Chicken in Pastry

Pullets in Pastry
Redaction by THL Dagonell

From "An Old Icelandic Medical Miscellany"
(republished in _Cariadoc's Cookbook_)

"#21 Pulli in Pastellis
One shall cut a young chicken in two and wrap about it whole leaves of salvia, and
cut up in it bacon and add salt to suit the taste. Then cover that with dough and
bake like bread in the oven."

10 cups whole wheat flour
4 cups water
6 lbs chicken parts
1 lb bacon
fresh sage
dried sage

Since the September Potluck was somewhat Viking themed, I perused through the Icelandic
Miscellany until I found this recipe. Rather than simply cook two halves of a chicken,
I bought two chickens that were pre-cut into parts to make it easier to serve out portions.
This necessitated more than doubling the amount of dough necessary to cover all the pieces.
If I had had more time, I would have experimented with adding eggs to the bread dough to
make it more palatable. As it was, I simply used 5 cups flour to 2 cups water, worked it
to a bread dough and repeat.

I found it easier to work the recipe exactly backwards. I rolled out the bread dough,
laid bacon strips out on the dough, sprinkled fresh and dried sage from my garden across
the bacon, laid out the chicken pieces on top and with a sharp knife, cut the dough into
squares large enough to cover the pieces. I wrapped each chicken piece in dough, pinched
the seams shut to seal in the juices and placed the pieces in a shallow baking pan. I
omitted the salt, figuring the bacon would be salty enough, and people prefer adding salt
at the table.

"Bake like bread in the oven" I used 325 degrees for 2 hours. Check on chicken periodically.
If drippings leak out, baste the tops with them. Turn over the birds about halfway thru.

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