Chapter I.), or as much good beef broth as may be required for the hash,

will convert this into a really good dish. For preparations which are of themselves insipid, the _Jewish_ beef, of which we have often already spoken, is an admirable addition. TO DRESS COLD CALF’S HEAD OR VEAL À LA MÂITRE D’HÔTEL. (GOOD.) (_English Receipt._) Cut into small delicate slices, or into scollops of equal size, sufficient cold calf’s head or veal for a dish. Next knead very smoothly together with a knife two ounces of butter, and a small dessertspoonful of flour; put these into a stewpan or well tinned saucepan, and keep them stirred or shaken over a gentle fire until they have simmered for a minute or two, but do not let them take the slightest colour; then add to them in very small portions (letting the sauce boil up after each is poured in) half a pint of pale veal gravy, or of good shin-of-beef stock, and when the whole is very smoothly blended, and has boiled for a couple of minutes, mix together and stir to it a tablespoonful of common vinegar, a dessertspoonful of chili vinegar, a little cayenne, a tablespoonful of good mushroom catsup, and a _very small_ bit of sugar; and when the sauce again boils, strew a tablespoonful of minced parsley over the meat, lay it in, and let it stand by the fire until it is quite heated through, but do not allow it to boil: if kept just at the simmering point for ten or twelve minutes it may be served perfectly hot without. The addition of the mushroom catsup converts this into an English sauce, and renders it in colour, as well as in flavour, unlike the French one which bears the same name, and which is acidulated generally with lemon-juice instead of vinegar. Pickled mushrooms are sometimes added to the dish: the parsley when it is objected to may be omitted, and the yolks of two or three eggs mixed with a little cream may be stirred in, but not allowed to boil, just before the meat is served. When veal is used for this hash instead of calf’s, it should be cut into slices not much larger than a shilling, and freed entirely from fat, sinew, and the brown edges. When neither broth nor gravy is at hand, a morsel or two of lean ham, and a few of the trimmings or bones of the head or joint, may be boiled down to supply its place. Sufficient cold calf’s head, or meat, for a dish; butter, 2 oz.; flour, 1 small dessertspoonful; gravy, or strong broth, 1/2 pint; vinegar, and mushroom catsup, of each 1 tablespoonful; chili vinegar, 1 dessertspoonful; _small_ bit of sugar; little cayenne, and salt if needed; parsley, 1 tablespoonful (pickled mushrooms or not at pleasure). _Obs._—Soles or cod-fish are very good, if raised neatly from the bones, or _flaked_, and heated in this _Mâitre d’Hôtel_ sauce. CALF’S HEAD BRAWN. (_Author’s Receipt._) The half of a fine large calf’s head with the skin on, will best answer for this brawn. Take out the brains, and bone it entirely, or get the butcher do this; rub a little fine salt over, and leave it to drain for ten or twelve hours; next wipe it dry, and rub it well in every part with three quarters of an ounce of saltpetre finely powdered (or with an ounce should the head be _very_ large) and mixed with four ounces of common salt, and three of bay-salt, also beaten fine; turn the head daily in this pickle for four or five days, rubbing it a little each time; and then pour over it four ounces of treacle, and continue to turn it every day, and baste it with the brine very frequently for a month. Hang it up for a night to drain, fold it in brown paper, and send it to be smoked where wood only is burned, from three to four weeks. When wanted for table, wash and scrape it very clean, but do not soak it; lay it, with the rind downwards, into a saucepan or stewpan, which will hold it easily; cover it _well_ with cold water, as it will swell considerably in the cooking; let it heat rather slowly, skim it thoroughly when it first begins to simmer, and boil it as gently as possible from an hour and three quarters to a couple of hours or more, should it not then be _perfectly_ tender quite through; for unless sufficiently boiled, the skin, which greatly resembles brawn, will be unpleasantly tough when cold. When the fleshy side of the head is done, which will be twenty minutes or half an hour sooner than the outside, pour the water from it, leaving so much only in the stewpan as will just cover the gelatinous part, and simmer it until this is thoroughly tender. The head thus cured is very highly flavoured, and most excellent eating. The receipt for it is entirely new, having originated with ourselves. We give the reader, in addition, the result of our _first_ experiment with it, which was entirely successful:—“A half calf’s head, not very large, without the skin, pickled with three ounces of common salt, two of bay-salt, half an ounce of saltpetre, one ounce of brown sugar, and _half an ounce of pepper_, left four days; then three ounces of treacle added, and the pickling continued for a month; smoked nearly as long, and boiled between one hour and a half, and two hours.” The pepper was omitted in our second trial, because it did not improve the appearance of the dish, although it was an advantage in point of flavour. Juniper-berries might, we think, be added with advantage, when they are liked; and cayenne tied in a muslin might supply the place of the pepper. It is an infinite improvement to have the skin of the head left on. TO ROAST A FILLET OF VEAL. Take out the bone and put a good roll of forcemeat (No. 1, Chapter VIII.) under the flap, dividing first, with a sharp knife, the skin from the meat sufficiently to admit the quantity required; secure it well, truss the veal firmly into good shape, place it at a distance from the fire at first, and baste it with butter. The outside will have a richer crust of browning if the meat be washed, wiped tolerably dry, and well floured before it is laid to the fire. It should be carefully watched, and basted often, that the fat may not burn. Pour melted butter over it after it is dished, and serve with it a boiled cheek of bacon and a lemon. Roast