_To prepare._--Soak them in cold water for about an hour. Take off and
remove the skin and bloody vessels that are all around. For two
sweetbreads set about one pint of water on the fire in a small saucepan
with salt, a tablespoonful of vinegar, a few slices of onion, six
pepper-corns, a clove of garlic, two cloves, six sprigs of parsley, one
of thyme, and a bay-leaf; boil two minutes, drop the sweetbreads in,
boil one minute and take them off. Drop them immediately in cold water
and leave them in for from two minutes to an hour. Put them on a flat
surface with a board over, and leave them thus till they are perfectly
cold and rather flattened.
_Au Jus._--Trim them a little, so as to give them a better appearance.
Lard the top or smooth side, then butter the bottom of a pan, spread a
few slices of onion on the butter; add a bay-leaf, a clove, two stalks
of parsley; place the sweetbreads on the whole, the larded side up,
cover the pan and set on a good fire, or in a rather warm oven; about
ten minutes after, add two or three tablespoonfuls of broth, baste now
and then till done. If the broth is absorbed before the sweetbreads are
done, add some more. Dish the sweetbreads, turn the gravy over them
through a strainer, and serve.
_Another way._--Prepare as above directed; then, instead of larding it,
you knead well together two ounces of butter, a teaspoonful of shallots
and parsley well chopped, half a clove of garlic, salt, and pepper;
place the whole in a stewpan, with the sweetbreads on it, and thin
slices of bacon on the sweetbreads; set the pan on a good fire, and add
then half a glass of broth, same of white wine; simmer till cooked; dish
the sweetbreads, throw a few drops of cold water in the sauce, skim off
the fat, strain the sauce on the sweetbreads, and serve.
When the sweetbreads _au jus_ are dished as directed, place tastefully,
all around, either of the following garnitures: _cauliflower_,
_chicken-combs_, _duxelle_, _financiere_, _mushrooms_, _liver_,
_Macedoine_, _quenelles_, and _truffles_. Besides these garnitures, the
sweetbreads may be decorated with small skewers, run through a boiled
_craw-fish_ and a small _quenelle_ of chicken or of veal. One or two
skewers may be stuck in each sweetbread.
The sweetbreads, when several are served at a time, may be placed on the
dish, either around it, forming a kind of crown, or forming a pyramid,
or in any other way, according to fancy. They may also be served with a
sauce _fines herbes_.