Merely wash off the blood. One could, by soaking, extract all the flavor from the heart. Stuff it with a veal force-meat stuffing, or a common stuffing, often used for turkeys, of bread-crumbs, onion, a little thyme or sage, egg, pepper, and salt. Tie a buttered paper over the mouth of the heart to keep the stuffing in place. Put it into a small baking-pan with a little hot water, pepper, and salt. Bake nearly two hours, basting it very frequently. When done, thicken the gravy with flour; strain, skim, and season it, and pour it on the dish around the heart. Garnish the plate with onions, first boiled until nearly done, then seasoned with pepper, salt, and a little butter, and browned in the oven.
Tongue, With Mustard Pickle Sauce.
Cut boiled tongue into slices; fry them in a little hot butter, with a sprinkle of minced onion thrown in. Then, for the sauce, take out the slices of tongue; put in a tea-spoonful of flour, and when brown, a tea-cupful of hot water. When done, strain, and season with salt and pepper; add a table-spoonful of chopped pickles (piccalilli is best); however, common cucumber pickles may be used, with a little mustard added; or the sauce may be flavored with capers, or with both capers and pickles. Let the slices of tongue soak in the sauce until ready to serve, then arrange the slices of tongue on a platter, one lapped over the other, and pour over the sauce. A beef tongue may be braised, and served with spinach or sauce Tartare, as described for sheep’s tongues.
Tongue Slices, with Spinach and Sauce Tartare.
Braise the tongue as described for sheep’s tongues (see page 158): arrange a circle of the slices around a platter, and on each slice smooth a little hill (enough for one person) of spinach prepared as described in the same receipt for “sheep’s tongues with spinach.” Put either a spoonful of sauce Tartare or a slice of lemon into or on the top of each spinach-mold. This makes a nice lunch or dinner dish.
VEAL.
The best pieces of veal are the loin and the fillet. A variety of dishes can be made with veal cutlets and their different accompaniments. Veal is always better cooked with pork or ham. Professional cooks generally trim and lard their veal cutlets, serving them with tomato-sauce, pease, beans, breakfast bacon, lemon-slices, cucumbers, etc. For a cheap dish, one of the most satisfactory is a knuckle of veal made into a ragout, or pot-pie. Any of the inferior cuts may be made into a blanquette.
A fricandeau of veal is perhaps considered the most distinguished veal dish. I would always advise the trimming of veal cutlets. It gives little trouble, but the appearance is much improved, and the trimmings should be thrown into the stock-pot. Veal should always be thoroughly cooked.