Clean, wash, and cut up the fowls, which need not be so tender as
for roasting. Lay them in salt and water for half an hour. Put them
in a pot with enough cold water to cover them, and half a pound of
salt pork cut into thin strips. Cover closely, and let them heat very
slowly; then stew for over an hour, if the fowls are tender. I have
used chickens for this purpose that required four hours stewing, but
they were tender and good when done. Only put them on in season, and
cook very slowly. If they boil fast, they toughen and shrink into
uneatableness. When tender, add a chopped onion or two, parsley, and
pepper. Cover closely again, and, when it has heated to boiling, stir
in a teacupful of milk, to which have been added two beaten eggs and
two tablespoonfuls of flour. Boil up fairly; add a great spoonful of
butter. Arrange the chicken neatly in a deep chafing-dish, pour the
gravy over it, and serve.
In this, as in all cases where beaten egg is added to hot liquor, it is
best to dip out a few spoonfuls of the latter, and drop a little at a
time into the egg, beating all the while, that it may heat evenly and
gradually before it is put into the scalding contents of the saucepan
or pot. Eggs managed in this way will not curdle, as they are apt to do
if thrown suddenly into hot liquid.