or sautéd; if for gentlemen, season rather highly, but if ladies are to
be the partakers, season more moderately; a little gravy may be served
with it, to which you have added a little catsup; the root of the kidney
must not be cut away in this case, although not eatable. Ox-kidneys are
also an excellent addition to beef-steak puddings and pies.
408. _Ox-Feet or Cow-Heels_ are very nutritious, especially when well
boiled; they may be served in either of the methods directed for tripe,
or with a plain parsley-and-butter sauce, to which, for a change, the
juice of a lemon or a drop of vinegar may be added. Should any be left
from the first day's dinner, it may be served à la Lyonnaise, as
directed for cold tripe.
409. _Remains of Ox-Tongue._--The remains of a tongue from a previous
dinner may be again served thus:--Cut it into thin slices, put a small
piece of butter into a frying-pan, lay the pieces of tongue over, which
warm a few minutes in a sauté-pan, and serve with veal or fowl, if any;
when at home alone, I frequently have it with mashed potatoes under, it
makes a very good dish for luncheon. The pieces of tongue might also be
egged and bread-crumbed previous to cooking as above, and served with a
plain gravy, or any sharp sauce. (See Sauces.) Or should you have any
tongue, and veal or beef remaining, sprinkle a little chopped eschalots
at the bottom of a pie-dish, lay a layer of meat over, season with a
little salt, pepper, and chopped parsley, then a layer of the tongue;
have some yellowish crusts of bread grated, a teaspoonful of which
sprinkle over the tongue, then again a layer of the meat, proceeding
thus until the dish is nearly full, when sprinkle more of the brown
bread-crumbs over the top, placing a small piece of butter here and
there; pour in two wineglassfuls of water, set it in a warm oven half an
hour, and serve very hot. Or instead of bread-crumbs, make a little good
mashed potatoes, which spread over it smoothly with a spoon or knife,
bake half an hour in a warm oven, and serve.
Should the remains of a tongue be but small, and if well pickled and
boiled, the root and all would be excellent in any kind of beef, lamb,
mutton, veal, or pork, hashed, or in pies or puddings made from those
meats.
410. _Remains of Salt Beef._--The remains of salt beef are very
excellent, served in the few following ways, no matter from what joint,
or from what part of the joint: cut as large and thin slices as
possible, dip each slice into some vinegar from mixed pickles,
previously poured upon a plate in small quantities; lay about a pound
of the meat thus prepared upon a flat dish, pour a wineglassful of water
over, warm it through in the oven, or before a small fire, and serve.
Another way is, after having dipped the beef in pickles, roll them in
flour and proceed as above, adding double the quantity of water. Another
way is to sauté the slices with a little butter in a frying-pan, have
ready some nice mashed potatoes very hot, lay the beef over, and serve.
_Fricandeau of Veal._--This is a very favorite dish of mine. It is
generally considered an expensive one, but the way in which I do
it, it is not so; besides which, it gives a nice piece of veal at
table, when a fillet would be too large. I proceed to prepare it
thus:
411. Having the fillet prepared with the bone out as if for roasting, I
lay it on a board with the skin side downwards, and then remove (not
cutting it) that part of the outside which is separated from the thick
fleshy part (in France called "la noix") of the fillet by a skin; I then
place my hand on the top of the thick part, and cut away two thirds of
it, leaving an inch to an inch and a half of flesh for the fillet. I
then take a chopper dipped in cold water, and beat the veal with the
flat part, so as to make it of an equal thickness; I then lard it (see
Larding). You may not succeed very well the first or second time, but
now I am quite an artist in larding, as is also my cook, whom I taught,
it being so much like sewing. But should you not be able to manage it,
you must send it to the poulterer. The remains make an excellent fillet
for another day's dinner. Having proceeded thus far, I then cook it in
the following manner:
412. I take a stewpan of a convenient size, and lay on the bottom six or
eight slices of bacon, and place the fricandeau on them; I then take two
onions, two small carrots cut in slanting pieces, which place round it;
I then make a bouquet of ten sprigs of parsley, two of thyme, two of
bay-leaf, which I put in with two cloves, half a blade of mace, and
about a pint of broth or water, so as not to cover the larding; if no
broth, use water and a teaspoonful of salt, cover it with a sheet of
buttered paper, set it on a moderate fire; when on the point of boiling,
put it in a slack oven, where let it remain for two or three hours; be
careful every twenty minutes to moisten or baste the fricandeau with the
gravy which is in the stewpan; the slower it is done the better; ten
minutes before it is removed from the oven, take off the paper, in order
that the top may obtain a nice yellow color; if the oven should not be
hot enough, place live coals on the lid of the stewpan until done, try
also if it is tender with a pointed knife.