it from three hours and a half, to four hours and a half, according to its size. FILLET OF VEAL, AU BÉCHAMEL, WITH OYSTERS. Roast, in the usual way, a delicate fillet of veal, and in preparing it for the spit be careful to bind it up tightly, so that no cavity may be left where the bone has been taken out. While it is at the fire, plump gently in their own strained liquor, without allowing them to boil, half a pint of fine native oysters, and, after having freed them from the beards, set them aside; then boil the beards for fifteen or twenty minutes in nearly three quarters of a pint of good veal stock, or in strong veal broth, made for the purpose; strain them out, add the liquor of the oysters, also passed through a muslin or other fine strainer, and convert the broth into rich white sauce, of which there should be a full pint. When the veal is ready to serve, take it from the spit, dish it in a very hot dish, and cut out quickly from the centre in a cup-like form, about a pound of the meat, leaving a wide margin round the joint, to be carved in the usual way. Mince, as rapidly as possible, the white part of the veal which has been cut from the fillet, and the plumped oysters; put the whole into the white sauce, which should be ready heated, bring it to the _point_ of boiling, pour it into the fillet, and send it immediately to table. The joint should be placed under a well-heated cover, while the mince is in course of preparation, and be kept near the fire. When the knuckle of veal has been sent in with the fillet, a few thick slices from it may be taken for the sauce; but it should be boiled down sufficiently early to allow it to cool, and to have every particle of fat removed from it before it is used. A pound of the meat ought to make, with the addition of the oyster liquor, sufficient gravy for the sauce. When expense is not a consideration, the _béchamel_ of Chapter V. may be made for it, and the fillet may be filled up entirely with whole oysters heated in it; or these may be intermixed with the veal cut into shilling-sized collops. Mushroom-buttons, stewed white in butter, can be substituted for the oysters, when their season is past; and very small forcemeat balls, delicately fried, may then be piled entirely over the open part of the fillet. Persons who may take exception at the idea of _oysters with roast veal_, as not being in accordance with the common etiquette of the table, are recommended to give the innovation a trial before they reject its adoption. BOILED FILLET OF VEAL. A small and delicately white fillet should be selected for this purpose. Bind it round with tape, after having washed it thoroughly; cover it well with cold water, and bring it gently to boil; watch, and clear off carefully, the scum as it rises, and be, at the same time, very cautious not to allow the water to become smoked. Let the meat be _gently simmered_ from three hours and a half to four and a half, according to its weight. Send it to table with rich white sauce, and a boiled tongue; or make for it in the first instance the oyster forcemeat of Chapter VIII., and serve with the veal a tureen of well-made oyster sauce. 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours. ROAST LOIN OF VEAL. It is not usual to stuff a loin of veal, but we greatly recommend the practice, as an infinite improvement to the joint. Make the same forcemeat as for the fillet; and insert it between the skin and the flesh just over the ends of the bones. Skewer down the flap, place the joint at a moderate distance from a sound fire, keep it constantly basted, and be especially careful not to allow the kidney fat to burn: to prevent this, and to ensure the good appearance of the joint, a buttered paper is often fastened round the loin, and removed about half an hour before it is taken from the fire. It is the fashion in some counties to serve _egg-sauce_ and brown gravy with roast loin, or breast of veal. The cook will scarcely need to be told that she must separate the skin from the flank, with a sharp knife, quite from the end, to the place where the forcemeat is to be put, and then skewer the whole very securely. When the veal is not papered, dredge it well with flour soon after it is laid to the fire. 2 to 2-1/2 hours. BOILED LOIN OF VEAL. If dressed with care and served with good sauces, this, when the meat is small and white is an excellent dish, and often more acceptable to persons of delicate habit than roast veal. Take from eight to ten pounds of the best end of the loin, leave the kidney in with all its fat, skewer or bind down the flap, lay the meat into cold water, and boil it _as gently as possible_ from two hours and a quarter to two and a half, clearing off the scum perfectly, as in dressing the fillet. Send it to table with well-made oyster sauce, or _béchamel_, or with white sauce well flavoured with lemon-juice, and with parsley, boiled, pressed dry, and finely chopped. 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 hours. STEWED LOIN OF VEAL. Take part of a loin of veal, the chump end will do; put into a large, thick, well-tinned iron saucepan, or into a stewpan, about a couple of ounces of butter, and shake it over a moderate fire until it begins to brown; flour the veal well all over, lay it into the saucepan, and when it is of a fine, equal, light brown, pour gradually in veal broth, gravy, or boiling water to nearly half its depth; add a little sauce, one or two sliced carrots, a small onion, or more when the flavour is much liked, and a bunch of parsley; stew the veal very softly for an hour or rather more; then turn it, and let it stew for nearly or quite another hour, or longer should it not be perfectly tender. As none of our receipts have been tried with large, coarse veal, the cooking must be regulated by that circumstance, and longer time allowed should the meat be of more than moderate size. Dish the joint, skim all the fat from the gravy, and strain it over the meat; or keep the joint hot while it is rapidly reduced to a richer consistency. This is merely a plain family stew. BOILED BREAST OF VEAL. Let both the veal