456. Pig’s Kidneys.—Cut them open lengthwise, season well with pepper and salt, egg over with a paste-brush, dip into bread-crumbs, with which you have mixed some chopped parsley and eschalot, run a skewer through to keep them open, and broil for about a quarter of an hour over a good fire; when done place them upon a dish, have ready an ounce of butter, with which you have mixed the juice of a lemon, a little pepper and salt, and a teaspoonful of French or common mustard, place a piece upon each of the kidneys, place in the oven for one minute, and serve. Pig’s kidneys may also be sautéd as directed for ox kidneys.
457. Hashed Pork.—Put two spoonfuls of chopped onions into a stewpan with a wineglassful of vinegar, two cloves, a blade of mace, and a bay-leaf, reduce to half, take out the spice and bay-leaf, add half a pint of broth or water, cut some pork previously cooked into thin small slices, season well upon a dish with pepper and salt, shake a good teaspoonful of flour over, mix all together, and put into the stewpan; let simmer gently ten minutes, pour out upon your dish, and serve with slices of gherkins in it; a little mustard may be added if approved of, or a little piccalilly with the vinegar is excellent.
The remains of salt pork, though very palatable cold, if required hot may be cut into large thin slices, and placed in a buttered sauté- or frying-pan, with a little broth, or merely fried in the butter, and served with a purée of winter peas, made by boiling half a pint of peas until tender (tied up in a cloth); when done put them into a stewpan with two ounces of butter; season with pepper and salt, add a gill of milk or cream, pour into the dish, and dress the pork over.
It may also be cut into thin slices and put into a soup plate, and pour some catsup or Harvey sauce over it, and let it remain for half an hour; butter the inside of a pudding basin, and lay some of the remains of peas pudding round it, and then place in the pork, cover it with some of the pudding, place it in a saucepan with a little water to get hot for about half an hour, and then turn it out and serve. Should you not have quite pork enough, you may make it up with a little sausage-meat, or any other kind of meat.
458. Fritadella (twenty receipts in one).—Put half a pound of crumb of bread to soak in a pint of cold water, take the same quantity of any kind of roast or boiled meat, with a little fat, chop it up like sausage meat, then put your bread in a clean cloth, press it to extract all the water, put into a stewpan two ounces of butter, a tablespoonful of chopped onions, fry for two minutes, then add the bread, stir with a wooden spoon until rather dry, then add the meat, season with a teaspoonful of salt, half the same of pepper, a little grated nutmeg, the same of lemon peel, stir continually until very hot; then add two eggs, one at a time, well mix together, and pour on a dish to get cold. Then take a piece as big as a small egg, and roll it to the same shape, flatten it a little, egg and bread-crumb over, keeping the shape, do all of it the same way, then put into a sauté-pan a quarter of a pound of lard, or clean fat, or oil; when hot, but not too much so, put in the pieces, and sauté a very nice yellow color, and serve very hot, plain, on a napkin, or on a border of mashed potatoes, with any sauce or garniture you fancy. These can be made with the remains of any kind of meat, poultry, game, fish, and even vegetables; hard eggs or cold mashed potatoes may be introduced in small quantities, and may be fried instead of sautéd, in which case put about two pounds of fat in the frying-pan, and if care is used it will do several times. This is an entirely new and very economical and palatable dish, and fit for all seasons, and if once tried would be often repeated; the only expense attending it is the purchase of a small wire sieve for the bread-crumbs. The reason I call it twenty receipts in one is, that all kinds of food may be used for it, even shrimps, oysters, and lobsters.
459. Ramifolle.—These are a little more expensive than the fritadella, and worthy the table of a crowned head. The flesh of fowls instead of lamb or veal, with the addition of one or two fat livers cut in dice. Proceed as in the former receipt, using the crumb of French rolls, and one or two truffles chopped fine: then make some pancake batter, and sauté two pancakes about one eighth of an inch thick, cover one with the meat, &c., and lay the other over, and put by until cold; when so cut them to any shape you like, but if like cutlets add the small bone of fowl or pigeon, or the stalk of a sprig of parsley, egg and bread-crumb them, and sauté them in oil or lard of a nice yellow color, and dish them like cutlets, with any of the sauces or garnitures described for mutton cutlets; or if plain, with fried parsley. They may be made of any kind of meat, fish, or poultry. I have latterly had them sent up to table when we have had a few friends, and they have been very much liked; and, on inquiring the name, I baptized them Ramifolle, without any particular meaning, which name having pleased as much as the dish, therefore let them be called Ramifolles.