This dish ought to be carved with a spoon, being so tender; but I
prefer to cut it with a very sharp knife, as it is more inviting in
appearance. If you have no oven ready, stew gently on a hot plate,
or by the side of the stove, with the lid on and live coals on the
top. If you let it burn by any neglect or accident, do not tell
your friends that I gave you the receipt, as it would eat so very
bad, and I should lose my good name. It can be served with any
sauce or purée, but the one I prefer is as follows: Take the gravy
from the stewpan, which ought to be about half a pint, if not so
much add water, pass it through a fine sieve into a basin, remove
the fat from the top, put it into a small stewpan, reduce it a
little to a demi-glaze, mix half a teaspoonful of arrow-root in a
cup, with a little water, put it in the gravy, boil two minutes; it
ought to be of a bright yellow color, and transparent; the
fricandeau should be served with gravy under it. The following
purées are excellent to serve with it: sorrel, endive, peas, beans,
artichokes, and spinach; tomato, mushroom, and cucumber sauces, &c.
If a piece of udder can be procured, stew it with the fricandeau,
and serve it in the same dish. This receipt will well repay the
trouble attending it. The following is very good, and more simple.
413. _Fricandeau Bourgeoise, in its Gravy._--Cut as before from the
fillet, cut the bacon the same as for the neck, and laid with about
thirty large pieces, but in a slanting direction, leaving but little of
the bacon to be seen, as the object is to give all the advantage of the
bacon to the meat; put it into a stewpan with a quarter of a pound of
butter, a quarter of an ounce of salt, and one tenth of that of pepper;
set it on the fire for five minutes, turn it with a fork round and
round, then rake some cinders over the coals or charcoal so as to make
it go slow, and until it becomes of a nice yellow color; then add a gill
of water, a bay-leaf, half an onion, stew until quite tender, turning it
over and over now and then; put it on a dish, skim the fat off the
gravy, pour it over, and serve. It may also be served thus: by throwing
into the stewpan about twenty mushrooms, well washed about ten minutes
before serving; if the gravy is too thin, add a little arrow-root, and
serve: it can also be served with the sauces named in the former
Receipt. Nothing is nicer cold than this; if required to be re-warmed,
put it into a little broth or warm water, and heat slowly.
414. _Calf's Liver sauté._--Cut it into slices, put a little butter in
the sauté- or frying-pan, when melted, lay the liver in season with salt,
pepper, a teaspoonful of chopped eschalot, parsley, and grated nutmeg,
sauté on a sharp fire, when rather brown on both sides dredge a
tablespoonful of French vinegar, or a glass of wine, stir it well, and
boil for a few minutes; dish the liver in crowns; if the sauce is too
pale, add a little mushroom catsup or coloring, and it had better be too
thin than too thick; taste if well seasoned, and serve: the above is for
about two pounds of liver.
415. _Calf's Liver, English way._--Cut the liver into thin slices, dip
them in flour, and put in a sauté or frying-pan in which some slices of
bacon have been previously cooked, and have left sufficient fat in it;
sauté the liver until quite brown and rather crisp, when take out and
place it upon a dish with the bacon, then dredge a spoonful of flour in
the pan, or enough to absorb all the fat in it, then add a little broth
or water so as to make it a thinnish sauce, season it, and add two
spoonfuls of Harvey's sauce or mushroom catsup. If the above is nicely
done, and the pieces cut the size of cutlets, it will make a nice entrée
for an ordinary dinner. It should be served immediately, and very hot.