and the sweetbread be washed with exceeding nicety, cover them with cold water, clear off the scum as it rises, throw in a _little_ salt, add a bunch of parsley, a large blade of mace, and twenty white peppercorns; simmer the meat from an hour to an hour and a quarter, and serve it covered with rich onion sauce. Send it to table very hot. The sweetbread may be taken up when half done, and curried, or made into cutlets, or stewed in brown gravy. When onions are objected to, substitute white sauce and a cheek of bacon for them, or parsley and butter, if preferred to it. 1 to 1-1/4 hour. TO ROAST A BREAST OF VEAL. Let the caul remain skewered over the joint till with within half an hour of its being ready for table: place it at a moderate distance from a brisk fire, baste it constantly, and in about an hour and a half remove the caul, flour the joint, and let it brown. Dish and pour melted butter over it, and serve it with a cut lemon, and any other of the usual accompaniments to veal. It may be garnished with fried balls of the forcemeat (No. 1, Chapter VIII.) about the size of a walnut. 2 to 2-1/2 hours. TO BONE A SHOULDER OF VEAL, MUTTON, OR LAMB. [Illustration: Shoulder of Veal boned. ] Spread a clean cloth upon a table or dresser, and lay the joint flat upon it, with the skin downwards; with a sharp knife cut off the flesh from the inner side nearly down to the blade bone, of which detach the edges first, then work the knife _under_ it, keeping it always _close to the bone_, and using all possible precaution not to pierce the outer skin; when it is in every part separated from the flesh, loosen it from the socket with the point of the knife, and remove it; or, without dividing the two bones, cut round the joint until it is freed entirely from the meat, and proceed to detach the second bone. That of the knuckle is frequently left in, but for some dishes it is necessary to take it out; in doing this, be careful not to tear the skin. A most excellent grill may be made by leaving sufficient meat for it upon the bones of a shoulder of mutton, when they are removed from the joint: it will be found very superior to the broiled blade-bone of a _roast_ shoulder, which is so much liked by many people. STEWED SHOULDER OF VEAL. (_English Receipt._) Bone a shoulder of veal, and strew the inside thickly with savoury herbs minced small; season it well with salt, cayenne, and pounded mace; and place on these a layer of ham cut in thin slices and freed from rind and rust. Roll up the veal, and bind it tightly with a fillet; roast it for an hour and a half, then simmer it gently in good brown gravy for five hours; add forcemeat balls before it is dished; skim the fat from the gravy, and serve it with the meat. This receipt, for which we are indebted to a correspondent on whom we can depend, and which we have not therefore considered it necessary to test ourselves, is for a joint which weighs ten pounds before it is boned. ROAST NECK OF VEAL. The best end of the neck will make an excellent roast. A forcemeat may be inserted between the skin and the flesh, by first separating them with a sharp knife; or the dish may be garnished with the forcemeat in balls. From an hour and a half to two hours will roast it. Pour melted butter over it when it is dished, and serve it like other joints. Let it be floured when first laid to the fire, kept constantly basted, and always at a sufficient distance to prevent its being scorched. 1-1/2 to 2 hours. For the forcemeat, see No. 1, Chapter VIII. From 8 to 10 minutes will fry the balls. NECK OF VEAL À LA CRÊME. (_Or Au Béchamel._) Take the best end of a neck of white and well-fed veal, detach the flesh from the ends of the bones, cut them sufficiently short to give the joint a good square form, fold and skewer the skin over them, wrap a buttered paper round the meat, lay it at a moderate distance from a clear fire, and keep it well basted with butter for an hour and a quarter; then remove the paper and continue the basting with a pint, or more, of _béchamel_ or of rich white sauce, until the veal is sufficiently roasted, and well encrusted with it. Serve some _béchamel_ under it in the dish, and send it very hot to table. For variety, give the _béchamel_ in making it a high flavour of mushrooms, and add some small buttons stewed very white and tender, to the portion reserved for saucing the joint. 2 to 2-1/4 hours. VEAL GOOSE. (_City of London receipt._) “This is made with the upper part of the flank of a loin of veal (or sometimes that of the fillet) covered with a stuffing of sage and onions, then rolled, and roasted or broiled. It is served with brown gravy and apple sauce, is extremely savoury, and has many admirers.” We transcribe the exact receipt for this dish, which was procured for us from a house in the city, which is famed for it. We had it tested with the skin of the best end of a fine _neck_ of veal, from which it was pared with something more than an inch depth of the flesh adhering to it. It was roasted one hour, and answered extremely well. It is a convenient mode of dressing the flank of the veal for eaters who do not object to the somewhat coarse savour of the preparation. When the _tendrons_ or gristles of a breast, or part of a breast of veal, are required for a separate dish, the remaining portion of the joint may be dressed in this way after the bones have been taken out; or, without removing them, the stuffing may be inserted under the skin. KNUCKLE OF VEAL EN RAGOUT. Cut in small thick slices the flesh of a knuckle of veal, season it with a little fine salt and white pepper, flour it lightly, and fry it in butter to a pale brown, lay it into a very clean stewpan or saucepan, and just cover it with boiling water; skim it clean, and add to it a faggot of thyme and parsley, the white part of a head of celery, a small quantity of cayenne, and a blade or two of mace. Stew it very softly from an hour and three quarters to two hours and a half. Thicken and enrich the gravy if needful with rice-flour and mushroom catsup or Harvey’s sauce, or with a large teaspoonful of flour, mixed with a slice of