Calf’s brains form the most wholesome and reparative diet for all those who are debilitated by excessive head-work; and the same remark applies to the brains of the ox and the sheep.
The amourettes mentioned here, which almost always accompany ox brains, are only the spinal marrow of the ox or the calf. This may be used in the preparation of a few special dishes; but all the recipes dealing with brains may be applied to it.
[1289—THE COOKING OF BRAINS]
Carefully remove the membrane enveloping the brains or the [amourettes], and put them to soak in fresh water, until they are quite white. Put the brains in a saucepan with enough boiling [429] ]court-bouillon (No. [163]) to cover them well; skim and then set to cook gently.
Brains have this peculiarity, namely, that prolonged cooking only stiffens them; thus, calf’s brains only take half an hour to cook; but they may cook for two hours more without harm, seeing that the process only tends to make them firmer.
[1290—CERVELLE A LA BEAUMONT]
Cut the brains into slices; on each slice put a layer of gratin force-meat (No. [202]) prepared from foie gras and softened by means of a little cold, brown sauce, and a slice of truffle. Reconstruct the brains by putting the coated slices together again.
Roll some puff-paste remains into a [galette] one-fifth of an inch thick, the diameter of which should be in proportion to the size of the brains under treatment. Put the brains in the middle of the [galette], and cover them with the same forcemeat as that laid on the slices; sprinkle with chopped truffles; moisten the edges of the paste, and draw these over the brains so as to enclose the latter completely.
[Gild]; make a slit in the top for the escape of steam, and bake in a hot oven for fifteen minutes. After taking the pie out of the oven, pour a few tablespoonfuls of Périgueux sauce into the former, and dish on a napkin.