Boil one chicken, with an onion and a clove of garlic (if you have it) thrown into the water, add some bones and pieces of beef also; this will make a stock, if you have not some already saved. Cut the chicken, when cooked, into small dice; mince half of a large onion, or one small one, and two sprigs of parsley together. Put into a saucepan a piece of butter the size of a small egg; when hot, put in the minced onion and parsley and half a cupful of flour; stir well until it is well cooked and of a light-brown color; then add a cupful and a half of stock, or of the stock in the kettle, boiled down or reduced until it is quite strong, then freed of fat; the stronger the stock, the better of course. Stir it into a smooth paste, add pepper, salt, not quite half of a grated nutmeg, the juice of about a quarter of a lemon, and two table-spoonfuls of sherry, Madeira, or port wine. When all is well stirred, mix in the pieces of chicken. Mold into the ordinary _croquette_ shape, or into the form of pears. When they are egged and cracker-crumbed, fry them in boiling-hot lard. If they are molded into pear shape, a little stem of parsley may be stuck into each pear after it is cooked, to represent the pear stem.
CHICKEN CROQUETTES (_Mrs. Chauncey I. Filley_).
Ingredients: Two chickens and two sets of brains, both boiled; one tea-cupful of suet, chopped fine; two sprigs of parsley, chopped; one nutmeg, grated; an even table-spoonful of onion, after it is chopped as fine as possible; the juice and grated rind of one lemon; salt and black and red pepper, to taste. Chop the meat very fine; mix all well together; add cream until it is quite moist, or just right for molding. This quantity will make two dozen _croquettes_. Now mold them as in cut (see above); dip them into beaten egg, and roll them in pounded cracker or bread-crumbs; fry in boiling-hot lard. Cold meat of any kind can be made into _croquettes_ following this receipt, only substituting an equal amount of meat for the chicken, and of boiled rice for the brains. Cold lamb or veal is especially good in _croquettes_. Cold beef is very good also. Many prefer two cupfuls of boiled rice (fresh boiled and still hot when mixed with the chicken) for the chicken _croquettes_, instead of brains.