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Boast Turkey

A roasted turkey stuffed with bread crumbs, herbs, onion, and optional oysters, served with a gravy made from the bird's organs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Basil and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 688 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Boast Turkey

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the turkey

  1. Singe the turkey with burning paper.

  2. Remove all pin feathers.

  3. Wash the turkey clean and wipe it dry.

  4. Draw out the entrails.

  5. Wash the inside of the bird thoroughly.

Stuff and season

  1. In a bowl, combine bread crumbs, sweet basil, sweet marjoram, finely chopped onion, and oysters (if using).

  2. Pour melted butter over the filling.

  3. Season the filling with pepper and salt.

  4. Fill the turkey loosely with the mixture.

  5. Reserve some filling for later.

  6. Secure the legs and wings with skewers and string.

  7. Season the outside of the turkey with pepper and salt.

  8. Dust the turkey with flour.

  9. Place the turkey in a roasting pan.

  10. Pour 1 cup of water around the turkey.

Roast and make the gravy

  1. Roast the turkey for 1.5 hours for a small one, 2 hours for a 10-pound turkey, or 3 hours for a large turkey, basting frequently.

  2. Simmer the liver, gizzard, wings, neck, heart, and half an onion in cold water for several hours until tender.

  3. Chop the gizzard and return it to the pot.

  4. Blend the liver with the egg yolk and butter.

  5. Add some broth to moisten.

  6. Stir in flour.

  7. Boil briefly.

  8. Pour the gravy from the saucepan into the roasting pan.

  9. Stir the gravy until brown.

  10. Serve the gravy over the turkey.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Basil + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together688 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Marjoram + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Basil + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,294 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  4. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Turkey
Forms the main body of the dish, cooked whole so its meat stays moist while roasting.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the filling and liver mixture, and helps the skin brown.
Bread crumbs
Absorb juices and butter in the filling, giving it a soft, moist texture.
Flour
Thickens the gravy so it coats the turkey rather than running off.
Egg yolk
Binds the blended liver mixture, giving the gravy a smooth, thick body.

The step that matters

Roast the turkey for the right time. A whole bird must cook through to a safe internal temperature, but overcooking dries the breast. Basting during roasting helps keep the meat moist, and size determines the time needed.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turkey, butter, bread, basil, marjoram, pepper, oyster):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatofits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against turkey, butter, bread, basil, marjoram, pepper, oyster. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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