No. 668. Calves’ Brains.
Procure two sets of brains, leave them four hours in water to disgorge, take off the skin which covers them, and put them in a stewpan, with a pint of water, one wineglass of vinegar, some salt, two onions sliced, a carrot, a few cloves, and a bunch of parsley, thyme, and bay-leaf; let boil gently from twenty minutes to half an hour, take them up, lay on a cloth, and cut each one in halves, place them in the dish and serve with a sauce Hollandaise (No. 66), matelote (No. 62), maître d’hôtel (No. 43), or piquante (No. 27), or beurre noir (No. 306).
No. 669. Queues de Veau à la Ravigote.
Four calves’ tails are quite sufficient for an entrée, procure them as large and as white as possible; cut them in pieces an inch and a quarter in length, and put them into a stewpan, with a quart of good white stock, two onions, half a carrot, head of celery, three cloves, a bunch of parsley, thyme, and bay-leaf; set on the fire to boil, skim, and place it at the corner to simmer for two hours, or until the tails are done, which you can tell by pressing them with your finger, drain them on a cloth, lay a little mashed potatoes on the bottom of your entrée dish, stand the larger pieces perpendicularly upon it, then again other pieces upon them, till they form a pyramid; have ready a good ravigote sauce (No. 44), rather highly seasoned, which pour over and serve; the sauce should be thick enough to adhere to the pieces.
No. 670. Queues de Veau à la Poulette.
Cook and dress the tails as before, and sauce as directed for turban de tête de veau à la poulette (No. 663).
No. 671. Of Sweetbreads.
The middle-sized heart-breads are to be preferred to the over large or small, the throat-bread is rarely used to dress and serve whole, but may be served in blanquettes, vol-au-vents, or ragouts. Sweetbreads cannot be too white, if red when brought in leave them four or five hours in warm water to disgorge, put them in a stewpan well covered with water to blanch, (if you put them in cold water they will be blanched enough as soon as the water begins to boil), throw them a minute in cold water, then lay them on a dish face downwards, place the bottom of another dish upon them, on which place a four pounds weight, they are then ready for use where directed; three sweetbreads are sufficient for an entrée if rather large, and four if small.
No. 672. Ris de Veau à la Santa Cruz.
Take three good sweetbreads, blanch as directed, then lard them (with very thin strips of fat bacon an inch and a half in length) from top to bottom an inch and a half in width, and again from one side to the other to form a cross; have thirty-six pieces of truffles cut in the shape of cloves, but much thicker and rather longer, (twelve for each sweetbread), make a hole with a larding-needle in the centre of the cross in which place a piece of the truffle, proceeding in like manner in the centre of the bacon at equal distances apart, cover the bottom of a flat stewpan with fat bacon, lay the sweetbreads upon it, cover the bottom of the stewpan about the depth of two inches with stock, place it over the fire till the stock boils, put it in the oven about half an hour will be sufficient to cook them, (but that depends upon their size and the heat of the oven,) try them with a larding-needle, if quite tender through they are done; but if soft in the middle and toughish leave them a little longer, glaze them lightly and salamander a nice gold colour, drain them on a cloth and have ready the following sauce: blanch one ounce of riband macaroni in water till tender, dry, and put it in a stewpan, with ten spoonfuls of brown sauce (No. 1), and two of tomata sauce (No. 37), with a piece of glaze, reduce till rather thick, then add twenty heads of mushrooms and two tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese; season with a little sugar and cayenne, pour the sauce in your dish, dress the sweetbreads over and serve very hot.