The Cook's Decameron Part 17

For a maigre dish use fillets of fish, truffles, mushrooms, and Bechamel sauce (No. 3). The cuc.u.mber should be boiled for five minutes before it is fried.

No. 104. Ateletti alla Genovese

Ingredients: Veal, sweetbread, calf's brains, ox palates, mushrooms, fonds d'artichauds, c.o.c.ks' combs, eggs, Parmesan, bread crumbs.

Cook two ox palates as in the last recipe, then take equal quant.i.ties of veal steak, sweetbread, calf's brains, equal quant.i.ties of mushrooms, fonds d'artichauds, and c.o.c.ks' combs. Fry them all in b.u.t.ter except the palates, but be careful to put the veal in first, as it requires longer cooking; the brains should go in last. Then put all these ingredients on a cutting board and add the palates (cooked separately); cut them all into pieces of equal size, either round or square, but keep the ingredients separate, and string them alternately on silver skewers, as in the last recipe. Then pound up all the cuttings and add a little crumb of bread soaked in stock, the yolks of three eggs, the whites of two well beaten up, two dessert-spoonsful of grated Parmesan, salt to taste, and chopped truffles. Mix all this well together and mask the atelets with it; egg and bread crumb them and fry in b.u.t.ter. When they are a good colour, serve with fried parsley.

No. 105. Testa di Vitello alla Sorrentina (Calf's Head)

Ingredients: Calf's head, veal, sweetbread, truffles, mushrooms, pistacchio nuts, eggs, herbs, spice, stock, bacon, ham.

Boil a half calf's head well, and when it is half cold, bone it and fill it with a stuffing of veal, the calf's brains, sweetbread, truffles, mushrooms, pistacchio nuts, the yolks of two eggs, herbs, and a little spice. Then st.i.tch it up and braize it in good stock, with some slices of bacon, ham, and a bunch of herbs. Serve with brain sauce mixed with cream.

No. 106. Testa di Vitello con Salsa Napoletana (Calf's Head)

Ingredients: Calf's head, calf's liver, bacon, suet, truffles, almonds, olives, calf's brains, capers, spice, coriander seeds, herbs, ham, stock.

Boil half a calf's head, bone it and fill it with a stuffing made of four ounces of calf's liver, well chopped up and pounded in a mortar; two ounces of bacon, one ounce of suet, three truffles, six almonds, three olives, six coriander seeds, six capers, the calf's brains, a pinch of spice and a teaspoonful of chopped herbs. Roll up the head, tie it up and put it into a stewpan with some bits of bacon, ham, and very good stock, and stew it slowly. Serve with Neapolitan sauce (No.12), or with tomato sauce piquante (No. 10).

No. 107. Testa di Vitello alla Pompadour (Calf's Head)

Ingredients: Calf's head, calf's brains, cream, eggs, truffles, cinnamon, stock, b.u.t.ter, Parmesan.

Boil and bone half a calf's head and fill it with a stuffing made of the calf's brains, a gill of cream, the yolks of two eggs, two truffles cut up, a little chopped ham, and a tiny pinch of cinnamon. Boil it in good stock, and when it is sufficiently cooked take it out and mask it all over with a mixture of b.u.t.ter, yolk of egg, and a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan, then brown it in the oven and serve hot.

No. 108. Testa di Vitello alla Sanseverino (Calf's Head)

Ingredients: Calf's head, sweetbread, fowl's liver, anchovies, herbs, capers, garlic, bacon, ham, Malmsey or Muscat.

Boil and bone half a calf's head, and fill it with a stuffing made of half a pound of sweetbread, a fowl's liver, two anchovies, a teaspoonful of chopped herbs, a few chopped capers, and the calf's brains. Roll the head up, st.i.tch it together and braize it in half a tumbler of Malmsey or Australian Muscat (Burgoyne's), half a cup of very good white stock, some bits of ham and bacon, and a clove of garlic with two cuts. Cook it gently for four hours and serve it with its own sauce. Do not leave the garlic in longer than ten minutes.

No. 109. Testa di Vitello in Frittata (Calf's Head)

Ingredients: Calf's head, eggs, Parmesan, ham, pepper, b.u.t.ter, croutons.

A good rechauffe' of calf's head may be made in the following manner: After the head has been well boiled in good stock, cut it into slices and mask these with a mixture of eggs well beaten up, grated Parmesan, pepper, and chopped ham. Fry in b.u.t.ter, and garnish with fried parsley and fried croutons. Serve with a sauce made of a quarter of a pint of good Bechamel (No. 3) and a dessert-spoonful of New Century sauce.

No. 110. Zampetti (Calves' Feet)

Ingredients: Calves' or pigs' feet, b.u.t.ter, leeks or small onions, parsley, salt, pepper, stock, tomatoes, eggs, cheese, cinnamon.

Blanch and bone two or more calves' or pigs' feet and put them into a stewpan with b.u.t.ter, leeks, or onions, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and a little stock. Let them boil till the liquid is somewhat reduced, then add good meat gravy and two tablespoonsful of tomato puree, and just before taking the stewpan off the fire, add the yolks of two eggs beaten up, a tablespoonful of grated cheese, and a tiny pinch of cinnamon. Mix all well together and serve very hot.

No. 111. Bodini Marinati

Ingredients: Veal forcemeat, truffles, sweetbread, mushrooms, herbs, flour, pasta marinate (No. 17), tongue, b.u.t.ter.

Make a mixture of truffles, tongue, sweetbread, mushrooms, and herbs, all chopped up, and add it to a forcemeat of veal, the proportions being two-thirds veal forcemeat and the other ingredients one third. Mix this well and form it into little b.a.l.l.s about the size of a pigeon's egg, flour them and mask them all over with pasta marinate (No. 17). Fry them in b.u.t.ter over a slow fire, so that the b.a.l.l.s may be well cooked through, and when they are the right colour dry them in a napkin and serve very hot.

These bodini may be made with various ingredients; they will be most delicate with a forcemeat of fowl and bits of brain mixed with herbs, truffle, cooked ham, or tongue. They are also excellent made with fish (sole, mullet, turbot, &c.), either cooked or raw, and marinated in lemon, salt, pepper, oil, nutmeg, and parsley.

No. 112. Animelle alla Parmegiana (Sweetbread)

Ingredients: Sweetbread, bread crumbs, Parmesan, b.u.t.ter.

Blanch as many sweetbreads as you require, and then roll them in bread crumbs mixed with grated Parmesan, salt, and pepper; wrap them up in b.u.t.tered grease-proof paper and grill them. When they are cooked, take off the paper, and serve with a good sauce in a sauce-boat.

No. 113. Animelle in Cartoccio (Sweetbread)

Ingredients: Sweetbread, b.u.t.ter, herbs, salt, pepper, bread crumbs, Parmesan, lemons, gravy, tomatoes.

Blanch a pound of sweetbread cuttings, mix it with two ounces of melted b.u.t.ter, chopped herbs, salt, and pepper, and put it into paper souffle cases. Then strew over each some bread crumbs mixed with grated Parmesan, put the cases in the oven, and when they are browned serve either with good gravy and lemon juice or with tomato sauce (No. 9).

No. 114. Animelle all'Italiana (Sweetbread)