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Turkey, Boiled

There is an old proverb which says that turkey boiled is turkey spoiled, but in this couplet there is more rhyme than reason, as a boiled turkey forms a dainty dish most acceptable to persons with delicate stomachs, who fear the richness of the roasted bird, and also presents an agree-able change to those who during the Christmas festivities are tired of having roasted turkey constantly set before them. A boiled turkey is prepared as follows. Take a plump hen turkey, which has hung for five or six days (weather permitting), pluck, singe, and draw it, fill it with veal or oyster forcemeat, or with chestnuts, truss it for boiling, and remember to draw the legs into the body, and bind it securely with tape. Dredge flour over it, put it into an oval pan with warm water just sufficient to cover it, and put with it a tea-spoonful of salt, a carrot, an onion stuck with four cloves, a dozen peppercorns, a few sticks of celery, and a bunch of parsley. Bring it slowly to the boil, skim the liquor carefully, and let it simmer very gently until the turkey is tender. Take it up, drain it for a moment, serve on a hot dish, pour a little melted butter or white sauce over it, as all the company may not prefer oyster sauce, and send parsley and butter, celery sauce, oyster sauce, chestnut sauce, Dutch sauce, or even good melted butter flavoured with horse-radish, to table with it. A small ham boiled, a red tongue, or even a good cheek of bacon are all suitable accompaniments to boiled turkey, and the dish containing it may be garnished with bacon and sliced tongue, or with sliced lemon and parsley, forcemeat balls, or barberries. Many cooks wrap the turkey in a floured cloth before putting it in to boil, but this spoils the stock, and will be rendered unnecessary if the scum is carefully removed as it rises. Time to simmer gently--a turkey weighing ten pounds, two hours from the time the water reaches the boiling point; fifteen pounds, two hours and a half. Probable cost, 6s. to 12s., excepting at Christmas.