butter, a little good store-sauce and a glass of sherry or Madeira. Fried forcemeat balls of No. 1, Chapter VIII. may be added at pleasure. With an additional quantity of water, or of broth (made with the bones of the joint), a pint and a half of young green peas stewed with the veal for an hour will give an agreeable variety of this dish. BOILED KNUCKLE OF VEAL. After the joint has been trimmed and well washed, put it into a vessel well adapted to it in size, for if it be very large, so much water will be required that the veal will be deprived of its flavour; it should be well covered with it, and _very gently_ boiled until it is perfectly tender in every part, but not so much done as to separate from the bone. Clear off the scum with scrupulous care when the simmering first commences, and throw in a small portion of salt; as this, if sparingly used, will not redden the meat, and will otherwise much improve it. Parsley and butter is usually both poured over, and sent to table with a knuckle of veal, and boiled bacon also should accompany it. From the sinewy nature of this joint, it requires more than the usual time of cooking, a quarter of an hour to the pound not being sufficient for it. Veal 6 to 7 lbs.: 2 hours or more. KNUCKLE OF VEAL WITH RICE. Pour over a small knuckle of veal rather more than sufficient water to cover it; bring it slowly to a boil; take off all the scum with great care, throw in a teaspoonful of salt, and when the joint has simmered for about half an hour, throw in from eight to twelve ounces of well washed rice, and stew the veal gently for an hour and a half longer, or until both the meat and rice are perfectly tender. A seasoning of cayenne and mace in fine powder with more salt, should it be required, must be added twenty or thirty minutes before they are served. For a superior stew good veal broth may be substituted for the water. Veal, 6 lbs.; water, 3 to 4 pints; salt, 1 teaspoonful: 30 to 40 minutes. Rice, 8 to 12 oz.: 1-1/2 hour. _Obs._—A quart or even more of full grown green peas added to the veal as soon as the scum has been cleared off will make a most excellent stew. It should be well seasoned with white pepper, and the mace should be omitted. Two or three cucumbers, pared and freed from the seeds, may be sliced into it when it boils, or four or five young lettuces shred small may be added instead. Green onions also, when they are liked, may be used to give it flavour. SMALL PAIN DE VEAU, OR, VEAL CAKE. Chop separately and very fine, a pound and a quarter of veal quite free from fat and skin, and six ounces of beef kidney-suet; add a teaspoonful of salt, a full third as much of white pepper and of mace or nutmeg, with the grated rind of half a lemon, and turn the whole well together with the chopping-knife until it is thoroughly mixed; then press it smoothly into a small round baking dish, and send it to a _moderate_ oven for an hour and a quarter. Lift it into a clean hot dish, and serve it plain, or with a little brown gravy in a tureen. Three ounces of the lean of a boiled ham minced small, will very much improve this cake, of which the size can be increased at will, and proportionate time allowed for dressing it. If baked in a _hot_ oven, the meat will shrink to half its proper size, and be very dry. When done, it should be of a fine light brown, and like a cake in appearance. Veal, 1-1/4 lb.; beef-suet, 6 oz.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; pepper and mace, or nutmeg, 3/4 teaspoonful each; rind of 1/2 lemon; ham (when added) 3 oz.; baked 1-1/4 hour. BORDYKE VEAL CAKE. (_Good._) Take a pound and a half of veal perfectly clear of fat and skin, and eight ounces of the nicest striped bacon; chop them separately, then mix them well together with the grated rind of a small lemon, half a teaspoonful of salt, a fourth as much of cayenne, the third part of a nutmeg grated, and a half-teaspoonful of freshly pounded mace When it is pressed into the dish, let it be somewhat higher in the centre than at the edge; and whether to be served hot or cold, lift it out as soon as it comes from the oven, and place it on a strainer that the fat may drain from it; it will keep many days if the under side be dry. The bacon should be weighed after the rind, and any rust it may exhibit, have been trimmed from it. This cake is excellent cold, better indeed than the preceding one; but slices of either, if preferred hot, may be warmed through in a Dutch oven, or on the gridiron, or in a few spoonsful of gravy. The same ingredients made into small cakes, well floured, and slowly fried from twelve to fifteen minutes, then served with gravy made in the pan as for cutlets, will be found extremely good. Veal, 1-1/2 lb.; striped bacon, 8 oz.; salt and mace, 1 teaspoonful each; rind of lemon, 1; third of 1 nutmeg; cayenne, 4 grains; baked 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour. FRICANDEAU OF VEAL. (ENTRÉE). French cooks always prefer for this dish, which is a common one in their own country, that part of the fillet to which the fat or udder is attached;[76] but the flesh of the finer part of the neck or loin, raised clear from the bones, may be made to answer the purpose nearly or quite as well, and often much more conveniently, as the meat with us is not divided for sale as in France; and to purchase the entire fillet for the sake of the fricandeau would render it exceedingly expensive. Lay the veal flat upon a table or dresser, with the skin uppermost, and endeavour, with one stroke of an exceedingly sharp knife, to clear this off, and to leave the surface of the meat extremely smooth; next lard it thickly with small _lardoons_, as directed for a pheasant (page 181), and make one or two incisions in the underside with the point of a knife, that it may the better imbibe the flavour of the seasonings. Take a stewpan, of sufficient size to hold the fricandeau, and the proper quantity of vegetables compactly arranged, without much room being left round the meat. Put into it a couple of large carrots, cut in thick slices, two onions of moderate size, two or three roots of parsley, three