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 b.u.t.ter into a frying-pan, lay the pieces of tongue over, which warm a few minutes in a saute-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 b.u.t.ter here and there; pour in two winegla.s.sfuls 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 quant.i.ties; lay about a pound of the meat thus prepared upon a flat dish, pour a winegla.s.sful 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 quant.i.ty of water. Another way is to saute the slices with a little b.u.t.ter 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 b.u.t.tered 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 puree, 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, pa.s.s 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 purees are excellent to serve with it: sorrel, endive, peas, beans, artichokes, and spinach; tomato, mushroom, and cuc.u.mber 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 b.u.t.ter, 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 saute._--Cut it into slices, put a little b.u.t.ter in the saute- or frying-pan, when melted, lay the liver in season with salt, pepper, a teaspoonful of chopped eschalot, parsley, and grated nutmeg, saute on a sharp fire, when rather brown on both sides dredge a tablespoonful of French vinegar, or a gla.s.s 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 saute or frying-pan in which some slices of bacon have been previously cooked, and have left sufficient fat in it; saute 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 entree 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 sauted 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 saute white in b.u.t.ter, 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 b.u.t.ter 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 saute._--Blanch two throat-sweetbreads as in the preceding receipt, cut them in slices, put some b.u.t.ter 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 maitre d"hotel 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 maitre d"hotel b.u.t.ter over them, set in a hot place for a few moments, and serve. They may also be sauted, by putting them into a saute-pan and saute 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 b.u.t.ter 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 b.u.t.ter, 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 b.u.t.ter, 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 a la Maitre d"Hotel._--Prepare the brain as before, warm six spoonfuls of melted b.u.t.ter; when hot, add one ounce of maitre d"hotel b.u.t.ter, 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 b.u.t.ter 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 gla.s.s of any kind of wine, a bouquet of parsley, thyme, bay-leaves, a little salt, pepper, sugar, and thirty b.u.t.ton 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 isingla.s.s 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 saute-pan one ounce of b.u.t.ter, 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-gla.s.s 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 sauted, 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 appet.i.tes of the gentlemen with the slouched hat. But I must say since I have tasted them in France, cooked a 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 b.u.t.ter, 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 b.u.t.ter, 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 puree 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 b.u.t.ter, 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 sc.r.a.ped 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 emigre, 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
DEAREST ELOISE,--I certainly here must avail myself of M. Soyer"s kind permission by taking from his "Gastronomic Regenerator" a very simple receipt, it is true, but one which, in my estimation, has a great deal more merit than that of a sumptuous dish--a new mutton chop; yes, dearest, that is all. Many will very likely laugh at me, and think I am joking to take notice of a dish of such trifling importance, but, indeed, I a.s.sure you that I am far from that, because I have tried it for my dinner to-day, and in my opinion it is as far superior to the other as silver is to copper; and it was only in an enlightened era of wonders like ours that such a novelty in the culinary department could have been produced; where steam, gas, railways, electric light, suspended bridges, which seem to fly like zephyrs across the bosom of our mighty, wealthy, old Father Thames, and the subterranean promenade under his gutta-percha bed, where, as the French say, the fishes from their windows make faces at the English while walking below, as well as (and more wonderful still) the electric telegraph, which, even more freely than free-trade itself, carries like lightning the flashes of the genius of a Cobden from our great commercial town of Manchester to Printing-house square and various offices the sparks of a speech, which, if printers were careless, might set the paper on fire, by acquainting the metropolis not only of his love for freedom, but of his enthusiastic action, motion, commotion, and almost his thoughts; even the cheerings of the _convives_ are actually in print, and read with the greatest anxiety by the mult.i.tude in town, while the report of the last and most powerful line just put to press is still roaring with echo throughout the vast cupola of the Free Trade Hall as well as in the ears of thousands of guests present who have been favored by partaking of the monster banquet; and as well, but not so wonderful, the invention, insurrection, and demolition of the Chartists--the last effected by special order and special constables; the Satanic bottle, double sight, and etherienne suspension of the inimitable Robert le Diable, by mistake called Robert Houdin; Banyard"s Yankee cabinet picture, 3000 miles long, out of which 2999 and three quarters are out of sight; more so than all, the discovery of rocky dust, called gold, in the barbarian land of California, where the humble and convalescent potato would be worth its weight of the precious metal, a loaf of bread three times as much, and a basin of poor man"s soup a guinea instead of a penny as here. Have we not also heard of the great sea serpent, which a very serious American, who appears to have been in company with him, says that he was so tarnation long, that whilst engaged in dining out upon 4000 or 5000 turtles in Honduras, the end of his tail was at the same time hunting the white bear in the crystallized mountains of the North Pole for his supper, being something of an epicure, and consequently fond of a change? These, dearest, are FACTS that no one can deny," I guess; "and still it was to be among all these marvellous wonders that the innovation of a new mutton chop should emanate from the brain of a simple individual, while, for a century previous, the ancestors of our great grandfathers were, as we were till the present day, often obliged to satisfy their voracious appet.i.te with a fat and clumsy mutton chop. Even now, dear, you will hardly be able to comprehend the meaning of my enthusiasm for this simple innovation: it is then for its great simplicity and cheapness, and that if in general use (as I sincerely hope it will be), thousands will be able to partake of it and enjoy it, and probably will keep a friendly remembrance of the name of its inventor, because any one who invents, or tries so to do, attempts to conquer the greatest difficulty to obtain fame and wealth, and which by others is always envied and tried to be surpa.s.sed; such is the world. While here, the humble, una.s.suming, disinterested inventor of the said mutton chop will not even have the honor of opposition, though he may be copied. Believe me, dearest, that is the only cause of my admiration. Now for this wonder.
[Ill.u.s.tration]