Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Calf’s Kidneys with Mushrooms and Madeira Sauce. — Thirteen minutes of cooking from start to finish is sufficient for this dish. The ingredients are three veal kidneys, Vz lb. of mushrooms, one and a half gills of consomme, three table-spoonfuls of Madeira, one table - spoonful of butter, one coffee-spoonful of salt, two pinches of pepper. If there is no consomme at hand, one coffee-spoonful of beef extract diluted in one and a half gills of hot water may replace it. Remove the skin from the kidneys and cut each lengthwise in four slices. Take off the fat, cut each slice in small pieces. The mushrooms, which are prepared at the last moment, should be of medium size; they are peeled whole and put in lukewarm water, with two good pinches of salt and one teaspoonful of vinegar. Remove, and wipe dry with a napkin. This method is excellent to prepare mushrooms for any style of cooking, as it keeps them perfectly white and firm. For this dish they are afterwards cut in slices a quarter of an inch thick. Have at first a full flame under the chafing-dish. Put in the butter, and when it is melted add the kidneys, salt, and pepper. Keep the dish uncovered, and stir with a spoon in order to cook every slice. After two minutes remove the kidneys, lower the flame, and add the flour to the gravy ; stir briskly for two minutes before pouring slowly over the consomme, then the Madeira. Mix well, cover, and cook for five minutes. Add the mushrooms, cook two minutes, then return the kidneys with the gravy. Cook uncovered for two minutes, then extinguish the flame at once, as longer cooking will make the kidneys hard. Calf’s Kidney Pie. — Take four veal kidneys, and half its bulk in fat with each. Cut them into slices a quarter of an inch thick, season rather highly with salt and cayenne, and add half a teaspoonful of powdered mace for the Calf’s Kidneys, Ragout Calf’s Liver, Broiled whole. Cut the meat from a calf’s foot and season it in the same way. Place a layer of kidney at the bottom of a pie-dish, strew over it 2 ozs. of finely minced ham, and lay on this the slices of calf’s foot. Repeat until the dish is nearly full. Put the hardboiled yolks of six eggs and half a dozen force-meat balls at the top, and pour over them a quarter of a pint of veal stock flavored with lemon-juice. Line the edges of the dish with a good crust, cover it with the same, and bake in a moderate oven. Though forcemeat balls are an improvement to the pie, they may be dispensed with. They are made as follows : Strain ten or twelve oysters from their liquid, mince them very finely, and mix them with 4 ozs. of finely grated bread-crumbs, a table - spoonful of chopped parsley, half a teaspoonful of grated lemonrind, and a little salt, cayenne, and mace. Mix these ingredients thoroughly. Bind them together with the unbeaten yolk of an egg and a little of the oyster liquor, make them into balls, and they are ready for use. This pie, which is generally a favorite, should be eaten cold. A good pie may be made with cold kidney and a few slices of the kidney fat from a cold loin of veal, instead of fresh kidneys. Time, from an hour and a half to two hours to bake.