bay leaves, two small blades of mace, a branch or two of lemon thyme, and a little cayenne, or a saltspoonful of white peppercorns. Raise these high in the centre of the stewpan, so as to support the meat, and prevent its touching the gravy. Cover them with slices of very fat bacon, and place the fricandeau gently on them; then pour in as much good veal broth, or stock, as will nearly cover the vegetables without reaching to the veal. A calf’s foot, split in two, may with advantage be laid under them in the first instance. Stew the fricandeau _very_ gently for upwards of three hours, or until it is found to be extremely tender when probed with a fine skewer or a larding-pin. Plenty of live embers must then be put on the lid of the stewpan for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour, to render the lardoons firm. Lift out the fricandeau and keep it hot; strain and reduce the gravy very quickly, after having skimmed off every particle of fat; glaze the veal, and serve it on a ragout of sorrel, cucumbers, or spinach. This, though rather an elaborate receipt, is the best we can offer to the reader for a dish, which is now almost as fashionable with us as it is common on the Continent. Some English cooks have a very summary method of preparing it; they merely lard and boil the veal until they can “cut it with a spoon.” then glaze and serve it with “brown gravy in the dish.” This may be very tolerable eating, but it will bear small resemblance to the French fricandeau. Footnote 76: Called by them the _noix_. 3-1/2 to 4 hours. SPRING-STEW OF VEAL. Cut two pound of veal, free from fat, into small half-inch thick cutlets; flour them well, and fry them in butter with two small cucumbers sliced, sprinkled with pepper, and floured, one moderate sized lettuce, and twenty-four green gooseberries cut open lengthwise and seeded. When the whole is nicely browned, lift it into a thick saucepan, and pour gradually into the pan half a pint, or rather more, of boiling water, broth, or gravy. Add as much salt and pepper as it requires. Give it a minute’s simmer, and pour it over the meat, shaking it well round the pan as this is done. Let the veal stew gently from three quarters of an hour to an hour. A bunch of green onions cut small may be added to the other vegetables if liked; and the veal will eat better, if slightly seasoned with salt and pepper before it is floured; a portion of fat can be left on it if preferred. Veal 2 lbs.; cucumbers, 2; lettuce, 1; green gooseberries, 24; water or broth, 1/2 pint or more: 3/4 to 1 hour. NORMAN HARRICO. Brown in a stewpan or fry lightly, after having sprinkled them with pepper, salt, and flour, from two to three pounds of veal cutlets. If taken from the neck or loin, chop the bones very short, and trim away the greater portion of the fat. Arrange them as flat as they can be in a saucepan; give a pint of water a boil in the pan in which they have been browned, and pour it on them; add a small faggot of parsley, and, should the flavour be liked, one of green onions also. Let the meat simmer softly for half an hour; then cover it with small new potatoes which have had a single boil in water, give the saucepan a shake, and let the harrico stew very gently for another half hour, or until the potatoes are quite done, and the veal is tender. When the cutlets are thick and the potatoes approaching their full size, more time will be required for the meat, and the vegetables may be at once divided: if extremely young they will need the previous boil. Before the harrico is served, skim the fat from it, and add salt and pepper should it not be sufficiently seasoned. A few bits of lean ham, or shoulder of bacon browned with the veal, will much improve this dish, and for some tastes, a little acid will render it more agreeable. Very delicate pork chops may be dressed in the same way. A cutlet taken from the fillet and freed from fat and skin, answers best for this dish. Additional vegetables, cooked apart, can be added to it after it is dished. Peas boiled very green and well drained, or young carrots sliced and stewed tender in butter, are both well suited to it. Veal, 2 to 3 lbs.; water (or gravy), 1 pint; new potatoes 1-1/2 to 2 lbs.; faggot, parsley, and green onions: 1 hour or more. PLAIN VEAL CUTLETS. Take them if possible free from bone, and after having trimmed them into proper shape, beat them with a cutlet-bat or paste-roller until the fibre of the meat is thoroughly broken; flour them well to prevent the escape of the gravy, and fry them from twelve to fifteen minutes over a fire which is not sufficiently fierce to burn them before they are quite cooked through: they should be of a fine amber brown, and _perfectly done_. Lift them into a hot dish, pour the fat from the pan, throw in a slice of fresh butter, and when it is melted, stir or dredge in a dessertspoonful of flour; keep these shaken until they are well-coloured, then pour gradually to them a cup of gravy or of boiling water; add pepper, salt, a little lemon-pickle or juice, give the whole a boil, and pour it over the cutlets: a few forcemeat balls fried and served with them, is usually a very acceptable addition to this dish, even when it is garnished or accompanied with rashers of ham or bacon. A morsel of _glaze_, or of the jelly of roast meat, should when at hand be added to the sauce, which a little mushroom powder would further improve: mushroom sauce, indeed, is considered by many epicures, as indispensable with veal cutlets. We have recommended in this one instance that the meat should be thoroughly _beaten_, because we find that the veal is wonderfully improved by the process, which, however, we still deprecate for other meat. 12 to 15 minutes. VEAL CUTLETS A L’INDIENNE, OR INDIAN FASHION. (ENTRÉE.) Mix well together four ounces of very fine stale bread-crumbs, a teaspoonful of salt, and a tablespoonful of the best currie powder. Cut down into small well-shaped cutlets or collops, two pounds of veal free from fat, skin, or bone; beat the slices flat, and dip them first into some beaten egg-yolks, and then into the seasoned crumbs; moisten them again with egg, and pass them a second time through bread-crumbs. When all are ready, fry them in three or four ounces of butter over a moderate fire, from twelve to fourteen minutes. For sauce, mix smoothly with a knife, a teaspoonful of flour and an equal quantity of currie-powder, with a small slice of butter; shake these in the pan for about five minutes, pour to them a cup of gravy or boiling water, add salt and cayenne if required and the strained juice of half a lemon; simmer the whole till well flavoured, and pour it round the cutlets. A better plan is, to have some good currie sauce ready prepared to send to table with this dish; which may likewise be served with only well-made common cutlet gravy, from the pan, when much of the pungent flavour of the currie-powder is not desired. Bread-crumbs, 4 oz.