_Ingredients._—Remains of cold turbot, béchamel (_see_ Sauces),
bread-crumbs, butter. _Mode._—Cut the flesh of the turbot into small
dice, carefully freeing it from all skin and bone. Put them into a
stewpan, and moisten with 4 or 5 tablespoonfuls of béchamel. Let it
get thoroughly hot, but do not allow it to boil. Spread the mixture on
a dish, cover with finely-grated bread-crumbs, and place small pieces
of butter over the top. Brown it in the oven, or with a salamander.
_Time._—Altogether, ½ hour. _Seasonable_ at any time.
TURKEY, Boiled.
[Illustration: BOILED TURKEY.]
_Ingredients._—Turkey; forcemeat. _Choosing and Trussing._—Hen
turkeys are preferable for boiling, on account of their whiteness and
tenderness, and one of moderate size should be selected, as a large one
is not suitable for this mode of cooking. They should not be dressed
until they have been killed 3 or 4 days, as they will neither look
white, nor will they be tender. Pluck the bird, carefully draw, and
singe it with a piece of white paper; wash it inside and out, and wipe
it thoroughly dry with a cloth. Cut off the head and neck, draw the
strings or sinews of the thighs, and cut off the legs at the first
joint; draw the legs into the body, fill the breast with forcemeat;
run a skewer through the wing and the middle joint, of the leg, quite
into the leg and wing on the opposite side; break the breastbone, and
make the bird look as round and as compact as possible. _Mode._—Put the
turkey into sufficient _hot_ water to cover it; let it come to a boil,
then carefully remove all the scum: if this is attended to, there is
no occasion to boil the bird in a floured cloth; but it should be well
covered with the water. Let it simmer very gently for about 1½ hour to
1¾ hour, according to the size, and serve with either white, celery,
oyster,or mushroom sauce, or parsley-and-butter, a little of which
should be poured over the turkey. Boiled ham, bacon, tongue, or pickled
pork, should always accompany this dish; and when oyster sauce is
served, the turkey should be stuffed with oyster forcemeat. _Time._—A
small turkey, 1½ hour; a large one, 1¾ hour. _Average cost_, 5_s._
6_d._ to 7_s._ 6_d._ each, but more expensive at Christmas, on account
of the great demand. _Sufficient_ for 7 or 8 persons. _Seasonable_ from
December to February.
TURKEY, Croquettes of (Cold Meat Cookery).
_Ingredients._—The remains of cold turkey; to every ½ lb. of meat allow
2 oz. of ham or bacon, 2 shalots, 1 oz. of butter, 1 tablespoonful of
flour, the yolks of 2 eggs, egg and bread-crumbs. _Mode._—The smaller
pieces, that will not do for a fricassée or hash, answer very well
for this dish. Mince the meat finely with ham or bacon in the above
proportion; make a gravy of the bones and trimmings, well seasoning it;
mince the shalots, put them into a stewpan with the butter, add the
flour; mix well, then put in the mince, and about ½ pint of the gravy
made from the bones. (The proportion of the butter must be increased or
diminished according to the quantity of mince.) When just boiled, add
the yolks of 2 eggs; put the mixture out to cool, and then shape it in
a wineglass. Cover the croquettes with egg and bread-crumbs, and fry
them a delicate brown. Put small pieces of parsley-stems for stalks,
and serve with rolled bacon cut very thin. _Time._—8 minutes to fry the
croquettes. _Seasonable_ from December to February.
TURKEY, Fricasseed (Cold Meat Cookery).
_Ingredients._—The remains of cold roast or boiled turkey; a strip
of lemon-peel, a bunch of savoury herbs, 1 onion, pepper and salt to
taste, 1 pint of water, 4 tablespoonfuls of cream, the yolk of an
egg. _Mode._—Cut some nice slices from the remains of a cold turkey,
and put the bones and trimmings into a stewpan, with the lemon-peel,
herbs, onion, pepper, salt, and the water; stew for an hour, strain
the gravy, and lay in the pieces of turkey. When warm through, add the
cream and the yolk of an egg; stir it well round, and, when getting
thick, take out the pieces, lay them on a hot dish, and pour the sauce
over. Garnish the fricassée with sippets of toasted bread. Celery or
cucumbers, cut into small pieces, may be put into the sauce; if the
former, it must be boiled first. _Time._—1 hour to make the gravy.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the cold turkey, 4_d._ _Seasonable_ from
December to February.
TURKEY, Hashed.
_Ingredients._—The remains of cold roast turkey, 1 onion, pepper and
salt to taste, rather more than 1 pint of water, 1 carrot, 1 turnip, 1
blade of mace, a bunch of savoury herbs, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom
ketchup, 1 tablespoonful of port wine, thickening of butter and flour.
_Mode._—Cut the turkey into neat joints; the best pieces reserve for
the hash, the inferior joints and trimmings put into a stewpan with
an onion cut in slices, pepper and salt, a carrot, turnip, mace,
herbs, and water in the above proportion; simmer these for an hour,
then strain the gravy, thicken it with butter and flour, flavour with
ketchup and port wine, and lay in the pieces of turkey to warm through;
if there is any stuffing left, put that in also, as it so much improves
the flavour of the gravy. When it boils, serve, and garnish the dish
with sippets of toasted bread. _Time._—1 hour to make the gravy.
_Seasonable_ from December to February.
TURKEY, Roast.
_Ingredients._—Turkey; forcemeat. _Choosing and Trussing._—Choose
cock turkeys by their short spurs and black legs, in which case they
are young; if the spurs are long, and the legs pale and rough, they
are old. If the bird has been long killed, the eyes will appear sunk
and the feet very dry; but, if fresh, the contrary will be the case.
