The Book of Household Management Part 105

_Time_.--To soak 1 hour, to be boiled 10 minutes, baked 40 minutes.

_Average cost_, 1s. to 5s. _Sufficient_ for an entree.

_Seasonable_.--In full season from May to August.

FRIED SWEETBREADS a la Maitre d'Hotel (an Entree).

907. INGREDIENTS.--3 sweetbreads, egg and bread crumbs, 1/4 lb. of b.u.t.ter, salt and pepper to taste, rather more than 1/2 pint of Maitre d'hotel sauce No. 466.

_Mode_.--Soak the sweetbreads in warm water for an hour; then boil them for 10 minutes; cut them in slices, egg and bread crumb them, season with pepper and salt, and put them into a frying-pan, with the above proportion of b.u.t.ter. Keep turning them until done, which will be in about 10 minutes; dish them, and pour over them a Maitre d'hotel sauce, made by recipe No. 466. The dish may be garnished with slices of cut lemon.

_Time_.--To soak 1 hour, to be broiled 10 minutes, to be fried about 10 minutes.

_Average cost_, 1s. to 5s., according to the season.

_Sufficient_ for an entree.

_Seasonable_.--In full season from May to August.

_Note_.--The egg and bread crumb may be omitted, and the slices of sweetbread dredged with a little flour instead, and a good gravy may be subst.i.tuted for the _maitre d'hotel_ sauce. This is a very simple method of dressing them.

STEWED SWEETBREADS (an Entree).

908. INGREDIENTS.--3 sweetbreads, 1 pint of white stock No. 107, thickening of b.u.t.ter and flour, 6 tablespoonfuls of cream, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1 blade of pounded mace, white pepper and salt to taste.

_Mode_.--Soak the sweetbreads in warm water for 1 hour, and boil them for 10 minutes; take them out, put them into cold water for a few minutes; lay them in a stewpan with the stock, and simmer them gently for rather more than 1/2 hour. Dish them; thicken the gravy with a little b.u.t.ter and flour; let it boil up, add the remaining ingredients, allow the sauce to get quite _hot_, but _not boil_, and pour it over the sweetbreads.

_Time_.--To soak 1 hour, to be boiled 10 minutes, stewed rather more than 1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, from 1s. to 5s., according to the season.

_Sufficient_ for an entree.

_Seasonable_.--In full season from May to August.

_Note_.--A few mushrooms added to this dish, and stewed with the sweetbreads, will be found an improvement.

SEASON AND CHOICE OF VEAL.--Veal, like all other meats, has its season of plenty. The best veal, and the largest supply, are to be had from March to the end of July. It comes princ.i.p.ally from the western counties, and is generally of the Alderney breed. In purchasing veal, its whiteness and fineness of grain should be considered, the colour being especially of the utmost consequence. Veal may be bought at all times of the year and of excellent quality, but is generally very dear, except in the months of plenty.

STEWED TENDRONS DE VEAU (an Entree).

909. INGREDIENTS.--The gristles from 2 b.r.e.a.s.t.s of veal, stock No. 107, 1 f.a.ggot of savoury herbs, 2 blades of pounded mace, 4 cloves, 2 carrots, 2 onions, a strip of lemon-peel.

_Mode_.--The _tendrons_ or gristles, which are found round the front of a breast of veal, are now very frequently served as an entree, and when well dressed, make a nice and favourite dish. Detach the gristles from the bone, and cut them neatly out, so as not to spoil the joint for roasting or stewing. Put them into a stewpan, with sufficient stock, No.

107, to cover them; add the herbs, mace, cloves, carrots, onions, and lemon, and simmer these for nearly, or quite, 4 hours. They should be stewed until a fork will enter the meat easily. Take them up, drain them, strain the gravy, boil it down to a glaze, with which glaze the meat. Dish the _tendrons_ in a circle, with crotons fried of a nice colour placed between each; and put mushroom sauce, or a puree of green peas or tomatoes, in the middle.

_Time_.--4 hours. _Sufficient_ for one entree.

_Seasonable_.--With peas, from June to August.

COW-POX, OR VARIOLA.--It is to Dr. Jenner, of Berkeley, Gloucesters.h.i.+re, who died in 1823, that we owe the practice of vaccination, as a preservative from the attack of that destructive scourge of the human race, the small-pox. The experiments of this philosophic man were begun in 1797, and published the next year. He had observed that cows were subject to a certain infectious eruption of the teats, and that those persons who became affected by it, while milking the cattle, escaped the small-pox raging around them. This fact, known to farmers from time immemorial, led him to a course of experiments, the result of which all are acquainted with.

TENDRONS DE VEAU (an Entree).

910. INGREDIENTS.--The gristles from 2 b.r.e.a.s.t.s of veal, stock No. 107, 1 f.a.ggot of savoury herbs, 1 blade of pounded mace, 4 cloves, 2 carrots, 2 onions, a strip of lemon-peel, egg and bread crumbs, 2 tablespoonfuls of chopped mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste, 2 tablespoonfuls of sherry, the yolk of 1 egg, 3 tablespoonfuls of cream.

