No. 163. Sweetbreads. I never can procure sweetbreads at home except in the autumn or winter season of the year, so many families being then out of town, they may be procured at a very reasonable price; I usually dress them thus: lay them in water three or four hours to disgorge, blanch two minutes in boiling water, take out and put them into another stewpan, with a few slices of onions, carrot, turnip, a little parsley, thyme, bay-leaf, six peppercorns, a blade of mace, and a small piece of bacon, cover over with a little broth if any, place over the fire, and let boil about twenty minutes, then take out, dry them on a cloth, egg all over, throw into bread-crumbs, run a skewer through each, tie them to a spit and roast of a nice brown colour before a sharp fire, a quarter of an hour would be sufficient; they might also be browned in a hot oven, or fried in very hot lard or dripping ten minutes; then, however, they must be stewed rather longer; serve them with vegetable garniture of any description, if peas, merely plain boiling them, putting them in a stewpan, with a little sugar, pepper, salt, and a piece of fresh butter, toss them round over the fire until very hot, pour them into the dish, and dress the sweetbreads over, or serve with French beans dressed also in the same manner, spinach dressed as directed (page 43), or merely with the following sauce: put a gill of melted butter into a stewpan, with a spoonful of Harvey or Reading sauce, and a little catsup, boil altogether, and if too thick add a little water. If I cannot meet with heart sweetbreads, I in general satisfy myself with the throats.
No. 164. Calf’s Liver Stewed, French fashion. Procure a small delicate liver, cut twenty pieces of fat bacon, three inches in length and a quarter of an inch square, season with a little pepper, salt, and chopped parsley, then with a larding-needle run them into the liver crosswise, put two ounces of butter into a convenient-sized stewpan, with half a pound of lean uncooked ham, keep stirring over a sharp fire until the ham becomes rather brownish, then lay in the liver, cover the stewpan, stir round occasionally until the liver has become quite firm and of a brownish colour; then add half a teaspoonful of salt, a quarter of one of pepper, forty button onions, twenty young carrots (or twenty pieces of old, previously blanched), half a pint of water, a bunch of parsley, with three sprigs of thyme and two bay-leaves (tied together), four cloves, and a blade of mace, let simmer twenty minutes; then add twenty new potatoes, or old ones cut of the same size, cover the stewpan, and let stew gently until all the vegetables are done, when take out the bunch of herbs, dress the liver upon a dish, with the vegetables and ham around it, skim all the fat from the gravy in the stewpan, pour over the vegetables and serve; if any remain, it is excellent made hot the next day, or even to be eaten cold.
No. 165. Calf’s Liver Fried. Cut the liver into slices the eighth of an inch in thickness, dip them in flour, and fry them in a sauté or frying-pan, in which you have previously fried some slices of streaked bacon, fry the liver until quite browned and rather crisp, when take out and place it upon a dish with the bacon, pour as much of the fat as possible from the pan, pour in a quarter of a pint of water, when boiling add a piece of butter the size of a walnut, with which you have mixed a teaspoonful of flour, shake the pan round over the fire until becoming rather thickish, season with a little Harvey sauce, catsup, pepper, and salt, if too thick add a little more water, pour over the liver and serve. Or, for variation, after the liver is well fried, take it out and put a tablespoonful of chopped onions in the pan, set upon the fire a minute, then pour off the greater part of the fat, add a teaspoonful of flour, mix well in, and half a pint of broth or water, boil until forming a thickish sauce, season with pepper, salt, two spoonfuls of vinegar, a little sugar, and half a teaspoonful of mixed mustard, set upon the fire until quite hot, pour over the liver and serve. Or liver may be served plain fried with bacon, without any sauce whatever. Sheep or lamb’s liver may be dressed precisely in the same manner.
