No. 2044

Spring Turkey with Water-Cress—Roasted or Broiled

Dindonneau Roti ou Grille au Cresson

Draw a young spring turkey, singe and truss, bard it with thin slices of fat pork and let roast for half to three-quarters of an hour at a moderate, but well regulated fire, basting it over frequently with butter, at the last moment salt it over, remove, untruss and lay it on an oval dish pouring over a little of the dripping-pan fat well skimmed and strained through a sieve. Surround it with water-cress seasoned with salt and vinegar.

Broiled Spring Turkey.—Should it be a small young one, then prepare it the same as a chicken, the time of cooking depending upon its size; when done and of a fine color, dress on a hot dish and pour over some lightly melted maitre d'hotel butter (No. 581).

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For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer's "spring turkey" is a bird of a few months old, closer to a large roasting chicken than to the twelve-pound holiday turkey. Almost everything about the timing follows from that.

What to buyA young turkey of 4 to 6 lb, or failing that a large roasting chicken, is the right substitute. A supermarket turkey of 12 lb or more will not cook in the time given and will be dry long before the thighs are done.
"A moderate, but well regulated fire"Open-fire or range roasting; a workable oven equivalent is around 350-375F with regular basting. "Well regulated" means steady heat rather than a fire that flares as the fat drips.
Time versus temperatureHalf to three-quarters of an hour suits a very small bird. Cook to an internal temperature of 165°F in the thickest part of the breast and about 175°F at the thigh joint, not to the clock. For a 5 lb bird expect closer to an hour and a quarter.
BardingThin sheets of fat pork tied over the breast baste the lean meat as they render. Sliced fatback or unsmoked streaky bacon does the same job; remove it for the last fifteen minutes if you want the skin browned.
Drawing and trussingModern birds arrive drawn and often trussed. Singeing is only needed for stray pinfeathers, and a lit gas burner or a cook's torch handles it in seconds.
The sauceThere is none beyond the pan fat, skimmed and strained. Skim seriously: pour the drippings into a fat separator, keep the dark juices with a spoonful of the fat, and warm before pouring over.
Watercress with salt and vinegarThe cress is a hot-fat salad, dressed at the last second so it stays crisp. Roughly a teaspoon of vinegar and a good pinch of salt for a large bunch; no oil, since the roasting fat supplies it.
Broiled version"Prepared the same as a chicken" most likely means split down the backbone and flattened, then broiled bone side first. Under a modern broiler keep the bird 6-8 inches from the element so the skin does not char before the joints are cooked.
Maître d'hôtel butterRanhofer's No. 581 is butter creamed with chopped parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper. "Lightly melted" means softened to a pourable cream, not boiled to an oil.
YieldA 5 lb bird serves four generously, or six as part of a longer menu of the kind this book assumes.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer wrote The Epicurean (1894) out of decades as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and the book's structure — a numbered recipe cross-referencing another numbered recipe for its butter — reflects a professional kitchen brigade rather than a home cook. "Dindonneau" is simply the diminutive of dindon, a young turkey, and the French name for the turkey itself is generally traced to poule d'Inde, the bird from the Indies, a reminder that Europe took the American turkey for something Asian. Spring turkeys were seasonal market birds, killed young in late spring and summer, and were treated in the kitchen much as poussins and spring chickens were: barded, roasted fast, served plain. The watercress garnish was a standing convention of nineteenth-century French service for roast birds — a sharp, peppery salad wilting slightly in the dripping, standing in for the sauce the dish deliberately does without.