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Boned Turkey (With a sharp knife slit)
With a sharp knife slit the skin down the back, and raising one side at a time with the fingers, separate the flesh from the bones with knife, until the wings and legs are reached. These unjoint from the body, and cutting through to the bone, turn back the flesh and remove the bones. When bones are removed, the flesh may be re-shaped by stuffing. Some leave the bones in the legs and wings, as they are most difficult to remove. Stuff with force-meat, made of cold lamb or veal and a little pork, chopped fine and seasoned with salt, pepper, sage or savory, and the juice of one lemon; sew into shape, turn ends of wings under and press the legs close to the back, and tie all firmly so that the upper surface may be plump and smooth for the carver. Lard with two or three rows on the top, and bake until thoroughly done, basting often with salt and water, and a little butter. This is a difficult dish to attempt. Carve across in slices and serve with tomato-sauce. - Mrs. J. Flemming, Philadelphia, Pa.
The book is honest that this is a difficult dish; the original galantine method still works, but the recipe assumes skills and equipment a modern cook has to fill in. Everything hinges on keeping the skin unbroken while you work the flesh off the frame.
- Work cold, with a small knifeBone the bird straight from the refrigerator, with a 3-4 inch boning or paring knife, scraping against the bone rather than cutting toward the skin. Any puncture in the skin will leak stuffing and fat during roasting, so patch tears with a stitch as you go.
- Leaving the leg and wing bonesThe book's concession is a sensible one. Leaving the drumstick and wing bones in place keeps the shape and saves the fiddliest part of the job; only the body cavity and thigh bones need to come out for slicing across the grain.
- Oven temperatureNo temperature is given because the recipe predates thermostats. A stuffed boned turkey does best at a steady 325F, which lets the dense force-meat centre heat through before the outside dries.
- Force-meat and donenessThe stuffing combines cold cooked lamb or veal with a little pork, which the recipe leaves unspecified and is presumably raw, so the centre of the roll is the limiting factor. Take the middle of the force-meat to 165F on an instant-read thermometer, not the outer turkey meat, and expect roughly 2 to 2 1/2 hours for a boned 10-12 lb bird.
- "Lard with two or three rows"Larding means threading strips of pork fat through the surface with a larding needle. Barding is the practical substitute now: lay thin sheets of fatback or unsmoked bacon over the top, or brush repeatedly with butter.
- Basting with salt and waterA 19th-century economy that keeps the surface from scorching. Salted water and a little butter works, but pan drippings or stock will build better colour; baste every 20 minutes or so.
- TrussingSew the back seam with kitchen twine and a trussing needle, then tie the whole roll crosswise at 1 1/2 inch intervals. Rest it 20-30 minutes before cutting the strings, or the slices collapse.
- Yield and serviceA boned 10-12 lb turkey with force-meat serves 12 to 16 in neat cross-cut slices. It is also excellent cold the next day, sliced thin, which is how galantines were traditionally served.
Boning a bird and reshaping it around a force-meat is French professional cookery -- the galantine, served cold in aspic, and its rolled cousin the ballotine -- adapted here for an American family table and served hot with tomato sauce. Its appearance in Buckeye Cookery (first published in Ohio in the late 1870s and reissued repeatedly through the 1880s) shows how far restaurant ambition had reached into midwestern household books: the volume is otherwise full of plain roasting, salt pork and pie, yet it makes room for a contributed showpiece from a Philadelphia correspondent. The candid warning that "this is a difficult dish to attempt" is characteristic of the book's compiled, many-hands character, where recipes carry the name and city of the woman who sent them in. The force-meat of cold lamb or veal eked out with a little pork also reflects period thrift, using up a previous joint inside a dish meant to impress.