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; currie powder, 1 tablespoonful; veal, 2 lbs.: 12 to 14 minutes. _Obs._—These cutlets may be broiled; they should then be well beaten first, and dipped into clarified butter instead of egg before they are passed through the curried seasoning. VEAL CUTLETS, OR COLLOPS, À LA FRANÇAISE. (ENTRÉE.) Cut the veal into small, thin, round collops of equal size, arrange them evenly in a sauté-pan, or in a small frying-pan, and sprinkle a little fine salt, white pepper, and grated nutmeg on them. Clarify, or merely dissolve in a clean saucepan with a gentle degree of heat, an ounce or two of good butter, and pour it equally over the meat. Set the pan aside until the dinner-hour, then fry the collops over a clear fire, and when they are lightly browned, which will be in from four to five minutes, lift them into a hot dish, and sauce them with a little _Espagnole_, or with a gravy made quickly in the pan, and flavoured with lemon-juice and cayenne. They are excellent even without any sauce. 3 to 4 minutes. SCOTCH COLLOPS. (ENTRÉE.) Prepare the veal as for the preceding receipt, but dip the collops into beaten egg and seasoned bread-crumbs, and fry them directly in good butter, over a moderate fire, of a light golden brown; drain them well in lifting them from the pan, and sauce them like the collops _à la Française_. VEAL CUTLETS À LA MODE DE LONDRES, OR, LONDON FASHION. (ENTRÉE.) Raise the flesh entire from the upper side of the best end of a neck of veal, free it from the skin, and from the greater portion of the fat, slice it equally into cutlets little more than a quarter of an inch thick, brush them with egg, strew them with fine bread-crumbs, and fry them of a light brown. Toast, or fry apart as many small slices of bacon as there are cutlets, and let them be trimmed nearly to the same shape; place them alternately on their edges round the inside of a hot dish (so as to form a sort of chain), and pour into the middle some rich gravy made in the pan, and very slightly flavoured with eschalot; or substitute for this some good brown mushroom sauce. Savoury herbs, grated lemon-rind, nutmeg or mace, salt, and white pepper or cayenne, should be mixed with the bread-crumbs, in the proportions directed at page 213, for cutlets of calf’s head; or they may be varied at pleasure. A cheek of bacon is best adapted to this dish. SWEETBREADS SIMPLY DRESSED. (ENTRÉE.) In whatever way sweetbreads are dressed, they should first be well soaked in lukewarm water, then thrown into boiling water to _blanch_ them, as it is called, and to render them firm. If lifted out after they have boiled from five to ten minutes according to their size, and laid immediately into fresh spring water to cool, their colour will be the better preserved. They may then be gently stewed for three quarters of an hour in veal gravy, which with the usual additions of cream, lemon, and egg-yolks, may be converted into a fricassee sauce for them when they are done; or they may be lifted from it, _glazed_, and served with good Spanish gravy; or, the glazing being omitted, they may be sauced with the sharp _Maître d’Hôtel_ sauce of page 117. They may also be simply floured, and roasted in a Dutch oven, being often basted with butter, and frequently turned. A full sized sweetbread, after having been blanched, will require quite three quarters of an hour to dress it. Blanched 5 to 10 minutes. Stewed 3/4 hour or more. SWEETBREAD CUTLETS. (ENTRÉE.) Boil the sweetbreads for half an hour in water or veal broth, and when they are perfectly cold, cut them into slices of equal thickness, brush them with yolk of egg, and dip them into very fine bread-crumbs seasoned with salt, cayenne, grated lemon-rind, and mace; fry them in butter of a fine light brown, arrange them in a dish placing them high in the centre, and pour _under_ them a gravy made in the pan, thickened with mushroom powder and flavoured with lemon-juice; or, in lieu of this, sauce them with some rich brown gravy, to which a glass of sherry or Madeira has been added. When it can be done conveniently, take as many slices of a cold boiled tongue as there are sweetbread cutlets; pare the rind from them, trim them into good shape, and dress them with the sweetbreads, after they have been egged and seasoned in the same way; and place each cutlet upon a slice of tongue when they are dished. For variety, substitute _croutons_ of fried bread stamped out to the size of the cutlets with a round or fluted paste or cake cutter. The crumb of a stale loaf, very evenly sliced, is best for the purpose. STEWED CALF’S FEET. (_Cheap and Good._) This is an excellent family dish, highly nutritious, and often very inexpensive, as the feet during the summer are usually sold at a low rate. Wash them with nicety, divide them at the joint, and split the claws; arrange them closely in a thick stewpan or saucepan, and pour in as much cold water as will cover them about half an inch: three pints will be sufficient for a couple of large feet. When broth or stock is at hand, it is good economy to substitute it for the water, as by this means a portion of strong and well-flavoured jellied gravy will be obtained for general use, the full quantity not being needed as sauce for the feet. The