TURKEY.

Tame and wild are prepared and served alike.

The legs of a young hen-turkey are black; the cock has small spurs, and

also black legs.

The shorter the neck the better and fatter the bird.

An old hen has red and rough legs; the cock also has long spurs.

The fatter they are the better; they cannot be too fat. The broader the

breast the better; the skin must be white.

It is fresh enough as long as the legs are not stiff.

_Boiled._--Clean and prepare turkey as directed for poultry.

Put in a stewpan, large enough to hold a turkey, a piece of butter the

size of a duck's egg, also a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, same of

green onions, and four or five mushrooms; set it on a good fire, and, as

soon as the butter is hot, lay the turkey in; turn over now and then

till of a fine golden color, then take it from the pan, cover the breast

with slices of bacon tied with twine, and put it back in the pan; add a

pinch of allspice, six small onions, salt, pepper, a glass of white

wine, and a pint of broth; simmer till cooked, dish it, strain the sauce

on it, and serve. It takes about two hours to cook a turkey of middling

size. A little warm broth should be added, in case the sauce boils away

during the cooking.

_Roasted._--Clean, prepare, and truss a turkey as directed for poultry,

and, if the turkey is not fat, the breast may be larded with salt pork.

Place it on the spit before a sharp fire, basting often with melted

butter at first, and then with the drippings. It may be enveloped in

buttered paper and tied with twine before placing it on the spit; the

paper is removed ten or fifteen minutes before taking from the fire;

serve with the gravy, after having skimmed the fat off.

Some fresh water-cress is placed all around it, and on which you

sprinkle vinegar or lemon-juice.

A turkey may be served in every way as a roasted chicken--with sauces,

garnitures, and decorated with skewers.

_Baked._--When cleaned, prepared, and trussed, put the turkey in a

baking-pan, spread a little butter on it, put a little cold water in the

pan, the depth of about two-eighths of an inch, sprinkle salt all over,

place a piece of buttered paper on it, and put in a quick oven. Baste

often and turn the bird over and round, if necessary. It takes from one

hour and a half to two hours to cook a turkey, according to size,

quality, and also according to the degree of heat.

It is served with the gravy only, after having removed the fat, or with

sauces, garnitures, and decorations, described for roasted chicken.

_Oyster-Sauce._--When roasted or baked as directed, serve warm with an

oyster-sauce.

_With Currant Jelly._--Roast or bake it, and then serve it with

currant-jelly.

It is also served with a cranberry-sauce.

_Stewed._--An old turkey is more tender stewed than cooked in any other

way.

The fleshy parts may be larded with salt pork, if found too lean.

Put in a large stew-kettle half a pound of bacon cut in slices, four

ounces of knuckle of veal, three sprigs of parsley, two of thyme, a

bay-leaf, six small onions, one carrot, cut in four pieces, three

cloves, one clove of garlic, salt, pepper, and then the turkey; wet with

a pint of white wine, same of broth, cover as nearly air-tight as you

can, place in a moderately heated oven or on a moderate fire, let simmer

(not boil) about two hours and a half, then turn it over, put back on

the fire or in the oven for another two hours and a half, after which

dish the turkey; strain the sauce and put it back on the fire to reduce

it to a jelly, which you spread on it, and serve.

Many _connoisseurs_ prefer the turkey served thus when cold; it does not

cost any thing to try it, and it is very handy for a grand dinner, as it

may be prepared one or two days in advance, and is just as good, if kept

in a refrigerator.

_Stuffed with Chestnuts._--Roast chestnuts enough to fill the bird.

Skin them and remove also the white skin under the outer one. Fill the

turkey with them, after having cleaned and prepared it; when about half

full, put in it also from four to six ounces of butter; finish the

filling with chestnuts; sew it up, truss it as directed, and roast or

bake it. Serve with the gravy only.

_Stuffed with Truffles._--Chop fine about four ounces of truffles, and

put them in a stewpan with about a pound of salt pork cut in dice; set

it on a moderate fire; add salt, pepper, a little grated nutmeg, a

bay-leaf, a pinch of allspice, and a pinch of dried thyme; when hot, add

also about two pounds of truffles, boil fifteen minutes, tossing now and

then, and take from the fire. When nearly cool, put the whole in the

turkey and sew it up; leave it thus, if fresh, four days in winter and

one or two in summer; if not fresh, leave it a shorter time.

_Roast_ or _bake_ it as directed above, and serve with the gravy, freed

from the fat part. This dish is considered exquisite by epicures.

_Stuffed with Sausage-meat._--Proceed as for chicken stuffed, in every

particular.

_With Salt Pork._--Place thin slices of salt pork on the breast of a

prepared turkey, covering it entirely, and fastening the slices with

twine; then the turkey is roasted or baked, and served with the gravy.

The slices may be removed a little before taking from the fire, in order

to color the meat.

