Boiled Turkey

Ingredients

• Turkey
• forcemeat No. 417

Instructions

1. _Choosing and Trussing_.--Hen turkeys are preferable for boiling, on account of their whiteness and tenderness, and one of moderate size should be selected, as a large one is not suitable for this mode of cooking.
2. They should not be dressed until they have been killed 3 or 4 days, as they will neither look white, nor will they be tender.
3. Pluck the bird, carefully draw, and singe it with a piece of white paper, wash it inside and out, and wipe it thoroughly dry with a cloth.
4. Cut off the head and neck, draw the strings or sinews of the thighs, and cut off the legs at the first joint;
5. draw the legs into the body, fill the breast with forcemeat made by recipe No. 417; run a skewer through the wing and the middle joint of the leg, quite into the leg and wing on the opposite side; break the breastbone, and make the bird look as round and as compact as possible.
6. [Illustration: BOILED TURKEY.] _Mode_.--Put the turkey into sufficient _hot_ water to cover it;
7. let it come to a boil, then carefully remove all the scum: if this is attended to, there is no occasion to boil the bird in a floured cloth; but it should be well covered with the water.
8. Let it simmer very gently for about 1-1/2 hour to 1-3/4 hour, according to the size, and serve with either white, celery, oyster, or mushroom sauce, or parsley-and-butter, a little of which should be poured over the turkey.
9. Boiled ham, bacon, tongue, or pickled pork, should always accompany this dish; and when oyster sauce is served, the turkey should be stuffed with oyster forcemeat.