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Turkey Boned

A boned turkey stuffed with forcemeat of lamb, veal, and pork, baked or boiled in stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Sage and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 887 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Turkey Boned

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the turkey

  1. Slit the skin down the back of the turkey with a sharp knife.

  2. Separate the flesh from the bones.

  3. Reach the wings and legs and unjoint them, cutting through to the bone.

  4. Turn back the flesh and remove the bones.

  5. Prepare forcemeat by mixing cold lamb or veal with a little pork, seasoning with salt, pepper, sage or savory, and lemon juice.

  6. Stuff the turkey with the forcemeat.

  7. Sew the turkey into shape and press the wings and legs close to the body.

  8. Tie the turkey firmly to ensure a plump and smooth surface.

  9. Lard the top with 3 rows of lard.

Cook and serve

  1. Bake until thoroughly done, basting often with salt, water, and a little butter.

  2. Carve into slices.

  3. Serve with tomato sauce.

Boiled version and jelly

  1. Roll the stuffed turkey tightly in a clean cloth and tie it securely.

  2. Place the turkey in prepared rich stock and boil for 4 to 5 hours, skimming until clear.

  3. Wash the cloth, wrap the turkey, and place it under a heavy weight until morning.

  4. Strain the stock, remove the fat, add 2 ounces of dissolved gelatine, and strain again until clear.

  5. Pour into 2 shallow moulds and color one mould with caramel.

  6. Garnish the turkey with jelly cut into fanciful shapes.

  7. Alternatively, pour jelly over the turkey and serve when cold.

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. Sage + lemontop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together887 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,388 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Sage + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together731 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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 that holds the stuffing and cooks through to tender meat.
Forcemeat
Adds a moist, seasoned filling that keeps the lean bird juicy as it cooks.
Lard
Lays fat over the top of the bird to keep the surface moist and encourage browning.
Gelatine
Sets the stock into a clear, firm jelly for garnish or coating.
Lamb or veal
Provides the meat base of the forcemeat, giving body and moisture to the stuffing.

The step that matters

Boil for 4 to 5 hours, skimming until clear. Gentle, steady simmering keeps the stock from turning cloudy, and skimming removes coagulated proteins and fat so the jelly sets clear.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turkey, lamb, pepper, sage, lemon, butter, clove):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against turkey, lamb, pepper, sage, lemon, butter, clove. 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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