Original White House Cookbook

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 savory, 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. For geese and ducks the stuffing may be made the same as for turkey, with the addition of a few slices of onion chopped fine. OYSTER DRESSING OR STUFFING. This is made with the same ingredients as the above, with the exception of half a can of oysters drained and slightly chopped and added to the rest. This is used mostly with boiled turkey and chicken, and the remainder of the can of oysters used to make an oyster sauce to be poured over the turkey when served ; served generally in a separate dish, to be dipped out as a person desires. These recipes were obtained from an old colored cook, who was famous for his fine dressings for fowls, fish and meats, and his advice was, always soak stale bread in cold liquid, either milk or water, when used for stuffing or for puddings, as they were much lighter. Hot liquid makes them heavy. BOILED TURKEY. Prepare as you would for baking or roasting; fill with an oyster stuffing, made as the above. Tie the legs and wings close to the body, place in salted boiling water with the breast downward; skim it often and boil about two hours, but not till the skin breaks. Serve with oyster or celery sauce. Boil a nicely pickled piece of salt pork, and serve at table a thin slice to each plate. Some prefer bacon or ham instead of pork. Some roll the turkey in a cloth dipped in flour. If the liquor is to be used afterwards for soup, the cloth imparts an unpleasant flavor. The liquor can be saved and made into a nice soup for the next day’s dinner, by adding the same seasonings as for chicken soup. TURKEY SCALLOP. Pick the meat from the bones of cold turkey and chop it fine. Put a layer of bread crumbs on the bottom of a buttered dish, moisten them with a little milk, then put in a layer of turkey with some of the filling, and cut small pieces of butter over the top; sprinkle with pepper and salt; then another layer of bread crumbs, and so on until the dish is nearly full; add a little hot water to the gravy left from the turkey and pour over it; then take two eggs, two tablespoonfuls of milk, one of melted butter, a little salt and cracker crumbs as much as will make it thick enough to spread on with a knife; put bits of butter over it, and cover with a plate. Bake three-quarters of an hour. Ten minutes before serving, remove the plate and let it brown. TURKEY HASHED.