Draw, wash, and stuff a pair of young fowls. Cut enough large, thick
slices of cold boiled ham to envelop these entirely, wrapping them up
carefully, and winding a string about all, to prevent the ham from
falling off. Put into your dripping-pan, with a little water to prevent
scorching; dashing it over the meat lest it should dry and shrink.
Invert a tin pan over all, and bake slowly for one hour and a quarter,
if the fowls are small and tender—longer, if tough. Lift the cover from
time to time to baste with the drippings—the more frequently as time
wears on. Test the tenderness of the fowls, by sticking a fork through
the ham into the breast. When done, undo the strings, lay the fowls in
a hot dish, and the slices of ham about them. Stir into the dripping a
little chopped parsley, a tablespoonful of browned flour wet in cold
water; pepper, and let it boil up once. Pour some of it over the
chickens—not enough to float the ham in the dish; serve the rest in a
gravy-boat.