The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual Part 70

Prepare it as directed in No. 484; and to make sauce to warm Veal, see No. 361.

_Hashed or minced Veal._--(No. 511*.)

To make a hash[318-*] cut the meat into slices;--to prepare minced veal, mince it as fine as possible (do not chop it); put it into a stew-pan with a few spoonfuls of veal or mutton broth, or make some with the bones and tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, as ordered for veal cutlets (see No. 80, or No.

361), a little lemon-peel minced fine, a spoonful of milk or cream; thicken with b.u.t.ter and flour, and season it with salt, a table-spoonful of lemon pickle, or Basil wine, No. 397, &c., or a pinch of curry powder.

? If you have no cream, beat up the yelks of a couple of eggs with a little milk: line the dish with sippets of lightly toasted bread.

_Obs._--Minced veal makes a very pretty dish put into scollop sh.e.l.ls, and bread crumbed over, and sprinkled with a little b.u.t.ter, and browned in a Dutch oven, or a cheese-toaster.

_To make an excellent Ragout of Cold Veal._--(No. 512.)

Either a neck, loin, or fillet of veal, will furnish this excellent ragout with a very little expense or trouble.

Cut the veal into handsome cutlets; put a piece of b.u.t.ter or clean dripping into a frying-pan; as soon as it is hot, flour and fry the veal of a light brown: take it out, and if you have no gravy ready, make some as directed in the note to No. 517; or put a pint of boiling water into the frying-pan, give it a boil up for a minute, and strain it into a basin while you make some thickening in the following manner: put about an ounce of b.u.t.ter into a stew-pan; as soon as it melts, mix with it as much flour as will dry it up; stir it over the fire for a few minutes, and gradually add to it the gravy you made in the frying-pan; let them simmer together for ten minutes (till thoroughly incorporated); season it with pepper, salt, a little mace, and a wine-gla.s.sful of mushroom catchup or wine; strain it through a tamis to the meat, and stew very gently till the meat is thoroughly warmed. If you have any ready-boiled bacon, cut it in slices, and put it in to warm with the meat, or No. 526 or 527.

Veal cutlets, see No. 90, &c.

_Breast of Veal stewed._--(No. 515.)

A breast of veal stewed till quite tender, and smothered with onion sauce, is an excellent dish; or in the gravy ordered in the note to No.

517.

_Breast of Veal Ragout._--(No. 517.)

Take off the under bone, and cut the breast in half lengthways; divide it into pieces, about four inches long, by two inches wide, _i. e._ in handsome pieces, not too large to help at once: put about two ounces of b.u.t.ter into a frying-pan, and fry the veal till it is a light brown,[320-*] then put it into a stew-pan with veal broth, or as much boiling water as will cover it, a bundle of sweet marjoram, common or lemon-thyme, and parsley, with four cloves, or a couple of blades of pounded mace, three young onions, or one old one, a roll of lemon-peel, a dozen corns of allspice bruised, and a tea-spoonful of salt; cover it close, and let it all simmer very gently till the veal is tender, _i.

e._ for about an hour and a half, if it is very thick, two hours; then strain off as much (about a quart) of the gravy, as you think you will want, into a basin; set the stew-pan, with the meat, &c. in it by the fire to keep hot. To thicken the gravy you have taken out, put an ounce and a half of b.u.t.ter into a clean stew-pan; when it is melted, stir in as much flour as it will take; add the gravy by degrees; season it with salt; let it boil ten minutes; skim it well, and season it with two table-spoonfuls of white wine, one of mushroom catchup, and same of lemon-juice; give it a boil up, and it is ready: now put the veal into a ragout dish, and strain the gravy through a fine sieve to it. _Or_,

By keeping the meat whole, you will better preserve the succulence of it.

Put the veal into a stew-pan, with two ounces of b.u.t.ter and two whole onions (such as weigh about two ounces each); put it on the fire, and fry it about five minutes; then cover it with boiling water; when it boils, skim it; then put in two small blades of mace, a dozen blades of allspice, the same of black pepper; cover it close, and let it simmer gently for an hour and a half; then strain as much of the gravy as you think you will want into a basin; put the stew-pan by the fire to keep hot. To thicken it, put an ounce and a half of b.u.t.ter into a clean stew-pan: when it is melted, stir in as much flour as it will take; add the gravy by degrees; season it with salt, and when it boils it is ready. Put the veal on a dish, and strain the gravy through a fine sieve over it.

_Obs._--Forcemeat b.a.l.l.s, see No. 375, &c.; truffles, morells, mushrooms, and curry powder, &c. are sometimes added; and rashers of bacon or ham, Nos. 526 and 527, or fried pork sausages, No. 83.

N.B. These are nice dishes in the pease season.

_Scotch Collops._--(No. 517*.)

The veal must be cut the same as for cutlets, in pieces about as big as a crown-piece; flour them well, and fry them of a light brown in fresh b.u.t.ter; lay them in a stew-pan; dredge them over with flour, and then put in as much boiling water as will well cover the veal; pour this in by degrees, shaking the stew-pan, and set it on the fire; when it comes to a boil, take off the sc.u.m, put in one onion, a blade of mace, and let it simmer very gently for three quarters of an hour; lay them on a dish, and pour the gravy through a sieve over them.

