Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks Part 35

The above way of serving them is sometimes called _au naturel_.

_With Crumbs._--When trimmed, dip them in egg beaten with salt, pepper, and chopped parsley, roll them in bread-crumbs, and then broil and serve them as the above, with a _maitre d'hotel_.

_Fines Herbes._--Broil the chops as above, either with or without crumbs, and serve them with sauce _aux fines herbes_.

_A l'Italienne._--When broiled as above, serve them on a layer of _macaroni Italienne_.

_With Mushrooms._--When broiled and dished, surround them with a garniture of mushrooms, and serve warm. When there are several cutlets on the dish, and placed all around overlapping, the garniture may be put in the middle of the chops.

Do the same with the following garnitures: chicken-combs, _croutons_, _duxelle_, _financiere_, _Macedoine_, and onion. They may also be served on any _puree_.

_Baked._--Trim six cutlets. Mix well half a pound of sausage-meat with two eggs. Put a piece of b.u.t.tered paper large enough to cover the bottom of a bakepan in which the six cutlets may be laid easily. Spread half the sausage-meat on the paper in the pan, then lay the cutlets in it; put the other half of the sausage-meat over the cutlets, and place the whole in a rather quick oven. Baste every five minutes with melted b.u.t.ter and broth, using them alternately, and serve warm with the gravy when done. A few drops of lemon-juice may be added to them when on the dish, if liked.

_Sautees._--Trim, and fry them with a little b.u.t.ter. When done on both sides, add a little broth, salt, pepper, and mushrooms and parsley chopped fine; chopped truffles may be added, if handy; boil gently for about ten minutes. Place the cutlets around the dish, one lapping over the other, turn the sauce in the middle, sprinkle some lemon-juice over the whole, and serve warm.

_With Sauce._--When broiled, baked, or _sauted_, they may be dished and served with either of the following sauces: _fines herbes_, _maitre d'hotel_, _piquante_, _poivrade_, _ravigote_, _tarragon_, tomato, or truffle.

_En Bellevue._--Proceed the same as for fillet of beef _en Bellevue_.

_In Papillotes._--Trim six veal-chops, spread salt and pepper on them, and fry them with a little b.u.t.ter till about half done. Take from the fire, and cut a small hole in the middle with a paste-cutter. While they are frying, fry with a little b.u.t.ter one onion chopped fine; as soon as fried, add half a pound of sausage-meat; stir now and then for about five minutes; add also a pinch of cinnamon, same of nutmeg; take off and mix with the whole one yolk of egg, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, salt, and pepper. Cut six pieces of white paper of a heart-like shape, and large enough to envelop a chop; grease them slightly with b.u.t.ter or sweet-oil; place some sausage-meat on one side of the paper (say half a tablespoonful), place a chop on it; put some sausage-meat on the chop and in the hole; fold the paper in two; then, by folding all around the border, the chop and seasonings are perfectly enveloped in the paper; put the chops in a baking-pan, spread a few drops of oil all over, and bake for about fifteen minutes in an oven at about 250 deg. Fahr.

Instead of baking them, broil them carefully turning them over often and basting them to prevent the paper from burning, and serve with the paper on. They may be served on a _duxelle_ garniture, or with a _puree_.

_Fricandeau._--Take a piece of veal of any size, from the leg, loin, or cutlet piece, about three-quarters of an inch in thickness, lard one side with salt pork, the same as a fillet of beef. Put in a saucepan (for two pounds of meat) one ounce of b.u.t.ter, half a middling-sized onion, and as much carrot in slices, two or three stalks of parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, six or eight pepper-corns, and rind of the pork you have used; spread all these seasonings on the bottom of the saucepan, put the piece of veal on them, the larded side up, set on a good fire for about fifteen minutes; after which you look if the under side of the meat is well browned; if so, add a gill of broth, put in the oven and baste often, if not, leave a little longer on the fire. Add a little broth once in a while, to keep the bottom of the pan wet, and to have enough to baste till a little overdone, and serve with the gravy strained all over it. It is then called _au jus_.

_With Spinach._--Prepare and cook the _fricandeau_ as above; and when done, put some broth in the pan after having taken off the meat; give one boil; turn in the spinach _au jus_; stir on the fire one minute; dish the spinach; place the _fricandeau_ on it, and serve.

_With Sorrel._--Proceed as with spinach in every particular, except that you serve on sorrel _au jus_ instead of spinach. It makes a more delicate dish with sorrel, although excellent with spinach.

It may also be served with green peas _au jus_ or _a l'anglaise_.

_Financiere._--When prepared, cooked, and dished as directed, surround it with a _financiere_ garniture, and serve warm.

_Jardiniere._--After being cooked and dished, put a _Macedoine_ garniture around it, and serve warm.

SHOULDER.

_Boned._--Lay the shoulder on the table, the inside up, split it just in the middle, lengthwise, and following the middle of the bones; remove the flat bone at the larger end first. Do the same for the remaining bone. Then spread the shoulder open, and salt and pepper it. Fill the inside with sausage-meat; roll it of a round shape, and when properly tied with twine, roast or bake it, as directed for roasted or baked veal. It is then dished, decorated, and served in the same and every way as directed for roasted pieces of veal.

It is an excellent dish served on either of the following purees: _beans_, _celery_, _lentils_, _peas_, _potatoes_, _sorrel_, _spinach_, or _tomatoes_.

When served on a _puree_, it may be decorated with skewers, the same as when served with a garniture.

It may also be served with a _piquante_ or _poivrade_ sauce.

