Chicken, bones removed
Half a pound or more of lean veal, ground
A large piece of bread crumb soaked in broth
A tablespoon of grated cheese
Three yolks of egg
Salt, pepper
A taste of nutmeg
One or two slices of ham and tongue, cut in small pieces
Dried meat cut in little pieces, butter, onion, celery and carrot, seasoned with salt and pepper

"To remove the bones from a chicken the following instructions will be found useful. Wash and singe the fowl: take off the head and legs, and remove the tendons. When a fowl is to be boned it is not drawn. The work of boning is not difficult, but it requires practice. The skin must not be broken. Use a small pointed knife cut the skin down the full length of the back; then, beginning at the neck, carefully scrape the meat away from the bone, keeping the

knife close to the bone. When the joints of the wings and legs are met, break them back and proceed to free the meat from the carcass. When one side is free, turn the fowl and do the same on the other side. The skin is drawn tightly over the breast-bone, and care must be used to detach it

without piercing the skin. When the meat is free from the carcass, remove the bones from the legs and wings, turning the meat down or inside out, as the bones are exposed, and using care not to break the skin at the joints. The end

bones of the wing cannot be removed, and the whole end joint may be cut off or left as it is. Now that the fowl is boned make the following stuffing, regulating the quantity on the size of the chicken. Chop half a pound or more, of lean veal, and grind it afterwards, so that it may make

a paste. Add a large piece of bread crumb soaked in broth, a tablespoon of grated cheese, three yolks of egg, salt, pepper and, if desired, just a taste of nutmeg. Finally mix also one or two slices of ham and tongue, cut in small pieces. Stuff the boned chicken with this filling, sew up

the opening, wrap it tightly in a cloth and put to

cook in water on a low fire. When taken from the water, remove the wrapping and brown it, first with butter, then in a sauce made in the following way: Break all the bones that have been extracted from the chicken, the head and

neck included, and put them on the fire with dried meat cut in little pieces, butter, onion, celery and carrot, seasoned with salt and pepper. Make the sauce with the water in which the chicken has been boiled, which has naturally become a good chicken broth. Before sending to the table, remove the thread with which the chicken has been sewed."

This recipe was taken from "The Italian Cook Book: the Art of Eating Well, Practical Recipes of the Italian Cuisine" by Mrs. Maria Gentile. It was published in the U.S. in 1919. For the entire copyright-free cookbook see www.archive.org. A variety of recipes from this cookbook can also be found on this website.... Photo: Mary Melfi.

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