1272.—TURKEY, ROASTED. (Fr.—Dinde Rôti.)
Ingredients.—1 turkey, 1 to 2 lb. of sausage meat, 1 to 1½ lb. of veal forcmeat (see Forcemeats), 2 or 3 slices of bacon, 1 pint of good gravy. bread sauce (see Sauces, No. 180), fat for basting.
Method.—Prepare and truss the turkey. Fill the crop with sausage meat, and put the veal forcemeat inside the body of the bird. Skewer the bacon over the breast, baste well with hot fat, and roast in front of a clear fire or in a moderate oven from 1¾ to 2¼ hours, according to age and size of the bird. Baste frequently, and about 20 minutes before serving remove the bacon to allow the breast to brown. Remove the trussing strings, serve on a hot dish, and send the gravy and bread sauce to table in sauce-boats.
Time.—From 1¾ to 2¼ hours. Average Cost, 10s. to 16s. Seasonable from September to February.
1273.—TURKEY, STEWED OR BRAISED. (Fr.—Dinde braisé.)
Ingredients.—1 small turkey, 2 or 3 slices of bacon, 4 ozs. of butter, 2 onions sliced, 2 carrots sliced, 1 turnip sliced, a bouquet-garni (parsley, thyme, bay-leaf), 10 peppercorns, salt and pepper, 1 pint of oyster sauce (see "Sauces, No. 310"), stock.
Method.—Truss the bird as for roasting. Heat the butter in a stewpan, fry the turkey until the whole surface is well-browned, then remove it. Put in the vegetables, bouquet-garni, peppercorns and a good seasoning of salt, and add stock to nearly cover the whole. Replace the turkey, lay the slices of bacon on the breast, cover closely, and cook gently for about 2 hours, or until the turkey is quite tender. If preferred, brown sauce may be substituted for the oyster sauce, in which case the bird might be stuffed, as when roasted.
Time.—About 2 hours. Average Cost, 6s. 6d. to 8s. 6d., exclusive of the sauce. Sufficient for 8 persons. Seasonable September to February.
The Origin of the Turkey.—It is to North America that we an indebted for this bird, which is popularly associated with Christmas fare and rejoicing. It is asserted by some that the turkey was known to the ancients, and that it formed a dish at the wedding feast of Charlemagne. There is, however, little doubt that it is a native of the North of America, where it is found in its wild state, from whence it was introduced into Europe in the sixteenth century. It was imported into France by the Jesuits, who had been sent out as missionaries to the West; and in many localities of France even at the present day a turkey is called a Jesuit. On the farms of North America, where turkeys are very common, they are raised from eggs which have been found, or from young birds caught in the wood; they thus preserve almost entirely their original plumage. The turkey only became gradually acclimatized both on the Continent and in England; in the middle of the eighteenth century scarcely more than ten out of twenty young turkeys were reared; now about fifteen of the same number arrive at maturity.
1274.—TURKEY WITH CHESTNUTS. (Fr.—Dinde Farcie aux Marrons.)
Ingredients,—1 turkey, 2 or 3 lb. of chestnuts, 1 to 1½ lb. of sausage
