Turkey, French Style

Choose a small fat turkey; draw, singe and clean it well, extracting all the pin feathers; break the breastbone, remove it and fill the breast with an Engish bread dressing (No. 61); sew up the skin underneath and truss it for an entree (No. 178); lay it in a braziere of the same dimensions as the turkey, having it lined with slices of fat pork, moisten to half its height with mirepoix stock (No. 419) and let the liquid come to a boil; then cover the turkey with a thick buttered paper and cook for an hour and a half to two hours with the braziere well closed; simmer slowly while basting frequently. At the last moment drain off the turkey, untruss and dress on a rice foundation (Fig. 9a) surrounding it with clusters of cauliflower, mushroom heads, braised celery, glazed carrots and stuffed cucumbers, or else both, all being arranged in separate groups. Cover the breasts with some veloute sauce (No. 415) reduced with the stock already strained and skimmed, serving at the same time a sauce-boat of the same sauce.