The encyclopædia of practical cookery

Put 4 table-spoonfuls of tarragon vinegar into a saucepan with 1 table-spoonful of scraped horseradish, two cloves, a blade of mace, and a wineglassful of brandy ; boil for five minutes, then add 3 pints of brown sauce and 1 pint of clear consomme. Boil up again, remove the saucepan to the side of the fire, skim well, and let the whole remain until it is reduced to Calf — continued. two-thirds its original quantity. Strain it into another saucepan, add two dozen each of pickled mushrooms and small gherkins, warm them, add loz. of anchovy butter and | teaspoonful of sugar, pour this round the head on a dish, and serve. Calf's Head a la Royale. — This is considered by all epicures the very king of Calf’s-head dishes. In the centre of a silver dish is set a pain of forcemeat made from fragments of the heads and necks used, scraps of veal, tongue, and other things. Round this are laid, overlapping each other, discs of the meat off the head, and between these, alternately, a blanched cock’s Fig. 310. Calf’s Head k la Royale. comb and three button mushrooms, decreasing in size upwards. The ears, scored and stuffed with a trufflo in each, are set on the pain with truffles between them, and fried bread wedgeshaped croutons are ranged round the pain, with truffles set on the base of every other crouton. A few sprigs of fried parsley are sometimes added, and the whole served with royal sauce. See Fig. 310. Calf’s-Head Pie. — (1) Cut into square pieces a half-boiled Calf’s Head. Put a layer of ham at the bottom of a pie-dish, cover over with the pieces of the head, first fat and then lean, with forcemeat balls and halves of hard-boiled eggs intermixed, and so on until the dish is full, taking care to allow room for warm jelly to be poured in. The meat should be highly seasoned. Cover over the pie with a good crust, put it into a slow oven, and bake. Take it out when done, make a hole in the top, and pour in a little gravy; then turn the pie out on to a dish and serve. (2) Cut into small pieces a Calf’s Head, plain boiled until it is nearly cooked; dust them over with salt, pepper, and a little flour, serving the brains and skinned tongue in the same way. Put these into a pie-dish in alternate layers, seasoning with chopped lemon-peel, minced sage and thyme, and a little grated nutmeg. Pour in sufficient of the stock in which the head was boiled to moisten, and add 1 wineglassful of white wine and £ table-spoonful of sauce (Worcestershire or Harvey’s for preference). Cover over with a good crust, and bake in a brisk oven until it is done, taking care not to let the gravy boil over; serve either hot or cold. If desired, a little lean cooked veal and a prepared sweetbread may be added, as well as a flavouring of mushrooms, truffles, or oysters, according to taste. The pie may also be made in a terrine, in which case it will not require any crust.