_Stuffed._--Bone the shoulder as directed above; spread it open, and salt and pepper it, also as directed. Spread a coat of sausage-meat on it, about one-third of an inch in thickness, then put a layer of salt pork on the sausage-meat; then a layer of boiled ham; again a layer of sausage-meat; on this a layer of beef or sheep's tongue, boiled. The ham and tongue are cut in square fillets, about one-fourth of an inch broad and about two inches long. The tongues may be fresh or salted, according to taste. When filled, roll it so as to give it a round shape; wrap it up in a towel and drop it in boiling water, to which you have added salt. Boil gently for about four hours, take the kettle from the fire and let cool. When cold take the shoulder off, wipe it dry and serve with meat jelly. The jelly is chopped, or cut in fancy shapes, or both.

Some chopped jelly may be placed all around the meat, and some cut in fancy shapes with a paste-cutter or with a knife, and placed over it.

It may also be decorated with skewers, as directed for roasted pieces of veal.

_En Bellevue._--When boiled and cold, prepare it like a fillet of _beef en Bellevue_, and serve.

LOIN OR LEG STEWED.

Have in a stewpan and on a slow fire three or four tablespoonfuls of sweet-oil; when hot put the loin in, turn it over till of a yellow color all around, then add a bay-leaf, salt, pepper, and a pint of warm water; simmer four hours, and serve with the following sauce, which you must have prepared at the same time: Fry in b.u.t.ter till of a golden color ten middling-sized onions, then add to them half a gla.s.s of claret wine, two tablespoonfuls of broth, and two of the juice of the loin, ten mushrooms (if handy); simmer till cooked, and strain. Mix the sauce with the juice of the loin, and put it on a dish, place the loin upon it, and serve with the onions and mushrooms around the meat.

In case the juice of the loin should be found too fat, throw in it (and before mixing it with the sauce) a few drops of cold water, and skim off the fat.

The only thing to throw away before mixing is the bay-leaf.

_Another way, or prepared with a Garniture of Cabbages._--Put in a stewpan and set on a good fire a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of an egg; when melted, add four onions and two small carrots, cut in slices; fry them two or three minutes, then put the loin in, with half a bay-leaf, wet with warm broth; then subdue the fire, let simmer about two hours and a half; strain the sauce on a dish, place the meat on it, and serve with a garniture of cabbages around.

COLD VEAL.

Cut the meat in slices and serve them on a dish, arranged according to fancy, and serve with a _piquante_, _poivrade_, _Mayonnaise_, _Provencale_, _ravigote_, or _remolade_ sauce. It may also be decorated and served like cold mutton, in _vinaigrette_.

_Another way._--Put a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of an egg in a stewpan and set on a good fire, mix in when melted two teaspoonfuls of flour, stir till of a brownish color, when add a saltspoonful of chopped parsley, four leaves of tarragon, salt, pepper, and half a pint of broth (more or less of the above according to the quant.i.ty of meat you have left), boil the whole fifteen minutes; then, if what you have left is from an entire piece, cut it in slices, lay them in the pan, and serve when warm enough, as it is.

If what you have left is in pieces or slices, you merely place them in the pan and serve with the sauce when warm.

BRAIN.

_To prepare._--Put the brain in a bowl of cold water and a tablespoonful of vinegar and leave it in from one to two or three hours, that is, till you are ready to use it, but do not leave it more than five or six hours and not less than one hour. Take it off, remove the thin skin and blood-vessels that are all around.

_To boil._--When prepared, put the brain in a small saucepan, cover it with cold water; add two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, half an onion sliced, three stalks of parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, six pepper-corns, one clove, salt, boil about five minutes and take off the fire. Cut each half of the brain in two, from side to side; place the four pieces on a dish, the part cut upward.

_Au Beurre Noir._--When dished as above directed, put two ounces of b.u.t.ter in a frying-pan and when melted turn into it two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, boil two or three minutes, then throw into it half a dozen stalks of parsley, take them off immediately with a skimmer, turn the b.u.t.ter and vinegar over the brain; spread the parsley around, and serve.

_Stewed, or in Matelote._--When prepared as directed, put it in a small saucepan and cover it with claret wine; add half an onion sliced, one clove of garlic, one clove, two sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, salt, a bay-leaf, six pepper-corns, and boil gently for about fifteen minutes.

Cut and dish it as directed above; turn the sauce over it through a strainer and serve--it is understood, the sauce in which it has been cooked.

_Fried._--Prepare as directed, cut in about six slices, dip them in batter, and fry in hot fat. (_See direction for_ Frying.)

_In Poulette._--Prepare and boil it as directed, split each half of the brain in two or four pieces, place them tastefully on a dish, spread a _poulette_ sauce all over, and serve warm. It may also be prepared and served with a _piquante_ sauce. When the _piquante_ sauce is made, put the brain or brains in, boil ten minutes, and serve as it is.

EARS.

They are prepared in every way like calf's head.

FEET.

_To boil._--Throw them in boiling water for five minutes, split them in the middle and lengthwise after having taken off the large bone and hair, and tie them with a string. Put a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of two walnuts in a stewpan and set it on the fire, when melted add a teaspoonful of chopped parsley and green onions, half of each, a quarter of a lemon cut in slices, salt, and pepper, then the feet; wet with a gla.s.s of warm water; boil gently two or three hours, take from the fire and when nearly cold dip them in bread-crumbs, place them on a gridiron and set on a good fire, baste slightly with the juice in which they have cooked, and serve with fried parsley around.

_The same, in Poulette._--Prepare and cook them as above. When you take them from the fire, instead of dipping them in bread-crumbs, put them in a _poulette_ sauce, simmer ten minutes, and serve.