Take a Turkey that is very fat, and being pul'd and drest, Lard him with long pieces of Lard, first wholed in seasoning of Salt, Pepper, Nutmegs, Cloves and Mace, then take one piece of Lard whole in the seasoning, put it into the belly with a sprig of Rosemary and Bayes, sow it very close in a clean cloth, and let it lye all night covered with White-Wine, let it be put into a pot with the same Liquor, and no more, let it be close stopped, then hang it over a very soft and gentle fire, there to continue six houres in a simpering boyle, when it is cold, take it out of the cloth, not before, put it in a Pye-plate, and stick it full of Rosemary and Bayes, so serve it up with Mustard and Sugar, they are wont to lay it on a napkin folded square, and lay it corner wise.
Trim off the rough ends neatly, crack the ribs across the middle, rub with salt and sprinkle with pepper, fold over, stuff with turkey dressing, sew up tightly, place in a dripping-pan with a pint of water, baste frequently, turning over once so as to bake both sides equally until a rich brown.
Select a young turkey; remove all the feathers carefully, singe it over a burning newspaper on the top of the stove; then "draw" it nicely, being very careful not to break any of the internal organs; remove the crop carefully; cut off the head, and tie the neck close to the body by drawing the skin over it. Now rinse the inside of the turkey out with several waters, and in the next to the last, mix a teaspoonful of baking soda; oftentimes the inside of a fowl is very sour, especially if it is not freshly killed. Soda, being cleansing, acts as a corrective, and destroys that unpleasant taste which we frequently experience in the dressing when fowls have been killed for some time. Now, after washing, wipe the turkey dry, inside and out, with a clean cloth, rub the inside with some salt, then stuff the breast and body with "Dressing for Fowls." Then sew up the turkey with a strong thread, tie the legs and wings to the body, rub it over with a little soft butter, sprinkle over some salt and pepper, dredge with a little flour; place it in a dripping-pan, pour in a cup of boiling water, and set in the oven. Baste the turkey often, turning it around occasionally so that every part will be uniformly baked. When pierced with a fork and the liquid runs out perfectly clear, the bird is done. If any part is likely to scorch, pin over it a piece of buttered white paper. A fifteen pound turkey requires between three and four hours to bake. Serve with cranberry sauce. Gravy for Turkey.--When you put the turkey in to roast, put the neck, heart, liver and gizzard into a stewpan with a pint of water; boil until they become quite tender; take them out of the water, chop the heart and gizzard, mash the liver and throw away the neck; return the chopped heart, gizzard and liver to the liquor in which they were stewed; set it to one side, and when the turkey is done it should be added to the gravy that dripped from the turkey, having first skimmed off the fat from the surface of the dripping-pan; set it all over the fire, boil three minutes and thicken with flour. It will not need brown flour to color the gravy. The garnishes for turkey or chicken are fried oysters, thin slices of ham, slices of lemon, fried sausages, or force meat balls, also parsley.
Boil together one and one-half cups of sugar and one cup of water for seven minutes, then add three cups of cranberries, well washed and picked, and cook until the berries burst. Serve the same as cranberry sauce.
Take a pint of oysters and heat them in their own liquor long enough to come to a boil, or until they begin to ruffle. Skim out the oysters into a warm dish, put into the liquor a teacup of milk or cream, two tablespoonfuls of cold butter, a pinch of cayenne and salt; thicken with a tablespoonful of flour stirred to a paste, boil up and then add the oysters. Oyster sauce is used for fish, boiled turkey, chickens and boiled white meats of most kinds.
1 pint cranberries 1/2 cup water About 1 cup corn syrup
Cook cranberries in water very slowly until tender. Leave whole or press through colander. Measure amount of mixture and add equal amount of corn syrup. Cook slowly until mixture forms jelly when tested on cold plate. Turn into mold which has been rinsed in cold water.
Cut the remains of cold chicken (or turkey) into pieces about an inch long and marinate them in a bowl containing one tablespoon of olive oil; one teaspoon of tarragon vinegar or lemon juice, a few drops of onion juice, salt and pepper. At the end of half an hour sprinkle with finely chopped parsley, dip them in fritter batter, and fry in boiling fat. Drain on a brown paper, and serve with or without tomato or brown sauce. In some parts of Italy this dish is made of several kinds of cold meats, poultry, brains, etc. (the greater the variety the better), served on the same platter, and in Spain all kinds of cold vegetables are fried in batter and served together.
The fowls for this purpose should be young and fine. You may either boil or roast them. They must be quite cold. Having removed all the skin and fat, and disjointed the fowls cut the meat from the bones into very small pieces, not exceeding an inch. Wash and split two large fine heads of celery, and cut the white part into pieces also about an inch long; and having mixed the chicken and celery together, put them into a deep china dish, cover it and set it away. It is best not to prepare the dressing till just before the salad is to be eaten, that it may be as fresh as possible. Have ready the yolks of eight hard-boiled eggs. Put them into a flat dish, and mash them to a paste with the back of a wooden spoon. Add to the egg a small tea-spoonful of fine salt, the same quantity of cayenne pepper, half a jill of made mustard, a jill or a wine-glass and a half of vinegar, and rather more than two wine-glasses of sweet oil. Mix all these ingredients thoroughly; stirring them a long time till they are quite smooth. The dressing should not be put on till a few minutes before the salad is sent in; as by lying in it the chicken and celery will become tough and hard. After you pour it on, mix the whole well together with a silver fork. Chicken salad should be accompanied with plates of bread and butter, and a plate of crackers. It is a supper dish, and is brought in with terrapin, oysters, &c. Cold turkey is excellent prepared as above. An inferior salad may be made with cold fillet of veal, instead of chickens. Cold boiled lobster is very fine cut up and drest in this manner, only substituting for celery, lettuce cut up and mixed with the lobster.
Singe fowl over free flame. Cut off head just below bill. Untie feet, break bone and loosen sinews just below joint; pull out sinews and cut off feet. Cut out oil sac. Lay breast down, slit skin down backbone toward head; loosen windpipe and crop and pull out. Push back skin from neck and cut off neck close to body. Make slit below end of breastbone, put in fingers, loosen intestines from backbone, take firm grasp of gizzard and draw all out. Cut around vent so that intestines are unbroken. Remove heart and lungs. Remove kidneys. See that inside looks clean, let cold water run through, then wipe inside and out with wet cloth. Cut through thick fleshy part of gizzard and remove inside heavy skin without breaking, then cut away gristly part so that only thick, fleshy part is used.
ROAST POULTRY
After poultry is cleaned and washed inside and out with cold water, fill inside with dressing. Have at least a yard fine twine in trussing needle. Turn wings across back so that the pinions touch. Run needle through thick part of wing under bone, through body and wing on other side; return in same way, but passing needle in over bone, tie firmly, leaving several inches of twine. Press legs up against body, run needle through thigh, body and second thigh, return, going round bone in same way; tie firmly. Run needle through ends of legs, return, passing needle through rump; if opening is badly torn, one or two stitches may be needed; or if steel skewers are used put one through wings of fowl and other through opposite thigh. Then wind twine in figure eight from one handle of skewer to other. Rub all over with soft butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on rack in roasting pan and put into very hot oven. Make basting mixture with 1/2 cup each of butter and water; keep hot and baste every 10 or 15 minutes. Roast 3 hours for 8 pound turkey, 1 to 2 hours for chicken and ducks. Keep oven very hot. If bird is very large and heavy, cover breasts and legs with several thicknesses of paper to keep from burning.
