The Chicken (and the Game Hen and the Turkey and the Duck)

Chicken, capon, Rock Cornish hen, duck, and turkey—these birds have come home to roost permanently on America’s dinner table, and for good reason. They are easy on the pocketbook, gentle on the waistline, and never boring, for a chicken is to a cook what a blank canvas is to an artist. You can poach, roast, grill, steam, sauté, or braise it; you can dress it down or dress it up and let it strut its stuff. Poultry is good hot, warm, or cold, with knife and fork or just fingers. There certainly is enough chicken for every pot in America today, and more often than not it shows up two or three times a week.