Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1904-11-08

A young, plump hen turkey should be
ordered, with broad, full breast The
end of the breast bone should be soft
and supple, yielding easily to pressure;
if hard and difficult to bend, it indicates
an old bird. The flesh should be firm
but tender, and light in color. The
wings should bend back readily, and the
skin where the wings and body join
should be tender, thin and easily broken.
The legs of young turkey are always
smooth and black; the feet are pliable
to the touch, and the neck is not very
long. If there be any reason to fear that
the turkey is neither young nor tender
1t will be far better to have it served
either boiled or praised, as through these
slow methods of cookery even the
toughest of meats may be made tender.
The intestines should always be re-
moved as soon as possible, all pin
feathers taken out, and hairs singed OF.
The outside of the turkey is then to be
we'll washed with clean, wet cloth. Do
not allow poultry or any fresh meat to
stand and soak in water, as the flesh be-
ing soluble in water, much of its best
flavor will be extracted and lost in this
way. Wipe out we'll the inside of the
turkey with wet cloth. In case of
doubt as to the perfect freshness OF the
turkey, rinse the inside we'll out several
times, using for the last washing a quart
of water in which has been dissolved a
teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda,
which will have thoroughly cleansing
and purifying effect. Dry the inside
well with clean, dry cloth, after remov-
ing all soft red matter which may be
found adhering to the interior portion
of the frame.
A frozen turkey must always be al.
lowed to stand in a warm room until
thoroughly thawed out before being
prepared to cook. The heart, liver, giz-
card and neck are to be washed and put
aside for the gravy. The thin outer
skin of the gizzard must be cut and
drawn of very carefully, the heart open
ed, and the clot Of blood always found
on the inside cut out or washed away.
When the dressing is filled in-not
packed tightly, however,-the openings
sewed up, and the wings and legs fasten-
ed in proper place, the turkey may be
sprinkled over with pepper and salt,
rubbed we'll all over with soft butter,
dredged lightly with flour and placed on
the rack which has been set in the bot
tom of the baking-pan. The oven must
be very hot. Pour cupful of boiling
water on the bottom of the pan, and
haste the turkey thoroughly every ten
or fifteen minutes. If the basting liquid
becomes exhausted, renew by cupful
of hot water. A turkey weighing twelve
pounds should bake in three hours, an
allowance of fifteen minutes to the
pound. At the end of fifteen or twenty
minutes the turkey may be turned breast
downward. In this position the juices
of the turkey will flow downward toward
the breast, giving to the white meat,
which is often dry and lacking in taste,
a much richer quality and flavor. About
twenty minutes before the turkey is to
be taken out from the pan it may be
turned back again to an upright position,
brushed over with little butter, sifted
lightly with -four, and exposed again to
the upper heat of the oven that it may
become we'll Drowned. During the
process of baking, first one side and then
the other of the turkey should be turned
toward the hottest part of the oven,
that both sides may brown uniformly.
A RICH DELICIOUS DRESSING OF
SEPARATE PARTICLES.
Crate finely large loaf of dry, stale
bread, discarding the crust entirely, and
using only the inside portion. Add a
tablespoonful of salt, dessertspoonful
of pepper, a dessertspoonful of finely
minced parsley, teaspoonful of thyme,
and the juice of medium-sized onion.
Mix all we'll, and rub in thoroughly a
half-cupful of soft butter. Do not
moisten the bread at all. The butter
will produce sufficient moisture.
TURKEY GRAVY.
AS soon as the turkey is placed in the
oven, put the giblets and neck with
about quart of cold water in sauce
pan on portion of the range where the
heat is moderate, and let them simmer
slowly until the turkey is done. Then
take up the giblets, chop finely the
heart, and, if desired, the gizzard. Mash
the liver to a fine powder with silver
fork. Blend heaping tablespoonful of
flour smoothly, first with two table
spoonfuls of cold water and then with a
the giblets have been cooking. Let the
remainder come to boil, and stir in the
blended flour; continue to stir until all
is perfectly smooth. Season with salt
and pepper, and add the chopped and
mashed giblets. This makes delicious,
delicate gravy. II, however, it should
be desired, the liquid left in the baking
pan after all fat or grease has been
skinned off, small cupful of hot water,
may be added and stirred around the
pan thoroughly, the whole to be strained
we'll before combining with the gravy in
the saucepan.
OYSTER COCKTAILS.
Serve six small ice-cold oysters in each
cocktail glass, with couple of teaspoon
fuls of sauce made by mixing we'll to-
gether one teaspoonful Of finely grated
horseradish, one saltspoon of salt, one
half teaspoonful of paprika, one tea
spoonful of tomato catchup, one table
spoonful of lemon juice, one-half
teaspoonful Of tabasco sauce.
CRANBERRY SAUCE.
Wash we'll in cold water one quart of
cranberries and put down in porcelain
lined kettle with a scant pint Of cold
water and let boil till soft, then add a
pound of granulated sugar. Stir until
the sugar ia dissolved, then strain, and
pour into the serving dish to cool or into
small fancy individual molds.
BAKED BANANAS.
Very delicious with poultry. Cut the
bananas into halves lengthwise. Put
into baking dish, sprinkle lightly with
sugar, squeeze a little lemon juice on
each slice and bake in hot oven for
about fifteen minutes.
Sailed ALMONDS.
Put the almonds when shelled into a
deep bowl and cover with boiling water
until the skins may be removed easily.
Put to dry we'll on large napkin or
towel. Spread out separately on large
platter and let stand to dry further and
harden over night. Then put into a
deep bawl and to each quart of almonds
allow two tablespoonful of good olive
oil. Mix together we'll and sift in three
level tablespoonful of fine salt. Stir
around thoroughly. Put the almonds
in broad, shallow pans or pie-plates in
hot-but not too hot-oven. Shake the
pans once in while so that the almonds
may become evenly Drowned. When
done turn ont IN soft brown paper Tn