PREPARATION DRESSING AND COOKING OF THE TURKEY
A JSJLi IT AVl, J-XlJ-ii ,'Jt nrm-nfilinate Task Which Comes but Once a Year.
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BT LILIAN TING US.
FOR most of us. to think "Thanksgiv
ing" is to think "turkey" a pleasant
correlation of ideas, as a rule. But
for some of us especially if -we happen
to be young and Inexperienced housekeep-ers-to
think "turkey" Is to think "Mercy
me! I've got to cook it. What shall I
do?'"
Also for others of us masculine mostly
-to tttfnk "turkey" is to think "Bills" j
and "Mercy me! (equivalent mascuuno
exprerdon ' "I've got to pay them " ,
But that is another story. J
The only comfort I can offer for the lat
ter class of sufferer Is the report that
turkeys are plentiful and likely to be a
little "less costly this year than last.
For the timid new housekeeper, facing
the entertainment and posetble criticism
of "his folks." I offer some detailed in
fractions, which I hope may be helpful
for the preparation of the festive bird. -
The experienced housekeeper may think
some of the details too small to mention.
But this article Is not for her. Posslbjy
she never knew, or ba forgotten, the time
when she first encountered, eingle handed,
a large limp turkey-bird, all lees and
neck: and when, on turning to her im
posing new oilcloth covered cook book,
she found her Implicit trust betrayed by
the heartless directions "Dress, clean,
stuff and truss a ten-pound turkey; place
In dripping pan. baete carefully." etc..
the Inference being that dressing and
trussing a turkey comes by nature.
As for basting. I know of several cases
. where a young woman more familiar with
the vocabulary of the dressmaker than
that of the cook Imagined that "baste
carefulr" referred to the sewlng-up
process after stuffing. One I know, tn her
anxiety to follow Instructions, took so
many small close strtches with an occa
sional "back-stitch" to make sure.hat it
was impossible to remove the thread after
roasting; and "John" got a mouthful of
sewing material along with the gtblet
stuffing. And you know how a mere man
lovea to remember and remind you of
little things like that.
Choose Birds Carefully.
To begin with, then, choose your tur.
key carefully, and if you have little ex
perience In marketing order early from a
man who has a reputation to live up to.
Thanksgiving turkeys vary in grades and
prices. The experienced buyer can some
times secure bargains: but bargain-turkey
hunting is dangerous for a beginner.
The cook book will tell ypu some of the
lgns of youth In a turkey oln feathers,
flexible breastbone, smooth black legs,
etc. Hard, heavily scaled feet and many
hairs on the body Indicate the bird has
arrived at years of discretion discretion
on the part of the buyer, I mean. Such
blrd call for special treatment:' for ex
ample, steaming a while before going to
the oven, if they are to he anything but
dry and flavorless. Hen turkeys are gen
erally considered superior to gobblers.
Here Is a chance for a suffragette argu
ment: but if we are drawn Into that,
goodness knows when the dinner will be
cooked.
Have Feet .and AH Delivered.
Having given yourself the best chance
with a good bird of sixe suited to your
circumstances eight to ten younds is a
good "medium" siie take care to have
it sent home with the feet left on. Tou
have to pay for them, anyway: and you
can t draw the tendons if the feet have
been hacked off at the Joint.
Drawing the tendons makes a great dif
ference In the texture and appearance of
the drumstick: and also makes you feel
delightfully clever the first time you ac
complish It all by yourself.
There are regular tendon pullers on
the market: but here Is a way that is
easv (or a beginner: Break' each leg an
Inch or so below the joint, by pressure
over the edge of the table. Make a
lengthwise cut. through the skin only, at
this point and catch up each' endon sep
arately, with a strong skewer. Give the
skewer a half turn for "purchase," pull
gently but firmly, and the tendon will
come away wlthout-dlfficulty.
Pull Out All Tendons.
Keep pulling until all are out; then
count them if you want to know how
many there are. In 'class work someone
always asks me:
"How many tendons , are there. Miss
Tingle?" I really don't know. Nor do I
wish to know. Just keep pulling, one
after another, until the foot hangs by the
skin only. j
Now cut off the feet and put them Into
boiling water- Later you can strip off
the dark outer skin and claws and use the
nice white gelatinous feet to give body
and smoothness to your gravy stock.
