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Boned Turkey

A turkey with bones removed, stuffed with lamb, pork, and herbs, then baked and served with tomato sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 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 ↓

Boned Turkey

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 the turkey

  1. With a sharp knife, slit the skin down the back of the turkey.

  2. Separate the flesh from the bones using your fingers and knife until you reach the wings and legs.

  3. Unjoint the wings and legs from the body, cutting through to the bone.

  4. Remove the bones.

Stuff and shape

  1. Stuff the turkey with a mixture of cold lamb or veal, pork, salt, pepper, sage or savory, and lemon juice.

  2. Sew the turkey into shape. Tuck the ends of the wings under and press the legs close to the back.

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

  4. Lard the top with 2-3 strips of lard.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake at 350°F (175°C) until thoroughly done.

  2. Baste often with salt, water, and a little butter.

  3. Carve into slices.

  4. Serve with tomato sauce.

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. Lamb + porktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together623 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  5. Turkey + porktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together830 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

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, so its flesh cooks and browns as the centrepiece.
Lamb or veal
Adds moisture and richness to the stuffing as its fat melts during baking.
Pork
Adds fat to the stuffing, keeping the lean filling moist and tender.
Lard
Lards the top, adding fat that helps the surface brown and stay moist.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the rich meat stuffing.

The step that matters

Tying the turkey firmly. Firm tying holds the stuffing in and keeps the bird compact, so it cooks evenly and keeps a plump, smooth shape rather than splitting or spreading out.

“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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