Oxford Michigan

1908 through 1960’s

Beany, the Turk

5 cups Navy or Lima beans soaked & cooked

2 teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

¾ teaspoon thyme

3 eggs/, slightly beaten

Sausage fat

1 tablespoon water

4 link sausages

Press cooked beans through course sieve, add salt, pepper & thyme, 2 eggs & 2 tablespoons sausage fat.  Blend thoroughly, chill, until quite firm.  Mold into shape of trussed turkey, shaping body first from block of mixture, then forming legs and wings & pressing them to body.  Combine water and remaining egg.  Brush bird with mixture.  Cover & place in shallow roasting pan.  Brush with sausage fat.  Bake in very hot oven (450degrees) for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to moderate (350degrees) baste often with sausage fat & roast 40 minutes longer.  Place link sausage over breast & legs 15 minutes before removing from oven. Serve with savory dressing made separately.  Make gravy from drippings.

This is a very fun recipe, and if you replace the sausage fat and links with something else non-meat, it could be a vegetarian turkey dish.  There are several alternatives in today’s markets for meat and meat products, I am sure there could be something that will work. 

I really like the sense of humor that this lady has with her recipe titles, Beany the Turk?  When I read this, I thought it might be a Turkish dish, it came right after yesterday’s recipe of a dish from Arabia; and be a dish adapted from another country.  But it turns out to be a faux turkey, Who would have guessed? 

I got these from Carmichael California, but the location places in the notebook, several say Oxford Michigan (Mildred Sternberg, 1940 Died 1972, recipe is for a Lemon Sherbet), from a set of handwritten books with the dates starting in 1908 and going through the 1960’s. 

This nice set of loose papers and two handwritten books has some very interesting family history in the older spiral notebook; she has listed recipes and the names of the contributing person as well as the date and their age when they passed away.   I will add these statistics as I go through the books.

Visit my ebay store to find some great kitchen utensils and collectables to go along with these vintage and antique recipes.

https://www.ebay.com/str/ozziesattic720?_trksid=p2047675.l2563