The dark stumps on the end of the
drumsticks should also be dipped In boil
ing water and skinned. These stumps
are quite Important. They help to pre
vent shrinking of the flesh to the top of
the. drumstick; they make neat trussing
easier, and finally they, may he removed
and leave a clean, unburned Joint for
ervlng.
It does not matter much whether the
pin feathers, and remaining wing feath
ers are removed before or after the feet,
as long as they are all removed. If the
last stiff wing feathers are hard to take
off. try hot water.
Bathe, the Bird Next.
Now give the bird a bath in lukewarm
water, to which a little soda or boras
has been added to remove the grease
from the skin. Scrub with a clean, vege
table brush. Now look at the water.
You'd never think the bird wad so dirty,
would you? '
Next dry the creature, and singe It. If
you have a gas stove. Just turn the bird
about over the flame. If not, you can
use a wisp of flaming paper, or better
still rub on a little pure alcohol and set
it alight in sink or dlshpan.
Now twist and break the neck Just be
low the head and cut off the latter. In
dressing the turkey, it Is a good lan to
have several sheets of paper between it
and your board or table. Then the "un
slghtlies" can be easily and quickly
wrapped up and dropped out of the way
Into pail or stove. Have a bowl of clean
cold water at hand for the giblets. Have
ready also a sharp knife and a trussing
needle, threaded with string. A trussing
needle costs 5 -to N cents at any hard
ware store, and makes neat .trussing the
easiest thing In the . world. And neat
trussing means a good appearance at ta
ble, an easy Job for the carver, and less
chance of dryness In roasting all impor
tant points.
. To return to the turkey: hold the skin
tight over the neck at the back, and
make a lengthwise silt down to the base.
Lift aside the neck from the skin, wind
pipe and gullet: push it back against the
shoulders, break and cut It off. Put it
with the giblets In cold water and use. It
to make stock. The neck would make an
unattractive appearance at table, and
r would be drled-up In roasting. Besides,
you need the flap or skin ior extra siun
Ing. How to Do the Drawing.
Separate the crop and windpipe from
the skin and draw them carefully out.
Next remove the oil bag from the tail to
prevent its imparting a "strong" flavor.
If the bird came ready drawn from
market., you simply put the giblets, liver,
heart and gizzard, ready cleaned, into
cold water with the neck. Then make
1. Drawing the tendons. -
!. Slit the skin. at back of neck.
3. Removing the oil bag. No
tice flap cf skin, for stuffing,
.'where neck was removed..
4. The giblets. Gizzard, split
through thick part. Removing
gall bag from liver.
5. Notice position of wings at
back.'
6. Use of trussing needle.
Thighs drawn up to breast.
7. Turkey ready for roasting
pan. "Barde" of salt ponk protects '.
breast. J
sure that the lungs, lying close against
the ribs, and the kidneys, lying in hol
lows beside the backbone, have been com
pletely removed. Lack of attention to
this means an unpleasant flavor in your
stuffing.
If you have to draw the bird yourself,
make a neat incision. Just above the vent,
cutting through the skin only. If the
bird is very . well fed, there will be a
"leaf" of fat to cut through as well. Slip
two fingers into the cavity and work them
gently around close to the sides, until
everything is loose. Do the same at the
neck end. Go hack to' the other opening,
take hold of the gizzard distinguishable
by Its size and hardness and gently but
firmly draw the whole of the bird's Inte
rior arrangements out on a sheet of pa
per. Cut off the end of the Intestine; re
serve the heart, gizzard and liver; wrap
up and burn the rest.
In separating the liver from the green
ish gall-sac. be careful not to -break the
latter, for Oie gall will Impart a perma
nent bitterness to everything it touches.
Clean the gizzard by carefully cutting
through the thick red muscle (not the flat
blue sidesk: to the skin, and peeling it
away from the Inclosed inner sac.
The cook book may tell you to "wipe
the inside of the bird with a damp. towel":
but if you are wlRe you will quickly wash
the Inside with lukewarm water and a
little borax until not the slightest trace of
odor is perceptible. This Insures sweet
dressing and inside bones to pick. Work
rapidly, so as not to losd the Juices. Never
let the bird soak in a pan of water. Give
a final rinse under the flowing faucet and
wipe inside and out with a clean -dry
towel.
