News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-11-22
THE TOOTHSOME TURKEY
How 1t Should be Killed, Cleaned
and Prepared for the Range.

1
AS there are so many people who are
not familiar with the best method of pre-
pairing poultry for the table, L will give
minute directions. Pick ont the pin
feathers and SINCE the hairs and down
over blazing paper. Then wash the skin
of the turkey thoroughly in warm water
in which little soda has been dissolved.
1t is better to do this before the bird
has been cut. The drumstick of tur-
key is greatly improved by removing the
tendous, which always become hard and
bony in baking. Cut carefully through
the skin below the leg-joint, but do not
cut the tendons; bend the leg at the
cut by pressing it on the edge of the
table, and break off the bone. Then
pull out the t+ndons, one at a time, with
the fingers; or, all at once, by putting
tue foot of the fowl against the casing
of door that opens toward you, then
pressing the door hard against the foot,
and pulling on the leg. The tendons
will come out attached to the foot, but
if they are once cut they can never be
removed. This is an advantage in
breaking the leg below instead of at the
joint, as the ends of the bones afford
more length for trussing, and, after
roasting, this 10 easily broken off leaving
clean. unburned joint for the table.
Cut off the head. Slip the skin back
from the neck and cut the neck off half
way down, or close to the body if you
prefer, but always leave the skin longer
than the neck, so it may be folded over
on the back. Remove the windpipe and
turn the skin over; pull the crop away
from the neck and breast and cut it off
close to the opening into the body. If
the bird be not drawn at the market
make q circular cut around the vent to
free the end of the intestine. Cut out
the oil bag in the tail. Make horizon
tai incision through the skin one inch
above the vent aud wide enough to in
sert the two fingers. Keep the fingers
close to the breast bone until you can
reach in beyond the gizzard and heart,
and loosen the membranes on either
side down toward the back. Then draw
out the whole mass, and afterward re-
move the lungs which lie close to the
ribs and the soft brown kidneys found
in the hollow of the back.
Wash the bird quickly in warm soda
water and then in cold water and wipe
dry. Washing does not mean soaking
in a pan of water, but q quick rubbing
all over and rinsing.
"Place the fowl in deep bowl and
put in the stuffing at the end of the neck
until the breast is filed round and
plump. Draw the neck skin together at
the end and sew it over on the back.
Put the remainder of the stuffing into
the body at the other opening. Use
enough to fill in lightly.
"The best and most wholesome stuffing
is made by crumbling the soft inside of
loaf of stale bread; moisten the crumbs
slightly with melted butter, and season
with salt, pepper and thyme. The steam
from the fowl will furnish sufficient
moisture, and the stuffing will be light
and delicate instead of soggy, rank and
heavy.
"Draw the thighs close to the body
and put n long skewer through the
thigh into the body and out through the
opposite thigh. Ii the incision be made
rs directed, the ends of the drumsticks
may be put through the opening and
out at the vent, and then fastened to the
tail with skewer or with twine; but, if
made in the usual way, cross the drum
sticks over the tail. Turn the tips Of
the wings back and keep them in posi-
tion close to the body (not up on the
breast) by running o skewer through.
one wing, under the breast and out
through the other wing. Wind string
from the tail to the skewer in the thigh,
then up the back to the one in the wing,
across the back to the other wing, then
down to the opposite thigh and tie firm
ly at the tall"
Put the turkey on a rack in pan, rub
we'll with butter, salt and flour. Put it
into hot oven for five minutes or until
the flour begins to color; then reduce the
heat and add O pint of water. Melt one
quarter cupful of butter in a cupful of
hot water and baste with it often, until
some of the fat of the turkey has been
drawn out into the pan, or spread a
piece of clean paper with soft butter,
and lay it over the turkey. When the
paper is dry and brown lay on another
piece. and when this is dry baste with
the dripping and add more water as f6
boils away. Basic often and when half
done dredge again with -four, to give
the outside frothy appearance. Cook
the turkey slowly after the first slight
browning, and quicken the fire the
last half hour if the bird be not suffi-
cently Drowned. An eight or ten
pound turkey will cook in two or three
hours. 1t is done if the thigh seems
tender when pierced with q small fork,
and appears as if it would separate easi-
ly from the body.
Remove the turkey TO small pan and
keep it warm while you make the gravy
Pour off nearly all the fat from the drip
ping pan. The water will be nearly if
not wholly gone. Set the pan on the
stove and stir two tablespoonfuls of dry
flour into the fat Scrape off all the
brown fat that has adhered to the edges
and add moro flour till the fat is all alb
sorbed. When the fat and flour are
brown, and not until then, add gradual
ly the boiling water. AS it thickens, at
first it will seem as if the fat and flour
would separate, but continue to add
boiling water; stir constantly and you
will soon have smooth, brown gravy,
free from grease. Add more salt, and
strain it before serving. Heat the chop
ped giblets in little of the water in
which they were boiled, and add half of
the gravy. Serve the remainder OF the
gravy plain.
Slip off the thin membrane round the
heart and cut out the veins and arteries.
Remove the liver and cut off all that
looks green near the gall and bladder,
being careful not to break it. Trim the
fat and membranes from the gizzard; cut
through the thick part, open it and re-
move the inner lining without breaking.
Gut off all the white gristle, and use only
the thick, fieshy part. Rinse them all
in cold water, then put them into fresh
cold water and simmer until tender. The
neck and tips of the wings are often
cooked with the giblets. -Housekeeper.