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Escaloped Turkey

A baked casserole of chopped turkey layered with cracker crumbs, seasoned, and baked with gravy or butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Escaloped 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. Remove all bones and gristle from the turkey and chop the meat into small pieces.

Layer and bake

  1. In an earthen baking dish, layer powdered cracker crumbs moistened with milk.

  2. Add a layer of turkey seasoned with pepper and salt.

  3. Repeat layering with cracker crumbs and turkey until the dish is filled.

  4. Pour gravy or a mixture of hot water and butter over the top.

  5. Finish with a layer of cracker crumbs moistened with a beaten egg and sweet milk.

  6. Cover the dish and bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for one hour, uncovering for the last 30 minutes.

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,592 recipes

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

  4. Turkey + peppertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,636 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  5. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Cracker crumbs
Absorb the milk and gravy, forming soft layers that hold the dish together.
Turkey
Provides the main meat, which becomes tender and moist during the long, covered bake.
Beaten egg
Sets when baked, binding the top layer of crumbs and milk into a firm crust.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, helping browning and flavor in the hot liquid poured over the top.

The step that matters

Covering and uncovering the dish. Baking covered keeps the turkey and crumbs moist while they heat through; uncovering for the last 30 minutes lets the top dry and brown. Removing the cover too early can dry the dish, while leaving it covered throughout prevents browning.

“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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