Sauce: Put a tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan; when it bubbles, add a tablespoonful of flour. Cook the flour a few minutes, but do not let it brown. Remove it from the fire and add, while stirring all the time, a half cupful of stock, chicken stock preferred, a dash of nutmeg and of pepper, and a saltspoonful of salt. Put the saucepan on the fire again and stir until the sauce has thickened, then add two tablespoonfuls of cream.
Any pretty bivalve shell of suitable size may be used for holding this or other creamed mixtures. The illustration shows pecten and cardium shells.
TO PREPARE CALF’S BRAINS
Calf’s brains, in whatever way they are to be served, must be prepared in the following manner: Soak the brains in cold water for some time to extract all the blood. Trim them, removing the membranes and fibers, without breaking the brains apart. Place them in hot water with a bay-leaf, soup vegetables, a few peppercorns, a teaspoonful of salt, and a tablespoonful of vinegar. Cook them for half an hour, letting the water simmer only. When done immerse them in cold water to blanch them.
CALF’S BRAINS
No. 1. À la poulette. Cut the brains in halves or quarters. Arrange them in a circle around mushrooms and pour over the whole a white sauce made partly of stock, and the beaten yolks of two eggs with a little cream added after the sauce is taken from the fire. Garnish with croutons or cut the brains into large dice, mix them with the same sauce, and serve them in individual cups.
No. 2. À l’aurore. Cut the brains into dice; add the chopped whites of three or four hard-boiled eggs to each pair of brains. Add a teaspoonful of parsley chopped very fine, and a saltspoonful of salt. Moisten with white sauce and place the mixture in a baking-dish. Cover the top with crumbed yolks, and over the yolks spread a thin layer of white bread crumbs wet with butter. Set the dish in the oven to brown the crumbs.
No. 3. With Hollandaise sauce. Cut the brains in halves. Place each piece on a round of bread which has been browned in butter. Pour over the whole a Hollandaise sauce, or a white sauce to which has been added, after taking it from the fire, the beaten yolk of an egg and a tablespoonful of parsley chopped very fine.
No. 4. With black butter. Cut the brains into thick slices. Cook two tablespoonfuls of butter in a sauté-pan until it is brown. Lay in the slices of brains and color them on both sides. Arrange them in a dish, sprinkle them with chopped parsley, pepper, and salt. Add a teaspoonful of vinegar to the butter, and strain it over the brains.