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Turkey Scallop

A baked casserole of finely chopped cold turkey, stuffing, breadcrumbs, and butter, topped with a custard-like mixture.

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 ↓

Turkey Scallop

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 layers

  1. Remove the meat from the bones of cold turkey and chop it finely.

  2. Layer bread crumbs in a buttered dish.

  3. Moisten the bread crumbs with a little milk.

  4. Add a layer of turkey and some stuffing.

  5. Place small pieces of butter on top of the turkey layer.

  6. Sprinkle the dish with pepper and coarse sea salt.

  7. Repeat the layers of bread crumbs, turkey, stuffing, and butter until the dish is nearly full.

  8. Add a little hot water to the turkey gravy.

  9. Pour the hot water over the layers.

Make the topping and bake

  1. In a bowl, mix 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons of milk, 1 tablespoon of melted butter, a little salt, and enough cracker crumbs to thicken the mixture.

  2. Spread the mixture over the top of the casserole.

  3. Place bits of butter on the mixture.

  4. Cover the casserole with a plate.

  5. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 45 minutes.

  6. Ten minutes before serving, remove the plate to let it 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 + meattop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together540 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Cold turkey meat
Forms the main body of the casserole and gives it its savory filling.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and liquid, giving the layers structure and a soft, bready texture.
Eggs
Bind the topping mixture so it sets into a cohesive, custard-like layer when baked.
Cracker crumbs
Thicken the egg and milk mixture so it holds together on top of the casserole.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, helping the top brown and the layers stay moist.

The step that matters

Covering the casserole with a plate. The plate traps steam so the casserole cooks through and stays moist; removing it ten minutes before serving lets the top brown. Timing that removal matters for an even finish.

“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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