ightly
covered pan, until it is perfectly tender. Melt a little fat in the
frying-pan; flour, salt, and pepper the pieces of chicken and fry them in
the fat until nicely browned on both sides. Now cover closely and place
on the back of the stove where the chicken will steam for half an hour.
When tender take up on a hot platter and put in the warming oven. Make a
rich, brown gravy and pour over it.

_Boiled Chicken._--Chickens may be boiled whole or cut into pieces. To
boil whole place a few pieces of unsmoked bacon in a stew-pan that is
deep enough to hold the chicken and can be tightly covered. Cook slowly
for an hour without adding water, turning it often until it is evenly
browned. Now add a small onion, some raw peeled potatoes not larger than
an egg, and a little boiling water. Cook over a brisk fire for
three-quarters of an hour. Salt and pepper the chicken and put it and the
potatoes in a baking-dish in a hot oven while making the gravy. A couple
of hard-boiled eggs chopped very fine, and a little chopped parsley,
improve the gravy.

_Baked Chicken._--A properly baked chicken is tender, juicy, and has a
rich flavor, while one improperly baked is tough, dry, stringy, and
tasteless. To bake a chicken properly the oven must not be too hot; the
chicken must be repeatedly basted, and cooked until it is tender, but not
until all dried up. Stuffing the chicken improves the flavor. To make the
dressing, melt enough of any kind of wholesome fat in a hot frying-pan to
keep the bread crumbs from sticking, and fry in it a large onion,
chopped fine, until it is tender. Place the dry bread-crumbs into the
fat, and cook for half an hour over a slow fire, stirring often to keep
from sticking, until the crumbs are slightly browned and well dried.
Season with salt, pepper and a little celery-salt, and moisten with just
enough milk to make it stick together. Always taste the dressing to see
if it is properly seasoned. A well-fed chicken can be baked more rapidly
than a thin one. If the chicken is thin add plenty of fat to the water in
the baking-pan; cover closely and cook slowly and carefully until it is
tender, turning very often; if it is fat and well-fed put plenty of
wholesome grease in the baking-dish, and without covering it, cook in a
hot oven, basting frequently. A young, fat chicken will bake in an hour.
An older fowl may require two or three hours. It is a good plan to allow
the chicken plenty of time and then, if done