416. _Calf's Liver, dry._--The same may be served dry with the bacon, or
with any sharp sauce.
417. _Calf's Heart, roasted._--Proceed exactly the same as for ox's
heart, only this being more delicate and smaller requires less time to
roast, from half an hour to one hour, depending on the size; they may
also be cut in slices and sautéd like the liver above; or, by having
four for a large dish they may be dressed exactly like the liver (No.
415), but white instead of brown; stuff them and sauté white in butter,
which depends on a slow fire, and, adding the flour, just give a few
turns and add the broth immediately, then the onions and mushrooms,
season as described in the liver, stew very gently for one hour, take
out the hearts, skim off the fat, let it be thickish, boil down a little
if required, prepare two yolks of eggs well beaten, with a quarter of a
gill of milk, broth, or water, which pour into the same, stir quick for
half a minute, add the juice of half a lemon, trim the hearts, dish them
in a dish with the points upwards, pour the sauce over, and serve.
418. _Roast Sweetbreads._--Take the sweetbreads and lay them in water at
blood-heat, to disgorge, for three to four hours; then blanch them for
two minutes in boiling water, put them into a stewpan with a few slices
of carrot, onions, 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 or water, and let it boil for twenty minutes; take
them out and dry them in a cloth, egg and bread-crumb them, tie them on
a spit, and roast a nice brown color for ten to fifteen minutes; or they
may be browned in an oven, or fried in very hot lard for ten minutes, in
which case they should stew a little longer; they may be served with
plain gravy and a piece of toasted bread under, or a little melted
butter and some Harvey's, Reading, or Soyer's sauce, and a little catsup
added to it, boiled and poured round it; or with any of the sauces
fricandeau. The heart-bread being generally so expensive, I seldom make
use of it, but it may be blanched, larded, cooked, and served like the
fricandeau, diminishing the larding and cooking according to the size of
the bread, or it may be dressed as above, or, if a large throat-bread,
it may be larded.
419. _Sweetbreads sauté._--Blanch two throat-sweetbreads as in the
preceding receipt, cut them in slices, put some butter in a frying-pan,
and melt; then put in the sweet-bread, season over with salt, pepper,
juice of a lemon, parsley, and bay-leaf; turn them until done, and serve
very hot, with maître d'hôtel sauce over.
420. _Another way._--Prepare as above; add a little flour and a gill of
broth, a few raw mushrooms, stir continually to prevent burning, add a
few spoonfuls of cream and serve; if any remain, do them _au gratin_,
that is, put them in a pie-dish or flat plated dish, brown, bread-crumb
over, add a little broth, put into an oven, and, when very hot, serve.
421. _Veal Cutlets (old English method)._--See No. 157.
422. _Veal Cutlets aux Fines Herbes._--Cut from the neck the same as you
would from mutton, only of course larger; sprinkle with salt, pepper,
and chopped eschalot, set them on a gridiron and broil like common
chops, serve plain, or rub a little maître d'hôtel butter over them, set
in a hot place for a few moments, and serve. They may also be sautéd, by
putting them into a sauté-pan and sauté until a nice color, take them
out and put in the pan a spoonful of chopped onions, parsley, and
mushrooms (if handy), stir until done, then add a teaspoonful of flour;
when it is a little brown, add half a pint of water, two spoonfuls of
Harvey's sauce and one of vinegar, stir well round, dish up the cutlets,
sauce over and serve. They may also be larded like the fricandeau, and
served in the same way, and with the like sauces, only less time in
cooking.
423. _Veal Cutlets en papillote._--Prepare as the last, and put them in
a pie-dish and pour the sauce over, and let them remain until cold; then
cut a sheet of foolscap paper in the shape of a heart, and oil or butter
it; lay one of the cutlets with a little of the sauce on one half of the
paper, turn the other half over, then turn and plait the edges of the
paper over, beginning at the top of the heart and finishing with an
extra twist at the bottom, which will cause the sauce to remain in it;
broil slowly on a gridiron for twenty minutes on a very slow fire, or
place it in the oven for that time, and serve.