whole preparation will be much improved by laying a thick slice of the lean of an unboiled ham, knuckle of bacon, hung beef, or the end of a dried tongue, at the bottom of the pan, before the other ingredients are added; or, when none of these are at hand, by supplying the deficiency with a few bits of lean beef or veal: the feet being of themselves insipid, will be much more palatable with one or the other of these additions. Throw in from half to three quarters of a teaspoonful of salt when they begin to boil, and after the scum has been all cleared off, add a few branches of parsley, a little celery, one small onion or more, stuck with half a dozen cloves, a carrot or two, a large blade of mace, and twenty corns of whole pepper; stew them softly until the flesh will part entirely from the bones; take it from them, strain part of the gravy, and skim off all the fat, flavour it with catsup or any other store sauce, and thicken it, when it boils, with arrow-root or flour and butter; put in the flesh of the feet, and serve the dish as soon as the whole is very hot. A glass of wine, a little lemon juice, and a few forcemeat balls, will convert this into a very superior stew; a handful of mushroom-buttons also simmered in it for half an hour before it is dished, will vary it agreeably. Calf’s feet (large), 2; water, 3 pints; salt, 1/2 to 1/3 teaspoonful; onions, 1 to 3; cloves, 6; peppercorns, 20; mace, large blade; little celery and parsley; carrots, 1 or 2: stewed softly, 2-1/2 to 3-1/4 hours. Mushroom catsup, 1 tablespoonful; flour, or arrow-root, 1 large teaspoonful; butter, 1 to 2 oz. Cayenne, to taste. CALF’S LIVER STOVED, OR STEWED. From three to four pounds of the best part of the liver will be sufficient for a dish of moderate size. First lard it quite through by the directions of page 181, with large lardoons, rolled in a seasoning of spice, and of savoury herbs very finely minced; then lay it into a stewpan or saucepan just fitted to its size, and pour in about half a pint of broth or gravy; heat it very gently, and throw in, when it begins to simmer, a sliced carrot, a small onion cut in two, a small bunch of parsley, and a blade of mace; stew the liver as softly as possible over a very slow fire from two hours and a half to three hours; thicken the gravy with a little brown roux (see page 107), or with a dessertspoonful of browned flour; add a couple of glasses of white wine, and a little spice if needed, and serve it very hot, after having taken out the herbs and vegetable. The liver may be stewed without being larded; it may likewise be browned all over in a carefully made _roux_, before the gravy is poured to it: this must then be made to boil, and be added in small portions, the stewpan being well shaken round as each is thrown in. The wine can be altogether omitted; or a wineglassful of port mixed with a little lemon-juice, may take the place of sherry. After the liver has been wiped very dry, minced herbs may be strewed thickly over it before it is laid into the stewpan; and it may be served in its own gravy, or with a _sauce piquante_. Liver, 3 to 4 lbs: 2 to 3 hours. TO ROAST CALF’S LIVER. Take the whole or part of a fine white sound liver, and either lard it as a fricandeau upon the surface, or with large strips of highly-seasoned bacon in the inside (see Larding, page 181); or should either of these modes be objected to, merely wrap it in a well buttered paper, and roast it from an hour to an hour and a quarter at a moderate distance from a clear fire, keeping it constantly basted. Remove the paper, and froth the liver well from ten to fifteen minutes before it is done. It should be served with a sauce of some piquancy, such as a _poivrade_, or brown eschalot, in addition to some good gravy. French cooks steep the liver over-night in vinegar, with a sliced onion and branches of savoury herbs laid over it: this whitens and renders it firm. As an economical mode, some small bits of the liver may be trimmed off, floured, and lightly fried with a sliced onion, and stewed down for gravy in three quarters of a pint of water which has been poured into the pan, with the addition of a few peppercorns, and a small bunch of herbs. A seasoning of salt must not be forgotten, and a little lemon pickle, or juice, would generally be considered an improvement. 1 to 1-1/4 hour. BLANQUETTE OF VEAL OR LAMB, WITH MUSHROOMS. (ENTRÉE.) Slice very thin the white part of some cold veal, divide and trim it into scallops not larger than a shilling, and lay it into a clean saucepan or stewpan. Wipe with a bit of new flannel and a few grains of salt, from a quarter to half a pint of mushroom-buttons, and slice them into a little butter which just begins to simmer; stew them in it from twelve to fifteen minutes, without allowing them to take the slightest colour; then lift them out and lay them on the veal. Pour boiling to them a pint of _sauce tournée_ (see page 108); let the _blanquette_ remain near, but not close to the fire for awhile: bring it nearer, heat it slowly, and when it is on the point of boiling mix a spoonful or two of the sauce from it with the well beaten yolks of four fresh eggs; stir them to the remainder; add the strained juice of half a small lemon; shake the saucepan above the fire until the sauce is just set, and serve the _blanquette_ instantly. Cold veal, 3/4 lb.; mushrooms, 1/4 to 1/2 pint: stewed in 1-1/2 oz. butter, 12 to 15 minutes. Sauce _tournée_, or thickened veal gravy, 1 pint; yolks of eggs, 4; lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful. _Obs._—Any white meat may be served _en blanquette_. The mushrooms are not indispensable for it, but they are always a great improvement. White sauce substituted for the thickened veal gravy will at once convert this dish into an inexpensive English fricassee. Mace, salt, and cayenne, must be added to either preparation, should it require seasoning. MINCED VEAL. When there is neither gravy nor broth at hand, the bones and trimmings of the meat must be boiled down to furnish what is required for the mince. As cold meat is very light in weight, a pound of