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Turkey, Stuffed with Chicken
Bone a young chicken without injuring the skin. Draw the legs and wings inside, fill with freshly-made, nicely-seasoned sausagemeat, and make the body round and compact in form. Put it inside a boned turkey, fill all the empty spaces with sausage-meat, and truss the turkey firmly, restoring it as nearly as possible to its original form. Cover with buttered paper, and put it down before a clear fire, though at some distance from it. Baste liberally, and roast very slowly, or the inside of the turkey will be done enough before the heat has penetrated to the interior of the chicken. This dish is a great favourite with many of the English residents in Calcutta. It may be served hot or cold with the usual sauces, and in carving the turkey slices should be cut across the breast, so that each guest may have a share of turkey, chicken, and forcemeat. Time, two to three hours, according to the size of the birds.
A boned bird inside a boned bird, roasted before an open fire. The technique translates well to an oven, but the whole dish stands or falls on getting heat into the centre without drying the turkey breast.
- The hinge: cook to temperature, not to timeTwo nested birds packed with raw sausage-meat form a dense mass that heats far more slowly than a plain turkey. Take the temperature at the very centre of the chicken and its stuffing, not at the turkey's thigh, and do not stop until the core reads 165F (74C).
- BoningAsk a butcher to bone both birds through the back, leaving the skin intact and the wing and leg bones removed. If doing it yourself, work with a small sharp boning knife, keeping the blade against the carcass; allow an hour for the turkey and half that for the chicken.
- Bird sizesA Victorian "young chicken" is probably in the region of a 2.5-3 lb bird; pair it with a turkey of around 10-12 lb. Much bigger than that and the recipe's two-to-three hours becomes hopeless, and the breast will be ruined before the middle is safe.
- Sausage-meatUse plain bulk pork sausage-meat, not links in casings, and season it assertively with mace, sage, pepper and salt. Around 2 lb fills the chicken and the gaps between the birds for the sizes above.
- "Down before a clear fire"This is spit-roasting in front of the hearth, with the heat on one side and a dripping pan below. In an oven, roast at 325F on a rack, breast up, and turn the pan rather than the bird.
- Buttered paperButtered kitchen paper is the period equivalent of a foil tent. Butter a sheet of parchment and lay it over the breast, removing it for the last 30 minutes to colour the skin.
- Timing and yieldExpect closer to 3-3.5 hours at 325F for a 12 lb turkey stuffed as described, and check the core temperature from 2.5 hours on. Rest the whole thing at least 30 minutes before carving; it serves 12-16.
- CarvingThe instruction to cut straight down across the breast is the point of the dish: every slice shows rings of turkey, forcemeat, chicken and more forcemeat. Use a long slicing knife and cut through the whole depth in one pass.
Stuffing one boned bird inside another, sometimes several deep, is an old European kitchen trick — the French rôti sans pareil of the early nineteenth century is the extravagant limit of it, and the modern "turducken" the best-known survivor. This particular version is said to have been a favourite of the English residents in Calcutta, though the source of that remark is not clear. A boned-and-stuffed bird sliced across the breast would have been as much a display piece for the sideboard as it was dinner.