' Now for the Stuffing.
Now conies the stuffing. Of course you
have your chosen kind already prepared.
Dont .fill the body too full, for most
dressings swell in cooking. If the turkey
Is a very large one, slip a few thin strips
of fat pork or bacon between the skin
and flesh of the drumsticks to Improve
their flavor and prevent dryness. Then
sew up the body with a few large easily
removable stitches.
Next Insert some stufflng-another kind,
If you choose, in the fore part of the tur
key under the flap of necksktn. Make
a fine, "plump chest and fasten the skin
with a stitch or two at the back.
Now twist the wings under, close to the
sides, with the tips crossing the flap of
skin. Bring the thighs close up to the.
wings, pressing them downwards on the
table. Notice how this "plumps up" the
breast. Pass the threaded trussing needle
through the middle joints of legs and
wings and through the body of the bird.
Tie at the back: then bring the string
down the back and knot together near
the tall. Bring to the front, tying tall
and ends df drumsticks close together.
See what a compact shape the bird has
and how much more easily It fits Into the
roasting pan! But It is not 'yet quite
ready.
Protecting the Breast.
Tou should have a piece of salt pork or
bacon, neatly cut, to protect the breast.
Tou can order a quarter pound or so of
the fattest, cut In two slices but 'not
separated at the rind. This is called a
"barde." Cut slits In it. to prevent Its
curling up unduly, and remove it Just at
the last' when the breast Is ready for the
final' browning. Then, although the sbifi
is a rich deep color the breast meat, im
mediately below will be snowy white.
Now work together equal parts of flour
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and butter, or a
mixture of butter and
bacon fat. Season it with salt and pep
per andspread this culinary "complexion
cteam" thickly over the bird, payingpar
tlcular attention to the most exposed
parts, such as wings and drum sticks.
Now the roasting.. A good modern
roasting pan soon saves Its cost and
makes failure almost Impossible. There
are some with arrangements for cooking
the bird breast downwards: but with the
"barde". this Is hardly necessary.
, Have the oven hot for the preliminary
searing, then check' the heat and give
long, slow cooking to insure tenderness.
A .general rule for poultry Is about 20
minutes a pound and 20 to 30 minutes for
searing, sd not less than three hours and
a half would be needed for a 10-pound
turkey. Hurrying the cooking at a higher
temperature means dryness and lack of
flavor.
After scaringyou may add a few table
spoons of hot water to the pan, so as to
have liquid enough to dip over the turkey
with your basting spoon;' but with the
self-basting roasters now so generally
used both extra liquid and "every 10 min
utes" basting is quite unnecessary.
Baete the bird when you lift the cover
to look at it: but don't do this too often.
Attend to the regulation of your tem
perature and don't worry. With a gas
stove properly, adjusted, . I have actually
left my turkey in the roaster, gone down
town for two or three hours and found on
my return a perfect brown bird, cooked
by the "absent treatment." But perhaps
this would hardly do for a novice.
Tou can tell when the bird is nearly
ready by the time, tba color and the ten-
of the tliigh , to separate at the
Remove the turkey to a smaller
pan and keep hot while you make the
gravy.
Good Gravy Is Desirable.
Greasy, lumpy, grayish-brown, or flavor
less gravy Is one of the unpardonable
culinary sins.
Pour off, therefore, all superfluous fat
from the pan, reserving about one and a
half tablespoons of fat for every cup of
gravy you intend to make. Add an equal
quantity of flour.' Mix thoroughly, scrap
ing in all the brown and working to a
smooth paste in the pan. Now add a
little stock (made from the giblets, neck,
'and feet, with or without a touch of
onion), rrfix that smooth: then add the
rest. It Is best to have the .stock warm,
but not boiling. Now simmer slowly to
develop flavor, to cook thoroughly the
starchy thickening, and to improve the
color. Season to taste with salt and pep
per. Allow 13 minutes simmering, adding
more stock or water if it gets too
thick. . If the color isr not deep enough
add a few drops of caramel or kitchen
bouquet; but there should be no need
of this.-
Dish ' the turkey on a hot platter.