With the remains of a joint of veal, either roasted, boiled, or braised, I make mince, hashes, blanquettes, and even pies. For a blanquette of veal cut about a pound into thin slices of the size of half-crown-pieces, add also a few slices of cooked tongue, ham, or streaked bacon, season well with about a teaspoonful of chopped onions, half ditto of salt, and a quarter ditto of white pepper, add a gill of broth or water, warm gently, and when quite hot add a piece of butter the size of a walnut, with which you have mixed a teaspoonful of flour, shake round over the fire, when becoming thickish add half a gill of milk or cream, with which you have mixed the yolk of an egg, stir in quickly, add the juice of half a lemon, and serve (it must not boil after the egg and cream have been added) with triangular pieces of toasted or fried bread round. A blanquette of lamb made in the same manner is equally good. With the bones you may make a little stock by chopping them up into small pieces, and putting them into a stewpan, with an onion in slices, a bay-leaf, bunch of parsley, and a little raw ham, add water according to the quantity of bones, and boil rather more than half an hour, convert it into sauce by thickening with a little butter and flour, and use for hash; to make which cut the meat into small thin slices, put into a stewpan, with sufficient of the above sauce to moisten it, let simmer ten minutes, add two spoonfuls of vinegar and four gherkins in slices, season with a little white pepper and salt; pour upon your dish and serve.
No. 166. Minced Veal and Poached Eggs are also a very favorite dish; from the remains of veal cut about a pound of the lean, with a little of the fat, and two ounces of cooked ham into very small dice, put a tablespoonful of chopped onions into a stewpan, with half an ounce of butter, place over the fire, keep stirring until the onions change colour slightly, then stir in a tablespoonful of flour, moisten with half a pint of stock or milk, let boil ten minutes, add the mince, season well with white pepper and salt, when quite hot stir in a yolk of egg, mixed with two tablespoonfuls of cream or milk, do not let boil afterwards, finish with the juice of half a lemon, and pour upon your dish; have ready poached six eggs, by having a stewpan upon the fire with one quart of water, quarter of an ounce of salt, and a quarter of a gill of vinegar, when boiling break in six eggs separately, let boil from three to four minutes, draw off the fire, take them out with a colander spoon, drain a moment upon a cloth, dress upon the mince, pour a little melted butter over each, and serve with triangular pieces of fried bread round.
Minced lamb, beef, or mutton is done the same, using stock or water instead of milk, and letting the onions with the thickening become a little brown over the fire, likewise omit the yolk of egg and cream, serve with the eggs precisely the same; any kind of mince must be rather thick that the eggs may rest on it. By finishing the minced veal with the yolks of three eggs, stirring a moment over the fire until set, and pouring upon a dish until cold, you can serve it in any shaped croquettes you please, taking pieces from it of the size you may require, shaping them with a knife, dipping twice into eggs and bread-crumbs, patting them gently, frying a light brown colour in a stewpan of hot lard or dripping, and serving upon a napkin garnished with fried parsley; they may be made in oblong shapes, the size and length of small sausages, and fried as above: they are then called boudins.
Patties may also be made from cooked veal, preparing a blanquette as before described, and leaving it upon a dish until cold; line six large patty-pans very thinly with half puff paste (see page 480), lay some of the veal in the centre of each, sprinkle a little water over, and cover with sheets of the same paste of the thickness of a five-shilling piece, egg over, crimp the edges a little with a knife, place a leaf of paste upon the top of each, and bake about twenty minutes in a very hot oven until the paste is well done.
The remains of poultry, game, or any other description of meat, may also be converted into patties in the same method as above.
The remains of meat dressed as for the above patties is also very excellent for larger pies, filling the dish with it, when cold covering with paste, and baking in a rather warm oven.
No. 167. Mutton Cutlets Sautés. Cut eight cutlets from a neck of mutton, as directed (page 294), and put them into a sauté-pan, with an ounce of butter, season well with pepper and salt, place over the fire, when becoming a little browned turn them over, when firm to the touch they are done (which will take about ten minutes); take up and dress them upon your dish, pour as much of the fat as possible from the pan, add a quarter of a pint of water or broth, let boil until becoming a thin glaze, add a little sugar and a spoonful of Harvey sauce, pour over the cutlets and serve. Should you want a thick sauce you can obtain it by adding a small piece of butter, with which you have mixed a little flour, to the gravy in the sauté-pan, adding also a little colouring (No. 146).