_Mode_.--After removing the gristles from a breast of veal, stew them for 4 hours, as in the preceding recipe, with stock, herbs, mace, cloves, carrots, onions, and lemon-peel. When perfectly tender, lift them out and remove any bones or hard parts remaining. Put them between two dishes, with a weight on the top, and when cold, cut them into slices. Brush these over with egg, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and fry a pale brown. Take 1/2 pint of the gravy they were boiled in, add 2 tablespoonfuls of chopped mushrooms, a seasoning of salt and pepper, the sherry, and the yolk of an egg beaten with 3 tablespoonfuls of cream.

Stir the sauce over the fire until it thickens; when it is on the _point of boiling_, dish the tendrons in a circle, and pour the sauce in the middle. Tendrons are dressed in a variety of ways,--with sauce a l'Espagnole, vegetables of all kinds: when they are served with a puree, they should always be glazed.

_Time_.--4-1/2 hours. _Average cost_.--Usually bought with breast of veal.

_Sufficient_ for an entree.

_Seasonable_ from March to October.

TETE DE VEAU EN TORTUE (an Entree).

911. INGREDIENTS.--Half a calf's head, or the remains of a cold boiled one; rather more than 1 pint of good white stock, No. 107, 1 gla.s.s of sherry or Madeira, cayenne and salt to taste, about 12 mushroom-b.u.t.tons (when obtainable), 6 hard-boiled eggs, 4 gherkins, 8 quenelles or forcemeat b.a.l.l.s, No. 422 or 423, 12 crayfish, 12 crotons.

_Mode_.--Half a calf's head is sufficient to make a good entree, and if there are any remains of a cold one left from the preceding day, it will answer very well for this dish. After boiling the head until tender, remove the bones, and cut the meat into neat pieces; put the stock into a stewpan, add the wine, and a seasoning of salt and cayenne; fry the mushrooms in b.u.t.ter for 2 or 3 minutes, and add these to the gravy. Boil this quickly until somewhat reduced; then put in the yolks of the hard-boiled eggs _whole_, the whites cut in small pieces, and the gherkins chopped. Have ready a few veal quenelles, made by recipe No.

422 or 423; add these, with the slices of head, to the other ingredients, and let the whole get thoroughly hot, _without boiling_.

Arrange the pieces of head as high in the centre of the dish as possible; pour over them the ragout, and garnish with the crayfish and crotons placed alternately. A little of the gravy should also be served in a tureen.

_Time_.--About 1/2 hour to reduce the stock.

_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.

_Average cost_, exclusive of the calf's head, 2s. 9d.

_Seasonable_ from March to October.

A FRENCHMAN'S OPINION OF VEAL.--A great authority in his native Paris tells us, that veal, as a meat, is but little nouris.h.i.+ng, is relaxing, and sufficiently difficult of digestion. Lending itself, as it does, he says, in all the flowery imagery of the French tongue and manner, "to so many metamorphoses, it may be called, without exaggeration, the chameleon of the kitchen. Who has not eaten calf's head _au naturel_, simply boiled with the skin on, its flavour heightened by sauce just a little sharp? It is a dish as wholesome as it is agreeable, and one that the most inexperienced cook may serve with success. Calf's feet _a la poulette_, _au gratin_, fried, &c.; _les cervelles_, served in the same manner, and under the same names; sweetbreads _en fricandeau_, _piques en fin_,--all these offer most satisfactory entrees, which the art of the cook, more or less, varies for the gratification of his glory and the well-being of our appet.i.tes.

We have not spoken, in the above catalogue, either of the liver, or of the _fraise_, or of the ears, which also share the honour of appearing at our tables. Where is the man not acquainted with calf's liver _a la bourgeoise_, the most frequent and convenient dish at unpretentious tables? The _fraise_, cooked in water, and eaten with vinegar, is a wholesome and agreeable dish, and contains a mucilage well adapted for delicate persons. Calf's ears have, in common with the feet and _cervelles_, the advantage of being able to be eaten either fried or _a la poulette_; and besides, can be made into a _farce_, with the addition of peas, onions, cheese, &c. Neither is it confined to the calf's tongue, or even the eyes, that these shall dispute alone the glory of awakening the taste of man; thus, the _fressure_ (which, as is known, comprises the heart, the _mou_, and the _rate_), although not a very recherche dish, lends itself to all the caprices of an expert artist, and may, under various marvellous disguises, deceive, and please, and even awaken our appet.i.te."--Verily, we might say, after this rhapsody of our neighbour, that his country's weal will not suffer in him as an able and eloquent exponent and admirer.

VEAL CARVING.

BREAST OF VEAL.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BREAST OF VEAL.]

912. The carving of a breast of veal is not dissimilar to that of a fore-quarter of lamb, when the shoulder has been taken off. The breast of veal consists of two parts,--the rib-bones and the gristly brisket.

These two parts should first be separated by sharply pa.s.sing the knife in the direction of the lines 1, 2; when they are entirely divided, the rib-bones should be carved in the direction of the lines 5 to 6; and the brisket can be helped by cutting pieces in the direction 3 to 4. The carver should ask the guests whether they have a preference for the brisket or ribs; and if there be a sweetbread served with the dish, as it often is with roast breast of veal, each person should receive a piece.