'Add any extra brown froni the pan to
the gravy. Taste the latter and give
a "final sea'soning" of a few drops
lemon Juice, a speck of cayenne and a
pinch or two of sugar. Strait if nec
essary (it ought not to need this, but
lumps must be avoided at any cost)
add the chopped giblets, if . giblet
gravy is liked, and serve la a hot
gravy boat.
' Instead of being served in the gravy
the giblets may, of course, be chopped
and used in the dressing, or reserved
for giblet pie, . patties or curry. A
final word as to the serving q the tur
key. If it Is to be carved at table,
have pity upon the carver and let the
platter be of size reasonably propor
tionate to the bird. Do not over
crowd the platter with garnish or
gravy. Simplicity is best; and a few
pieces of parsley or celery leaf, lemon
slices or-bacon curls' are in far" better
taBte than .the elaborate surroundings
shown- in Borne cook-bobks and the il
lustrated "household hints" of "home"
magazines. Elaborate garnishes make
attractive pictures; but, on the family
table, they are likely to make an un
practlced carver think things unfit to
print.
PRIEST VERSUS PROFESSOR
While Theologians Fight, Laymen
Get Their Innings.
PORTLAND, Nov. 18. (To the Editor.)
There is a saying that "when rogues,
fall out honest men may get their dues."
This saying is applicable to the case in
dicated in the above caption only to aug-
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Best a paraphrase "while theologians
are. fighting, the layman may have, his
innings." This thought is suggested by
the neat way in which Father Augustin
seems to have caromed on Professor
Howe In The Oregonian of November 14.'
declaring the latter not a Christian,
leading the layman to Inquire, "What is
Christianity and what constitutes one. a
Christian?" '
In legal and governmental affairs the
Constitution is appealed to as the fountain-head
of authority, and the same
course would seem proper in theological
controversies. In theology the creed is
the constitution, and to it the Father ap
peals, and thereby seems, in the ver
nacular of the boys, to have got the
professor "where the hair is short." The
layman examines the constitution of the
ology and finds there space permitting
onlv an epitome of the portion Involved
in the present scrap these fundamental
propositions, viz.: The deity created the
first man, who sinned upon the flfst temp
tation, whereby he incurred the wrath of
his creator upon himself and all his pos
terity. In order to appease the wrath of
the first person in the trinity, the third
person In the trinity begat of a virgin
a son second person In the trinity,
through whose suffering and death the
wrath of the first person 1n the trinity
might be sufficiently appeased, that sucj
persons as could and would place im
plicit faith in this somewhat complicated
and intricate plan, might be saved from
the consequences of both their own
and inherited sins. This sounds much
like a word puzzle, but It is not, and
scans all right when disentangled, and
is all fn the. eonMltutlon with much more
In similar -eln.
The professor repudiates lie miraculous
conception, absolves the third person of
any wrong, declares the second person
only a man. from which it. follows that
his death had not the efficacy set forth
in the constitution.
The good Father's belief in the whole
constitution seems implicit, and in the
by laws as well, and from that' stand
point seems entitled to and does call the
professor un-Chritian.
A saying is attributed to Cardinal New
man on his leaving the Anglican for the
Roman establishment, that "there is no
logical standing ground between atheism
and Romanism," which seems quite ap
plicable to this case. Father Augustin,
wielding the keen broadsword of implicit
faith, appears to have caught Professor
Howe astride the fence, the rapier of his
partial faith In one hand, while with the
other essaying a weak hold on the scimi
ter of the agnostic,, with usual result
of a divided against a centralized force.
PLATE
Posmve.
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A CONTRACT
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in
SOCKET
A disinterested , layman may easily be
come interested as contending theologians
expose each the weak points of the whole
constitution. G. E. CAUKIN.
KNOT LIKE WOMAN'S FACE
"Dad" Johnson, of St. John, Picks
- Up Odd (Curio.
"Dad" Johnson, 'father of C. L. John
son, a Councilman of. St. John, recently
found on the river bank near the Richmond-street
dock a knot which bears an
almost life-like resemblance to a human
face. The ear. mouth r.nd eye of a profile
view are very prominent, while a twlc
..."
Knot Resembling Woman's Pace
Picked I p on St. John Reach.
projects In front, making a prominent
nose. Another twig reaching out from
behind the face, with wavy lines around
It, bears a resemblance to a knot of hair
with a large pin in it. ,
Mr. Johnson has named the curio "the
Suffragette."
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