[1179—HACHIS DE BŒUF PARMENTIER]
Bake some fine potatoes in the oven.
The moment they are done, slice off a piece of their baked shell, and remove the pulp from their insides by means of a spoon handle.
Crush this pulp with a fork, and toss it in butter as for “pommes de terre Macaire.” Then add to it as much beef in dice as there is pulp; two tablespoonfuls of chopped onion cooked in butter per lb. of the preparation; a pinch of chopped parsley, and a few drops of vinegar. Now toss the whole together for a few minutes, and then fill the empty potato shells with the preparation.
Sprinkle with Lyonnaise sauce rubbed through tammy, and add as much of it as the hash will absorb.
Replace the portion of shell cut off at the first, that the potatoes may seem untouched; arrange them on a dish, and put the latter in the oven for ten minutes. When about to serve, dish the stuffed potatoes on a napkin.
[1180—TRIPES A LA MODE DE CAEN]
In the preparation of this culinary speciality of Normandy, a very common mistake is often made; to wit, that of using calves’ feet instead of those of the ox, an innovation to which there are many objections.
[392]
]In the first place, the gravy of the tripe cannot absorb so much gelatine, and is indifferently thickened in consequence; secondly, since calves’ feet are much more tender than those of the ox, the former get boiled to shreds before the cooking of the tripe has been properly effected. This supposed improvement on the old method is thus seen to actually run counter to the end in view; but means there are, nevertheless, whereby those who insist upon the use of calves’ feet may be satisfied. It is only necessary to braise a number of calves’ feet beforehand, the number being in proportion to the quantity of tripe, and to add these to the latter a quarter of an hour before serving.
Another mistake which obtains somewhat widely in respect of this dish is the serving of it in a silver utensil—a method quite as unreasonable as that of serving a Chaudfroid in an earthenware dish.