Page:The White House Cook Book.djvu/101

 POULTRY AND GAME. 83

with " Dressing for Fowls/' Then sew up the turkey with a strong thread, tie the legs and wings to the body, rub it over with a litle soft butter, sprinkle over some salt and pepper, dredge with a little flour ; place it in a dripping-pan, pour in a cup of boiling water, and set in the oven. Baste the turkey often, turning it around occasionally so that every part will be uniformly baked. When pierced with a fork and the liquid runs out perfectly clear, the bird is done. If any part is likely to scorch, pin over it a piece of buttered white paper. A fifteen pound turkey requires between three and four hours to bake. Serve with cranberry sauce.

Gravy for Turkey. When you put the turkey in to roast, put the neck, heart, liver and gizzard into a stewpan with a pint of water ; boil until they become quite tender; take them out of the water, chop the heart and gizzard, mash the liver and throw away the neck ; return the chopped heart, gizzard and liver to. the liquor in which they were stewed ; set it to one side, and when the turkey is done it should be added to the gravy that dripped from the turkey, having first skimmed off. the fat from the surface of the dripping- pan ; set it all over the fire, boil three minutes and thicken with flour. It will not need brown flour to color the gravy. The garnishes for turkey or chicken are fried oysters, thin slices of ham, slices of lemon, fried sausages, or force meat balls, also parsley.

DRESSING OR STUFFING FOR FOWLS.

FOR an eight or ten pound turkey, cut the brown crust from slices or pieces of stale bread until you have as much as the inside of a pound loaf; put it into a suitable dish and pour tepid water (not warm, for that makes it heavy) over it; let it stand one minute, as it soaks very quickly. Now take up a handful at a time and squeeze it hard and dry with both hands, placing it, as you go along, in another dish; this process makes it very light. When all is pressed dry, toss it all up lightly through your fingers ; now add pepper, salt about a teaspoonful also a teaspoonful of powdered summer sav- ory, the same amount of sage, or the green herb minced fine ; add half a cup of melted butter, and a beaten egg, or not. Work thoroughly all together, and it is ready for dressing either fowls, fish or meats. A little chopped sausage in turkey dressing is considered by some an improvement, when well incorporated with the other ingredients.

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