Middling-sized fleshy turkeys are by many persons considered superior
to those of an immense growth, as they are, generally speaking, much
more tender. They should never be dressed the same day they are killed;
but, in cold weather, should hang at least 8 days; if the weather is
mild, 4 or 5 days will be found sufficient. Carefully pluck the bird,
singe it with white paper, and wipe it thoroughly with a cloth; draw
it, preserve the liver and gizzard, and be particular not to break the
gall-bag, as no washing will remove the bitter taste it imparts where
it once touches. Wash it _inside_ well, and wipe it thoroughly dry with
a cloth; the _outside_ merely requires nicely wiping, as we have just
stated. Cut off the neck close to the back, but leave enough of the
crop-skin to turn over; break the leg-bone close below the knee, draw
out the strings from the thighs, and flatten the breastbone to make it
look plump. Have ready a forcemeat; fill the breast with this, and, if
a trussing-needle is used, sew the neck over to the back; if a needle
is not at hand, a skewer will answer the purpose. Run a skewer through
the pinion and thigh into the body to the pinion and thigh on the other
side, and press the legs as much as possible between the breast and
the side-bones, and put the liver under one pinion and the gizzard
under the other. Pass a string across the back of the bird, catch it
over the points of the skewer, tie it in the centre of the back, and
be particular that the turkey is very firmly trussed. This may be
more easily accomplished with a needle and twine than with skewers.
_Mode._—Fasten a sheet of buttered paper on to the breast of the bird,
put it down to a bright fire, at some little distance _at first_
(afterwards draw it nearer), and keep it well basted the whole of the
time it is cooking. About ¼ hour before serving, remove the paper,
dredge the turkey lightly with flour, and put a piece of butter into
the basting-ladle; as the butter melts, baste the bird with it. When of
a nice brown and well frothed, serve with a tureen of good brown gravy
and one of bread sauce. Fried sausages are a favourite addition to
roast turkey; they make a pretty garnish, besides adding very much to
the flavour. When these are not at hand, a few forcemeat balls should
be placed round the dish as a garnish. Turkey may also be stuffed with
sausage-meat, and a chestnut forcemeat with the chestnut sauce is, by
many persons, very much esteemed as an accompaniment to this favourite
dish. _Time._—Small turkey, 1½ hour; moderate-sized one, about 10 lbs.,
2 hours; large turkey, 2½ hours, or longer. _Average cost_, from 10_s._
to 12_s._, but expensive at Christmas, on account of the great demand.
_Sufficient._—A moderate-sized turkey for 7 or 8 persons. _Seasonable_
from December to February.
[Illustration: ROAST TURKEY.]
TURKEY, Roast.
A noble dish is a turkey, roast or boiled. A Christmas dinner, with the
middle-classes of this empire, would scarcely be a Christmas dinner
without its turkey; and we can hardly imagine an object of greater envy
than is presented by a respected portly pater-familias carving, at the
season devoted to good cheer and genial charity, his own fat turkey,
and carving it well. The only art consists, as in the carving of a
goose, in getting from the breast as many fine slices as possible; and
all must have remarked the very great difference in the large number of
people whom a good carver will find slices for, and the comparatively
few that a bad carver will succeed in serving. As we have stated in
both the carving of a duck and goose, the carver should commence
cutting slices to the wing, from 2 to 3, and then proceed upwards
towards the ridge of the breastbone: this is not the usual plan, but,
in practice, will be found the best. The breast is the only part which
is looked on as fine in a turkey, the legs being very seldom cut off
and eaten at table: they are usually removed to the kitchen, where they
are taken off, as here marked, to appear only in a form which seems
to have a special attraction at a bachelor’s supper-table,—we mean
devilled: served in this way, they are especially liked and relished. A
boiled turkey is carved in the same manner as when roasted.
[Illustration: ROAST TURKEY.]
TURKEY POULTS, Roast.
_Ingredients._—Turkey poult; butter. _Choosing and Trussing._—Choose
a plump bird, and truss it in the following manner:—After it has been
carefully plucked, drawn, and singed, skin the neck, and fasten the
head under the wing; turn the legs at the first joint, and bring the
feet close to the thighs, as a woodcock should be trussed, _and do not
stuff it_. _Mode._—Put it down to a bright fire, keep it well basted,
and at first place a piece of paper on the breast to prevent its taking
too much colour. About 10 minutes before serving, dredge it lightly
with flour, and baste well; when nicely frothed, send it to table
immediately, with a little gravy in the dish, and some in a tureen.
If at hand, a few water-cresses may be placed round the turkey as a
garnish, or it may be larded. _Time._—About 1 hour. _Average cost_,
7_s._ to 8_s._ each. _Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons. _Seasonable._—In
full season from June to October.
TURKEY SOUP (a Seasonable Dish at Christmas).
_Ingredients._—2 quarts of medium stock, the remains of a cold roast
turkey, 2 oz. of rice-flour or arrowroot, salt and pepper to taste, 1
tablespoonful of Harvey’s sauce or mushroom ketchup. _Mode._—Cut up the
turkey in small pieces, and put it in the stock; let it simmer slowly
until the bones are quite clean. Take the bones out, and work the soup
through a sieve; when cool, skim well. Mix the rice-flour or arrowroot
to a batter with a little of the soup; add it with the seasoning and
sauce, or ketchup. Give one boil, and serve. _Time._—4 hours. _Average
cost_, 10_d._ per quart. _Seasonable_ at Christmas. _Sufficient_ for 8
persons.
_Note._—Instead of thickening this soup, vermicelli or macaroni may be
served in it.