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Boned Turkey or Chicken

A stuffed turkey filled with a mixture of chicken, veal, ham, and seasonings, then steamed and baked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and thyme are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,585 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Boned Turkey or Chicken

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the stuffing

  1. Bone the turkey as directed.

  2. Disjoint the chicken, removing skin, sinews, and bones.

  3. Cut the chicken meat into long thin strips and set aside.

  4. Chop the remaining chicken meat with the veal.

  5. Add cracker crumbs and moisten with hot stock; season to taste.

  6. Fill the legs and wings of the turkey with the mixture.

  7. Layer the fillets, force-meat, and slices of tongue or ham inside the turkey.

  8. Sew and tie the turkey into its natural shape.

Cook and serve

  1. Steam the turkey over chicken and turkey bones in cold water for 3 hours.

  2. Remove the cloth, dredge with salt and flour, and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 1 hour or until browned.

  3. Serve cold, garnished with parsley, jelly, carrots, beets, or potato balls.

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. Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

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

  2. Turkey + chickentop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together688 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).

  3. Turkey + thymetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together233 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Meat + chickentop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Chicken + thymetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Turkey
Forms the large outer shell that holds the stuffing and cooks into the main meat of the dish.
Eggs
Bind the chopped meats and crumbs so the force-meat holds together when sliced.
Cracker crumbs
Absorb the hot stock and help the force-meat hold moisture and form a soft, cohesive texture.
Veal
Adds a fine, tender texture to the chopped meat stuffing.
Chicken
Contributes meat for the stuffing and, with bones, flavors the steaming liquid.
Potted ham or tongue
Adds savory flavor and a contrasting layer of meat inside the stuffed turkey.

The step that matters

Steam the turkey over bones in cold water for 3 hours. Gentle, long steaming cooks the stuffed bird through slowly without drying the meat. Starting the water cold and keeping it at a gentle simmer helps the stuffing set evenly.

Swap the thyme

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turkey, meat, chicken, veal, egg, pepper, ham):

  1. Thymethe original
  2. Parsleyfits about as well
  3. Celeryfits about as well
  4. Marjoramfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against turkey, meat, chicken, veal, egg, pepper, ham. 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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