the white part of the veal will be sufficient for a dish, and for this quantity a pint of gravy will be needed. Break down the bones of the joint well, add the trimmings of the meat, a small bunch of savoury herbs, a slice or two of carrot or of celery, a blade of mace, a few white peppercorns, and a bit or two of lean ham, boiled, or unboiled if it can be had, as either will improve the flavour of the mince. Pour to these a pint and a half of water, and stew them gently for a couple of hours; then strain off the gravy, let it cool, and clear it entirely from the fat. Cut the white part of the veal small with a very sharp knife, after all the gristle and brown edges have been trimmed away. Some persons like a portion of fat minced with it, others object to the addition altogether. Thicken the gravy with a teaspoonful and a half of flour smoothly mixed with a small slice of butter, season the veal with a saltspoonful or more of salt, and half as much white pepper and grated nutmeg, or pounded mace; add the lightly-grated rind of half a small lemon; mix the whole well, put it into the gravy, and heat it thoroughly by the side of the fire without allowing it to boil; serve it with pale toasted sippets in and round the dish. A spoonful or two of cream is always an improvement to this mince. MINCED VEAL AND OYSTERS. The most elegant mode of preparing this dish is to mince about a pound of the whitest part of the inside of a cold roast fillet or loin of veal, to heat it without allowing it to boil, in a pint of rich white sauce, or _béchamel_, and to mix with it at the moment of serving, three dozens of small oysters ready bearded, and plumped in their own strained liquor, which is also to be added to the mince; the requisite quantity of salt, cayenne, and mace should be sprinkled over the veal before it is put into the sauce. Garnish the dash with pale fried sippets of bread, or with _fleurons_[77] of brioche, or of puff-paste. Nearly half a pint of mushrooms minced, and stewed white in a little butter, may be mixed with the veal instead of the oysters; or should they be very small they may be added to it whole: from ten to twelve minutes will be sufficient to make them tender. Balls of delicately fried oyster-forcemeat laid round the dish will give another good variety of it. Footnote 77: _Fleurons_, flowers, or flower-like figures, cut out with tin shapes. Veal minced, 1 lb.; white sauce, 1 pint; oysters, 3 dozen, with their liquor; or mushrooms, 1/2 pint, stewed in butter 10 to 12 minutes. VEAL-SYDNEY. (GOOD.) Pour boiling on an ounce and a half of fine bread-crumbs nearly half a pint of good veal stock or gravy, and let them stand till cool; mix with them then, two ounces of beef-suet shred very small, half a pound of cold roast veal carefully trimmed from the brown edges, skin, and fat, and finely minced; the grated rind of half a lemon, nearly a teaspoonful of salt, a little cayenne, the third of a teaspoonful of mace or nutmeg, and four well-beaten eggs. Whisk up the whole well together, put it into a buttered dish, and bake it from three quarters of an hour to an hour. Cream may be used instead of gravy when more convenient, but this last will give the better flavour. A little clarified butter put into the dish before the other ingredients are poured in will be an improvement. Bread-crumbs, 1-1/2 oz.; gravy or cream, nearly 1/2 pint; beef-suet, 2 oz.; cold veal, 1/2 lb.; rind of 1/2 lemon; salt, small teaspoonful; third as much mace and nutmeg; little cayenne; eggs, 4 large or 5 small: 3/4 to 1 hour. FRICASSEED VEAL. Divide into small, thick, handsome slices of equal size, about a couple of pounds of veal, quite free from fat, bone, and skin; dissolve a couple of ounces of butter in a wide stewpan, and just as it begins to boil lay in the veal, and shake it over the fire until it is quite firm on both sides, but do not allow it to take the slightest colour. Stir in a tablespoonful of flour, and when it is well mixed with the cutlets, pour gradually to them, shaking the pan often, sufficient boiling veal gravy to almost cover them. Stew them gently from fifteen to sixteen minutes, or longer should they not be perfectly tender. Add a flavouring of mace, some salt, a quarter-pint of rich cream, a couple of egg-yolks, and a little lemon-juice, observing, when the last are added, the directions given for a _blanquette_ of veal, page 229. Strips of lemon-rind can be stewed in the gravy at pleasure. Two or three dozens of mushroom-buttons, added twenty minutes before it is served, will much improve this fricassée. SMALL ENTRÉES OF SWEETBREADS, CALF’S BRAINS AND EARS, &c. &c. For tables of which the service consists rather of a great variety of light dishes (_entrées_) than of substantial English fare, the ears, brains, sweetbreads, gristles or _tendrons_, and the tail of a calf, may be dressed in many different ways to supply them; but they require a really good style of cookery, and many adjuncts to render them available for the purpose, as they do not possess much decided natural flavour, and their insipidity would be apt to tire if it were not relieved by the mode of preparing them. We shall give some few especial receipts for them in the chapter on Foreign Cookery, should sufficient space remain open for us to admit them; and insert here only such slight general directions as may suffice for preparing some of them in a simple form; as they are not in reality of first-rate importance. All of them may be served with good curried, or highly-flavoured tomato-sauce, after having been stewed in strong broth or gravy. The brains and sweetbreads cut into small dice or scallops, and mixed with _béchamel_, or with common white sauce, may be used to fill small _vol-au-vents_, or patty cases. The ears are usually filled in part with forcemeat, or a preparation of the brains, and placed upright when dished; and the upper part is cut into narrow fringe-like strips. For “_Tendrons de Veau_,” and “Breast of veal rolled and stewed,” the reader is referred to Chapter XXXIV. ------------------------------------------------------------------------