N.B. Lemon-juice and peel, wine, catchup, &c., are sometimes added; add curry powder, No. 455, and you have curry collops.

_Veal Olives._--(No. 518.)

Cut half a dozen slices off a fillet of veal, half an inch thick, and as long and square as you can; flat them with a chopper, and rub them over with an egg that has been beat on a plate; cut some fat bacon as thin as possible, the same size as the veal; lay it on the veal, and rub it with a little of the egg; make a little veal forcemeat, see receipt, No. 375, and spread it very thin over the bacon; roll up the olives tight, rub them with the egg, and then roll them in fine bread-crumbs; put them on a lark-spit, and roast them at a brisk fire: they will take three quarters of an hour.

Rump-steaks are sometimes dressed this way.

Mushroom sauce, brown (Nos. 305 or 306), or beef gravy (No. 329). Vide chapter on sauces, &c.

_Cold Calf's Head hashed._--(No. 519.)

See _Obs._ to boiled calf's head, No. 10.

_Calf's Head hashed, or Ragout._--(No. 520.) See No. 247.

Wash a calf's head, which, to make this dish in the best style, should have the skin on, and boil it, see No. 10; boil one half all but enough, so that it may be soon quite done when put into the hash to warm, the other quite tender: from this half take out the bones: score it superficially; beat up an egg; put it over the head with a paste-brush, and strew over it a little grated bread and lemon-peel, and thyme and parsley, chopped very fine, or in powder, then bread-crumbs, and put it in the Dutch oven to brown.

Cut the other half-head into handsome slices, and put it into a stew-pan with a quart of gravy (No. 329), or turtle sauce (No. 343), with forcemeat b.a.l.l.s (Nos. 376, 380), egg-b.a.l.l.s, a wine-gla.s.s of white wine, and some catchup, &c.; put in the meat; let it warm together, and skim off the fat.

Peel the tongue, and send it up with the brains round it as a side dish, as directed in No. 10; or beat them up in a basin with a spoonful of flour, two eggs, some grated lemon-peel, thyme, parsley, and a few leaves of very finely-minced sage; rub them well together in a mortar, with pepper, salt, and a sc.r.a.pe of nutmeg; fry them (in little cakes) a very light brown; dish up the hash with the half-head you browned in the middle; and garnish with crisp, or curled rashers of bacon, fried bread sippets (Nos. 319, 526, and 527), and the brain cakes.

N.B. It is by far the best way to make a side dish of the tongue and brains, if you do send up a piece of bacon as a companion for it, or garnish the tongue and brains with the rashers of bacon and the forcemeat b.a.l.l.s, both of which are much better kept dry than when immersed in the gravy of the ragout.

_Obs._--In order to make what common cooks, who merely cook for the eye, call a fine, large, handsome dishful, they put in not only the eatable parts, but all the knots of gristle, and lumps of fat, offal, &c.; and when the grand gourmand fancies he is helped as plentifully as he could wish, he often finds one solitary morsel of meat among a large lot of lumps of gristle, fat, &c.

We have seen a very elegant dish of the scalp only, sent to table rolled up; it looks like a sucking pig.

_Veal Cutlets broiled plain, or full-dressed._--(No. 521.)

Divide the best end of a neck of veal into cutlets, one rib to each; broil them plain, or make some fine bread-crumbs; mince a little parsley, and a very little eschalot, as small as possible; put it into a clean stew-pan, with two ounces of b.u.t.ter, and fry it for a minute; then put on a plate the yelks of a couple of eggs; mix the herbs, &c. with it, and season it with pepper and salt: dip the cutlets into this mixture, and then into the bread; lay them on a gridiron over a clear slow fire, till they are nicely browned on both sides; they will take about an hour: send up with them a few slices of ham or bacon fried, or done in the Dutch oven. See Nos. 526 and 527, and half a pint of No.

343, or No. 356.

_Knuckle of Veal, to ragout._--(No. 522.)

Cut a knuckle of veal into slices about half an inch thick; pepper, salt, and flour them; fry them a light brown; put the tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs into a stew-pan, with the bone broke in several places; an onion sliced, a head of celery, a bunch of sweet herbs, and two blades of bruised mace: pour in warm water enough to cover them about an inch; cover the pot close, and let it stew very gently for a couple of hours; strain it, and then thicken it with flour and b.u.t.ter; put in a spoonful of catchup, a gla.s.s of wine, and juice of half a lemon; give it a boil up, and strain into a clean stew-pan; put in the meat, make it hot, and serve up.

_Obs._--If celery is not to be had, use a carrot instead or flavour it with celery-seed, or No. 409.

_Knuckle of Veal stewed with Rice._--(No. 523.)

As boiled knuckle of veal cold is not a very favourite relish with the generality, cut off some steaks from it, which you may dress as in the foregoing receipt, or No. 521, and leave the knuckle no larger than will be eaten the day it is dressed. Break the shank-bone, wash it clean, and put it in a large stew-pan with two quarts of water, an onion, two blades of mace, and a tea-spoonful of salt: set it on a quick fire; when it boils, take off all the sc.u.m.

Wash and pick a quarter of a pound of rice; put it into the stew-pan with the meat, and let it stew very gently for about two hours: put the meat, &c. in a deep dish, and the rice round it.

Send up bacon with it, parsnips, or greens, and finely minced parsley and b.u.t.ter, No. 261.