424. _Calf's Ears stewed._--If you make mock turtle with half a calf's
head, you may serve the ear; after having boiled the head as for mock
turtle, cut out the ear (it should weigh about half a pound), lay it
down on a board and make a few incisions through the thin gristly part
about one inch long; should it require a little more doing, put it in
the soup; when done, stand it on the dish in which you intend to serve
it, turn the top of the ear over outside, so that it forms a round; if
any brain to spare, put a piece in the centre, sauce over when very hot
with parsley and butter, tomato, or any sharp sauce, and serve; or,
instead of the brain, veal stuffing or forcemeat may be used; egg all
over, bread-crumb, put in an oven until very hot and a nice yellow
color, dish and serve with plain gravy: or it may be served with any
sauce or ragout.
425. _Made Dish from Joints that have been previously served._--(If from
braised veal, with vegetables.) Cut it into slices about a quarter of an
inch in thickness, then put the remainder, vegetables and gravy, if any,
in a pan; if not, with water and a piece of glaze; season with a little
salt, pepper, sugar, a bay-leaf, and the juice of a quarter of a lemon,
simmer gently for twenty minutes on a slow fire, dish the fillets in the
form of a crown, lay the vegetables in the middle, pour gravy over, and
serve. Or, what remains, cut into very small dice, leave none on the
bones, put in a pan, shake a little flour over, season with a little
salt, pepper, sugar, bay-leaf, and the juice of a quarter of a lemon,
then moisten it with milk sufficient to make a sauce, warm it for ten
minutes, add half an ounce of butter, stir it well, and serve very hot:
or, if you prefer it brown, leave out the milk and throw a few chopped
mushrooms and eschalots in, and moisten with a little water, to which
add a few drops of browning, or a little catsup; it ought never to be
too thick. Poached eggs may be served with these.
426. _Calf's Brains fried._--Prepare them as for calf's head; cut them
in pieces of about two inches square, dip them into batter, and fry them
immersed in fat; serve with fried parsley.
427. _Calf's Brains à la Maître d'Hôtel._--Prepare the brain as before,
warm six spoonfuls of melted butter; when hot, add one ounce of maître
d'hôtel butter, and, when melted, pour it over.
428. _Stewed Calf's Liver._--Choose a nice fat one rather white in
color, lard it through with bacon, put one quarter of a pound of butter
in a pan, when melted add a tablespoonful of flour, keep stirring until
a nice yellow color, then put in the whole of the liver, turn round now
and then until it is a little firm, then add a pint of broth or water,
and a glass of any kind of wine, a bouquet of parsley, thyme,
bay-leaves, a little salt, pepper, sugar, and thirty button onions,
simmer one hour; take the fat off and the bouquet out, dish the liver
with the onions around it, reduce the sauce, so that it adheres lightly
to the back of the spoon, sauce over, and serve. Any vegetables may be
used, as carrots, turnips, peas, haricots; and if a little gelatine or
isinglass is added to the sauce, and the liver with the sauce only put
into a round basin and pressed down and left until cold, it will make a
nice dish for supper, lunch, or breakfast. If required to be re-warmed,
cut it into slices, put it in a pan, with a drop of water added to the
gravy.
429. _Sheep's Brains._--Proceed as for calf's brains: these being
smaller do not require so long to cook; though very good, they are not
so delicate as calf's brains.
430. _Sheep's Kidneys._--For a small dish procure six fresh ones, take
off the thin skin which covers them, and cut them into slices, put in a
sauté-pan one ounce of butter, when melted and nearly brown, add the
kidneys, with half a teaspoonful of salt, one quarter ditto of pepper,
half a tablespoonful of flour, mix well together, add half a wine-glass
of sherry and a gill of broth, simmer for a few minutes, and serve very
hot; a nice crisp toast placed under them is an improvement; also, a few
raw mushrooms, cut in slices, added when being sautéd, are excellent.
