Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Calf’s Kidneys, Ragout. — Remove the little hard pieces in the middle ; cut the kidneys in small slices, put them with a lump of butter in a saucepan, and fry two minutes. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle in a little flour, add a few sliced mushrooms and a little bouillon ; cook till the sauce thickens, then pour it over the kidneys. A little red or white wine will make a very agreeable addition. Calf’s Liver and Bacon. — Cut i lb. of liver into slices, a quarter of an inch in thickness, and dredge some flour over them. Take an equal number of slices of bacon, fat and lean together. F ry the bacon first, and when it is done enough, draw the rashers from the fat and place them on a hot dish. Fry the slices of liver in the same fat, and when lightly browned on both sides, dish bacon and liver in a circle, a slice of each alternately. Pour the fat from the pan, and dredge a little flour into it. Add a quarter of a pint of broth, a little salt and pepper, and a table - spoonful of mushroom catsup. Stir smoothly together until the sauce boils, and pour it into the dish with the liver. Garnish with sliced lemon. If liked, a table-spoonful of finely minced gherkins or pickled walnuts may be added to the sauce. Time, a quarter of an hour to fry the liver. Calf’s Liver Bourgeois. — Procure a nice liver from 2^4 to 3 lbs. Cut 1 lb. of larding-pork in strips two inches long and not too thick. Season each strip with pepper and salt, then lard the liver. Put in a braisiere one table - spoonful of butter and the remnants of the trimming and rind of the pork. Place the liver in it, and leave it until nicely brown all over. Remove the liver from the saucepan. Add a dessert-spoonful of flour, cook five minutes, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon. Season with two pinches of salt, two of pepper, half a pint of dry white wine, one and a half of water ; add a bouquet of three sprigs of parsley, one branch of celery, one small bay-leaf, three onions, and two cloves. Put the liver back again in the saucepan ; cook one hour and a half over a slow fire. Add to it, lastly, one pint of small, new carrots and a half-pint of small, new onions ; cook half an hour longer. Serve the liver on a warm platter ; arrange the vegetables ; strain and pour the gravy over. The white wine will give an excellent taste, and prevents the gravy from being greasy ; but if no wine is at hand, the same quantity of rich, good stock will answer. Calf’s Liver, Broiled. — Cut the liver into thin slices, wash it, and let Calf’s Liver, Minced Veal, Breast of it stand in salt and water for half an hour, to draw out all the blood. Season with salt and pepper, and broil, basting frequently with butter. Either fried or broiled liver is more delicate if, after it is cut into slices for cooking, it is parboiled in salt and water. Calf's Liver, Minced. — Boil a calf’s liver till it will crumble. Drain it, and cut it in small pieces. Strain the water in which it was boiled, and thicken it with a piece of butter rolled in flour. Pepper and salt and a few herbs must be added, and the mixture boiled up. Put the liver on a deep dish with the finely grated crumbs of a stale loaf. Set the dish in the oven five minutes, pour on the gravy, and serve hot.