The Cook's Decameron Part 15

If you like, leave out the risotto and serve the veal with Espagnole sauce mixed with cooked peas and chopped truffle.

No. 83. Bragiuole di Vitello (Veal Cutlets)

Ingredients: Veal, salt, pepper, b.u.t.ter, bacon, carrots, flour, Chablis, water, lemon.

Cut a bit of veal steak into pieces the size of small cutlets, salt and pepper them, and put them in a wide low stewpan. Add two ounces of b.u.t.ter, a cut-up carrot, and some bits of bacon also cut up. When they are browned, add a spoonful of flour, half a gla.s.s of Chablis, and half a gla.s.s of water, and cook on a slow fire for half an hour, then take out the cutlets, reduce the sauce, and pa.s.s it through a sieve. Put it back on the fire and add an ounce of b.u.t.ter and a good squeeze of lemon, and when hot pour it over the cutlets.

No. 84. Costolette alla Manza (Veal Cutlets)

Ingredients: Veal cutlets (fowl or turkey cutlets), forcemeat, truffles, mushrooms, tongue, parsley, pasta marinate (No. 17).

Cut a few horizontal lines along your cutlets, and on each put a little veal or fowl forcemeat, to which add in equal quant.i.ties chopped truffles, tongue, mushrooms, and a little parsley. Over this put a thin layer of pasta marinate, and fry the cutlets on a slow fire.

No. 85. Vitello alla Pellegrina (Breast of Veal)

Ingredients: Breast of veal, b.u.t.ter, onions, sugar, stock, red wine, mushrooms, bacon, salt, flour, bay leaf.

Roast a bit of breast of veal, then glaze over two Spanish onions with b.u.t.ter and a little sugar, and when they are a good colour pour a teacup of stock and a gla.s.s of Burgundy over them, and add a few mushrooms, a bay leaf, some salt, and a few bits of bacon. When the mushrooms and onions are cooked, skim off the fat and thicken the sauce with a little flour and b.u.t.ter fried together; pour it over the veal and put the onions and mushrooms round the dish.

No. 86. Frittura Piccata al Marsala (Fillet of Veal)

Ingredients: Veal, b.u.t.ter, Marsala, stock, lemon, bacon.

Cut a tender bit of veal steak into small fillets, cut off all the fat and stringy parts, flour them and fry them in b.u.t.ter. When they are slightly browned add a gla.s.s of Marsala and a teacup of good stock, and fry on a very hot fire, so that the fillets may remain tender. Take them off the fire, put a little roll of fried bacon on each, add a squeeze of lemon juice, and serve.

No. 87. Polpettine Distese (Veal Olives)

Ingredients: Veal steak, b.u.t.ter, bread, eggs, pistacchio nuts, spice, parsley.

Cut some slices of veal steak very thin as for veal olives, and spread them out in a well-b.u.t.tered stewpan. On each slice of veal put half a spoonful of the following mixture: Pound some crumb of bread and mix it with a whole egg; add a little salt, some pistacchio nuts, herbs, and parsley chopped up, and a little b.u.t.ter. Roll up each slice of veal, cover with a sheet of b.u.t.tered paper, put the cover on the stewpan and cook for three-quarters of an hour in two ounces of b.u.t.ter on a slow fire. Thicken the sauce with a dessert-spoonful of flour and b.u.t.ter fried together.

No. 88. Coste di Vitello Imboracciate (Ribs of Veal)

Ingredients: Ribs of veal, b.u.t.ter, eggs, Parmesan, bread crumbs, parsley.

Cut all the sinews from a piece of neck or ribs of veal, cover the meat with plenty of b.u.t.ter and half cook it on a slow fire, then let it get cold. When cold, egg it over and roll it in bread crumbs mixed with a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan; fry in b.u.t.ter and serve with a garnish of fried parsley and a rich sauce. A dessert-spoonful of New Century sauce mixed with quarter of a pint of good thick stock makes a good sauce. (See No. 226.)

No. 89. Costolette di Montone alla Nizzarda (Mutton Cutlets)

Ingredients: Mutton cutlets, b.u.t.ter, olives, mushrooms, cuc.u.mbers.

Trim as many cutlets as you require, and marinate them in vinegar, herbs, and spice for two hours. Before cooking wipe them well and then saute them in clarified b.u.t.ter, and when they are well coloured on both sides and resist the pressure of the finger, drain off the b.u.t.ter and pour four tablespoonsful of Espagnole sauce (No. 1) with a teaspoonful of vinegar and six bruised pepper corns over them. Arrange them on a dish, putting between each cutlet a crouton of fried bread, and garnish with olives stuffed with chopped mushrooms and with slices of fried cuc.u.mber.

No. 90. Petto di Castrato all'Italiana (Breast of Mutton)

Ingredients: Breast of mutton, veal, forcemeat, eggs, herbs, spice, Parmesan.

Stuff a breast of mutton with veal forcemeat mixed with two eggs beaten up, herbs, a little spice, and a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan, braize it in stock with a bunch of herbs and two onions. Serve with Italian sauce (No. 6).

No. 91. Petto di Castrato alla Salsa piccante (Breast of Mutton)

Ingredients: Same as No. 90.

When the breast of mutton has been stuffed and cooked as above, let it get cold and then cut it into fillets, flour them over, fry in b.u.t.ter, and serve with tomato sauce piquante (No. 10), or one dessert-spoonful of New Century sauce in a quarter pint of good stock or gravy.

No. 92. Tenerumi d'Agnello alla Villeroy (Tendons of Lamb)

Ingredients: Tendons of lamb, eggs, bread crumbs, truffles, b.u.t.ter, stock, Villeroy sauce.

Slightly cook the tendons (the part of the breast near the ribs) of lamb, press them between two dishes till cold, then cut into a good shape and dip them into a Villeroy sauce (No. 18) egg and bread-crumb, and saute them in b.u.t.ter. When about to serve, put them in a dish with very good clear gravy. A teaspoonful of chopped mint and a tablespoonful of chopped truffles mixed with the bread crumbs will be a great improvement.

No. 93. Tenerumi d' Agnello alla Veneziana (Tendons of Lamb)

Ingredients: Tendons of lamb, b.u.t.ter, parsley, onions, stock.

Fry the tendons of lamb in b.u.t.ter together with a teaspoonful of chopped parsley and an onion. Serve with good gravy.