For broiled kidneys, see Breakfast. They can also be cut in half and
cooked the same, and dished in a crown on a border of mashed potatoes.
431. _Sheep's Feet or Trotters._--Previous to visiting the
Continent, I had quite a dislike to the unfortunate _Pied de
Mouton_, whose blackish appearance in stall and basket seemed to be
intended to satisfy the ravenous appetites of the gentlemen with
the slouched hat. But I must say since I have tasted them in
France, cooked à la poulette, I have become of quite another
opinion, and I have prepared them at home thus:--
I get a dozen of them from the tripe-butcher, all cleaned and ready, and
beg of him to extract the long bone from them. I put a quarter of a
pound of beef or mutton suet in a stewpan, with two onions and one
carrot sliced, two bay-leaves, two sprigs of thyme, one ounce of salt, a
quarter of an ounce of pepper, put on the fire, and cook five minutes;
add two tablespoonfuls of flour, and stir it round; add two quarts and a
half of water, then put in the feet, stir till boiling, simmer for
nearly three hours, or until the feet are perfectly tender, when done,
take them out, and lay on sieve, take a quarter of a pound of fresh
butter, a teaspoonful of salt, the same of flour, a quarter of one of
pepper, a little grated nutmeg, the juice of a lemon, mix all these well
together on a plate with the back of a spoon; put the feet with a gill
of milk in a stewpan on the fire, when very hot, put in the butter, stir
continually till melted, having previously well mixed two yolks of eggs
with five tablespoonfuls of milk or cream, which put in the stewpan,
keep moving the pan round over the fire continually for one minute,
serve in a very hot dish with croutons of fried bread cut in triangular
pieces round the dish. The stock may be used for any purée or thick
soup.
432. _French Ragout of Mutton._--Take about two pounds of the scrag of
the neck, breast, chump, or any other part, with as little fat as
possible, cut it into pieces of about two inches square, put into a pan
two ounces of butter, or good fat, when melted, add two tablespoonfuls
of flour, stir with a wooden spoon till forming a brownish roux, add the
meat, and stir it round for twenty minutes, add a little water, but not
enough to cover the meat, one saltspoonful of pepper, four ditto of
salt, and four ditto of sugar, a bouquet of six sprigs of parsley, stir
till boiling, set it to simmer. Having previously peeled a few turnips,
cut in large dice of one inch square about thirty pieces, put some fat
in a frying-pan, and fry the turnips until rather brown, take them out,
and put them in a stewpan with the meat when it is done, which will be
in about one hour from the time it was put on; when ready to serve, take
out the meat and turnips, squeeze the bouquet, which throw away, skim
off the fat, if too thick, add a little broth or water, or, if too
thin, boil it a little more, dish it up by placing the pieces in a
circle and the turnips in the centre, sauce over, and serve very hot--if
not it is spoilt. For those that like it, a small piece of scraped
garlic may be added. Onions, carrots, peas, &c., may be used in place of
the turnips.
This is a very favorite dish in France; I learnt it from an old
French émigré, who used to visit us about ten years since. When I
have company, I use the chops of the neck, dress them in a crown,
placing the vegetables in the centre; I find them very much liked.
I have at some houses partaken of harico-mutton which has been
tolerably good, but nothing in flavor to this plan. If there is any
left, it is good warmed again, or even cold.
433. _Irish Stew._--Cut up about two pounds of the neck of the mutton
into small cutlets, which put into a proper sized stewpan with some of
the fat of the mutton, season with three spoonfuls of salt, half an
ounce of pepper, the same of sugar, six middle-sized onions, a quart of
water; set them to boil and simmer for half an hour, then add six
middling-sized potatoes, cut them in halves or quarters, stir it
together, and let it stew gently for about one hour longer; if too fat
remove it from the top, but if well done the potatoes would absorb all,
and eat very delicate; any other part of the mutton may be served in the
same way. I hope dearest----, that you will not blame my apparent common
taste in saying that I am fond of an Irish stew. I always recommend it
to my friends; I often add a bay-leaf to it, which varies the flavor.
LETTER No. XIII