell. Fasten the ends
of the sausage-shaped 'pudding' securely and add to the pan. (If the
skin is accidentally torn, or is not supplied, you can make the
stuffing into small balls and fry or bake them, as an acceptable
substitute.)

Mix the cider with 425 ml/15 fl oz/2 cups water and heat until nearly
boiling. Add the liquid to the pan, put on a well-fitting lid and
poach the bird gently for 2-2 1/2 hours. Add the bacon piece after
30 minutes and the stuffed neck after a further 15 minutes. Top up
the pan with extra boiling water then, or later if needed.

Test the bird for readiness after 2 hours by thrusting a thin skewer
into the thickest part of the thigh. The juices should run clear. A
smallish bird may be almost ready by this time, and the bacon piece
should be done. Take the bacon out, with the 'pudding', and leave
both to rest for 10-15 minutes. The slice both to serve as a garnish
for the poached bird. Scatter a few extra herb leaves over the breast
of the bird before serving.

from The Medieval Cookbook by Maggie Black Chapter 5, "Of Manners and
Meals" posted by Tiffany Hall-Graham From: Tiffany Hall-Graham Date:
05-26-94
Submitted By DALE SHIPP On 04-20-95

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