To Bake Chickens
This chicken dish is incredibly easy to make, is very tasty, and is great served hot or cold.
Country: England Century: 16th
- 2 lbs chicken legs/thighs
- 1/8 cup currants
- 3-4 prunes, chopped
- 1 1/2 Tbsp butter
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp cloves
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ginger
- pinch mace
- Pie crust
Lay pieces of chicken in the pie crust (I used an 8x8 baking dish, lined with the crust). Sprinkle the chicken with the spices and fruit. Lay slivers of butter over top. Put a top crust on the dish and bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes (temp to ensure doneness).
Original Recipe Sources
Source [ A Book of Cookrye , Mark and Jane Waks (trans.)]: Season them with cloves, mace, sinamon ginger, and some pepper, so put them into your coffin, and put therto corance dates Prunes, and sweet Butter, or els Marow, and when they be halfe baked, put in some sirup of vergious, and some sugar, shake them togither and set them into the oven again. Bake Sparowes, Larkes, or any kinde of small birds, calves feet or sheepes tunges after the same manner.
Source [ A Book of Cookrye , Mark and Jane Waks (trans.)]: Season your Chickins with cloves, mace and pepper, lay them into your paste with sweet butter, gooseberies, sugar and whole mace. And when they be well baked, put therto vergious, yolkes of egges strained, shake them togither and set them into the Oven againe.
Source [ A new booke of Cookerie , J. Murrell]: To bake Chickins with Grapes. TRusse and scald your Chickens season them well with Pepper, Salt, and Nutmeg: and put them into your Pye, with a good piece of Butter. Bake it, and cut it vp, and put vpon the breast of your Chickins, Grapes boyld in Uergis, Butter, Nutmegge, and Sugar, with the iuyce of an Orenge.