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Tukkby Scalloped

A casserole of chopped turkey layered with bread crumbs, butter, and gravy, baked until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Tukkby Scalloped

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Pick the meat from cold turkey and chop it fine.

  3. In a buttered dish, layer bread crumbs and moisten them with a little milk.

Assemble

  1. Add a layer of turkey, some filling, butter, pepper, and salt.

  2. Repeat layers until the dish is full.

  3. Mix hot water with cold gravy and pour it over the dish.

  4. In a bowl, beat 2 eggs with 2 tablespoons of milk and 1 tablespoon of melted butter.

  5. Add enough salt cracker crumbs to thicken the mixture for spreading on top.

  6. Spread the mixture over the dish and dot with bits of butter.

Bake and serve

  1. Cover with a plate and bake for 45 minutes.

  2. About 10 minutes before serving, remove the plate to let the turkey brown.

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. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  4. Turkey + breadtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together822 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Turkey + milktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together281 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Cold turkey
Forms the main body of the casserole and provides its savory filling.
Bread crumbs
Absorb the moistened milk and add bulk, giving the layers a soft, tender texture.
Eggs
Bind the topping mixture so it sets into a cohesive layer when baked.
Salt cracker crumbs
Thicken the topping so it spreads evenly and bakes into a firmer crust.
Cold gravy
Adds moisture and savory flavor that keeps the turkey and crumbs from drying out.

The step that matters

Removing the plate to brown the turkey. Baking covered traps steam, keeping the top pale and moist. Uncovering for the final minutes lets surface heat drive browning, which adds color and roasted flavor.

“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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