_Boned._--Buy a good turkey, neither too old nor too fat, and picked

dry. Singe the bird, but do not draw it. Cut the neck off about one inch

and a half from the body. Cut also the wings off just above the second

joint, and the legs just above the first joint; the third joint is the

one nearest the body. Split the skin from the end of the neck to the

rump; use a small sharp-pointed knife; commence to run the knife between

the bones and flesh, on one side, till you come to the third joint of

the wings and legs. By twisting and raising both wings and leg, but one

at a time, you easily crack the joint, and then separate it from the

body with the knife. Continue to run the knife between the bones and

flesh, on the same side, till you come to the breast-bone. Do the same

on the other side. Pull out the crop and cut off the rump from the body,

but without touching the skin, as the rump must come off with the skin

and flesh. Then by taking hold of the bird by the neck with the left

hand, and pulling the skin gently down with the right, you partly

uncover the upper part of the breast-bone; then again run the knife

between that bone and the flesh, on both sides, till you come nearly to

the end or edge of the bone. Then lay the bird on its back, have

somebody to take hold of it by the neck, having the breast of the bird

toward you. All along the edge of the breast-bone there is no flesh

between the bone and the skin. The bird being held as described above,

take hold of the skin of the neck with your left hand, pulling gently

downward, and with the knife detaching the skin carefully from the bone,

the carcass coming off whole. Place the bird on the table, the inside

up, pull out the bones of the wings and legs, scraping the flesh an

around so as to leave it attached to the rest; pull or scrape off all

the tendons of the legs; push legs and wings inside the bird; see that

the rump is clean; cut off the ring under it if necessary. We warrant

that anybody, with an ordinary amount of natural capacity, can bone a

turkey or other bird by following our directions with care. We recommend

persons doing it for the first time not to attempt to do it fast. Now

have at hand about two pounds of sausage-meat seasoned as directed, two

pounds of boiled ham, half a dozen boiled sheep's tongues or a smoked

beef tongue (but really the former is better), a pound and a half of

salt pork, and half a pound of truffles sliced (the latter if handy and

if liked). Cut the ham, tongues, and salt pork in strips about four

inches long, one inch broad, and a quarter of an inch thick. Spread the

bird on the table, the inside up and the rump toward you; salt and

pepper it; place three or four slices of salt pork here and there on it,

then a layer of sausage-meat, strips of ham and tongue and salt pork

alternately on the sausage-meat, slices of truffles if used, again

sausage-meat, ham, etc., till there is enough to fill the bird well;

that is, by bringing the two sides of the skin together, giving the bird

a round form, it is perfectly full. It is impossible to give exact

proportions; it depends not only on the size of the bird, but also on

the quality and degree of fatness of the bird. In two of the same

weight, one may require more than the other to fill it. When filled, and

when the two sides of the skin are brought together as described above,

sew up the cut with a trussing-needle and twine. Wrap up the bird

tightly in a towel, tie the towel with a string, and run the string all

around the towel to prevent it from opening at all. Take a kettle or

saucepan of an oval shape and large enough to hold the bird, put enough

cold water in it to cover the bird, also all the bones of the bird

(broken in pieces), a small piece of lean beef, say one pound, a few

stalks of parsley, two of thyme, two cloves, two cloves of garlic, a

bay-leaf, twelve pepper-corns, a middling-sized carrot sliced, half a

turnip, and salt. Set on the fire, and at the first boiling put the bird

in; boil gently for about three hours if it is a turkey of middling

size, two hours for a middling-sized chicken. When done it partly

floats; that is, the upper part is above the liquor. Take it from the

pan, take the towel off and rinse it in cold water; wrap the bird up in

the towel again and in the same way as before; place it on a large dish,

with the seam or back under; put another plate or dish over it with a

weight on it, and leave thus overnight in a cool place. The next morning

the bird will be perfectly cold and rather flattened; then remove the

towel, also the twine with which it has been sewed, place it on the dish

on which it is to be served, the breast upward; glaze it with essence of

beef or glace; decorate with meat-jelly, and serve.

_How to decorate with Jelly._--When the jelly is congealed and can be

cut with a knife, chop some of it on a coarse towel and put it all

around the bird, about half an inch thick; cut some in slices about a

quarter of an inch in thickness; cut these again with paste-cutters in

different shapes, according to fancy, and place it over the bird, also

according to fancy; again cut some of it in slices about one inch broad,

a quarter of an inch thick and of any length, and cut out of these last

ones pieces of a triangular shape, which put all around the border of

the dish, placed so that one point of each piece is turned toward the

edge of the dish and the two other points touch the other pieces on both

sides; then you have an indented border of jelly. When the jelly is

fancifully and tastefully arranged, it makes a sightly dish.

It is always served cold for breakfast, lunch, or supper.

In summer the jelly melts, and cannot be used as a decoration. A boned

bird is then served without jelly. The bird is cut in slices, and some

jelly is served with each slice.

_Cold._--A turkey, being a large bird, is seldom entirely eaten the day

it is served, and very often more than half of it is left for the next

day. What is left may be prepared in different ways.

_In Vinaigrette._--Cut the flesh in slices and serve them with a

_vinaigrette_. It is not understood here for a boned turkey, which is

always eaten cold, but either a roasted, baked, stewed, or stuffed

turkey.

_In Croquettes._--Proceed in every particular as for chicken

_croquettes_.

_In Salad._--A salad of turkey is made also exactly the same as a salad

of chicken, with cold meat. It is covered with a Mayonnaise-sauce and

decorated in the same way.

Besides the above ways of preparing cold turkey, it may also be prepared

as directed for cold chicken in general.

A caponed turkey is prepared as a caponed chicken, boiled or with rice;

and also like a turkey, as described in the above receipts. They are

generally larger, fatter, and more tender and juicy than others. They

are very much appreciated here, and every year more and more are

supplied, and, as in Europe, the greater the supply the better the

quality. There is a ready market for caponed turkeys in all the large

cities of the United States, and they command a high price.