Handbook of practical cookery

Take the sweet-breads, first thoroughly washing them, and putting them into a sauce-pan, cover with cold water, and bringing the water to the boiling-point, allow them to boil in it for five minutes; when they should be again thrown into cold water, rewashed, and cut into small pieces. Now put the butter and milk into a sauce-pan over the fire, and when the milk boils, put into the pan also the pieces of sweet-bread ; season them with the cayenne pepper and salt, and let all simmer slowly for three quarters of an hour. When the crust has become cool and firm in the ice-box, take it out, and placing it upon the mixing-board, roll it out to about a third of an inch in thickness. Cut out two vol-au-vent with the vol-au-vent cutter, or a biscuit cutter if the first be not convenient; cut in each a smaller circle, about one inch from the edges, half way through the crust ; and placing both upon a baking-tin, bake in a hot quick oven for twenty minutes. When done, remove the crust from the inner circle by slipping in a knife-blade and splitting it asunder; scrape out the centre of the vol-au-vent, in order to make a hollow in which to pack the sweet-breads ; put into each equal parts of the sweet -bread ; sprinkle over the meat the remainder of the lemon- juice ; cover over it the little baked circle previously split out ; garnish with fresh sprigs of parsley, and send to table in a hot napkin. NOTES. — The difficulty in making the vol-au-vent paste lies in its becoming heated in rolling, and the butter, which is used in excessive proportion, running in consequence. This may be prevented by putting it to cool between rollings, and taking a little longer time for its preparation. It is really puff-paste that is used for the vol-au-vent, and the crust should rise in baking at least three inches. Chaud-froid of Chicken. — One young fowl, two ounces of butter, two ounces of flour, one half pint of milk, one gill of cream, one salt-spoonful of salt, one salt-spoonful of white pepper, one quart of second stock, one half ounce of gelatine, one table-spoonful of vinegar, one sprig of parsley, one gill of cold water, whites of three eggs, one half tea-spoonful of black pepper. This dish requires two days for its preparation, and therefore its use must be anticipated. Melt first the gelatine in half of the cold water, and let it stand for ten minutes ; put then the stock into a copper or porcelain-lined sauce-pan, add to it the vinegar, parsley, black pepper, and half of the salt; place it over the fire, and when tepid put into it the gelatine. Beat the whites of the eggs well in a bowl, with which mix 'the remainder of the cold water ; pour this into the stock, and whisk all together until the stock boils, using either two forks or an egg- whisk. The instant the stock boils cover the sauce-pan and draw it aside from the fire ; let it simmer here slowly for twenty minutes, when it should be strained into a basin through a clean towel. Let this preparation stand over night, as it will not cool through and set in shorter time. Clean and wash also the fowl ; then plunging it into boiling water, let it cook until a skewer will pierce easily into the breast, when it must be immediately taken out, and it also allowed to stand over night to become thoroughly cooled.