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Smothered Young Turkey
6-8 POUND TURKEY SALT AND PEPPER BACON SLICES I CUP THINLY SLICED ONIONS I GARLIC CLOVE, MINCED I BAY LEAF, CHOPPED I CUP THINLY SLICED CARROTS I TEASPOON MINCED PARSLEY I TABLESPOON MINCED CELERY LEAF 1/4 TEASPOON MINCED THYME 2 TABLESPOONS WHISKEY OR OTHER STRONG SPIRITS Salt and pepper turkey, and tie legs and wings with string. Line bottom of deep crock or earthenware dish with bacon slices and place turkey on top. Mix onion, garlic, carrots, and herbs and scatter mixture over, around and under bird. Dilute whiskey with equal quantity water and pour into bird. Cover bird with bacon slices, then cover baking crock and seal cover shut with flour and water paste. Bake 4 hours or more in preheated hole.
The crock or dish may be dispensed with if the turkey is carefully wrapped in cooking parchment, making sure overlapping edges are well stuck together with flour paste to keep in all steam, and that the package is wrapped in wetted newspapers and then in dampened burlap-anything to keep air out and heat and odors in. Take care in unwrapping not to lose the juices.
This is pit cooking: the bird goes into a preheated bean hole, sealed against air, and comes out four or more hours later. Everything depends on the hole holding heat, so the single non-negotiable step is checking the finished temperature rather than trusting the clock.
- Check the temperature, not the timeA bean hole gives no dial to read, and a 6-8 lb bird can stall in the danger zone if the pit was underfired. Probe the thickest part of the thigh through a small opening at the end and look for 165F; if it is short, finish the bird in a 350F oven rather than reburying it.
- The hole itselfAccounts of pit cookery vary, but the usual approach is a hole appreciably larger than the vessel, lined with stones, with hardwood burned down to a deep bed of coals. Rake most of the coals aside, set the crock down, and backfill with coals, then hot earth. Once it is covered it is generally left alone rather than opened to peek.
- VesselA heavy lidded stoneware bean pot or a cast-iron Dutch oven both work. A modern thin ceramic casserole will crack against coals. The flour-and-water paste around the lid is a luting seal, not a dough to eat; mix it stiff, about two parts flour to one of water.
- Wrapping instead of a crockSkip the wetted newspaper. Heavy-duty foil, two or three layers with the seams folded rather than pasted, then damp burlap, does the same job of trapping steam and excluding ash. Parchment alone will not survive contact with hot earth.
- Whiskey in the cavityTwo tablespoons cut with an equal amount of water is not a marinade but a steam source; the alcohol carries aroma into the flesh and cooks off. Bourbon or rye suits it better than anything peaty.
- BaconA lean young turkey has little fat of its own, and the bacon above and below is doing the basting. Use plain sliced side bacon rather than a thick sugar-cured product, which will scorch and sweeten the juices.
- HerbsThe word 'minced' suggests fresh herbs throughout. If using dried thyme, drop to a pinch; a chopped bay leaf can be left whole and fished out.
- Juices and servingThe sealed pot yields a considerable quantity of vegetable-scented broth. Pour it off, skim, and reduce briefly on the fire for a thin gravy. A bird this size serves roughly six to eight.