A Ragout of Truffles

Ingredients

• some truffles
• some strong veal gravy
• two cloves
• a blade of mace
• a lump of butter rolled in flour
• enough essence of a gammon of bacon

Method

1. 1

   Soak truffles in gravy overnight, heat with spices, then thicken with butter and flour.

2. 2

   Serve garnished with lemon if served separately.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Virginia Cookery-book (1884) by Mary Stuart Smith, page 73. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

blades of mace, four cloves, a little grated lemon*peel, and some salt; let this boil for some time over a slow fiye ; then put in a pint of strong white-wine and the juice of four lemons ; let it boil two hours ; then lay the pig in a dish, strain off the liquor, and set it by to cool ; then take off the fat from the top and the settling from the bottom ; let the pig be cold ; then warm the jelly and pour it over the pig, and let it again stand to get cold. Serve it up as a cold dish. Garnish with fresh parsley and pieces of lemon cut small, with the peel upon them. A Rag6ut op Ham. Cut some thin slices from the hock end of a fine bam, beat these well with a roUing-pin, and lay them carefully in a stewpan, without any addition whatever ; cover these up close, and set them ovei* a gentle fire to stew. Ob- serve when they begin to stick to the pan, then dust in a little flour, move them gently over the fire, and pour in a little rich veal gravy, made purposely without any salt; put in two small bunches of sweet herbs and some pep- * In Virginia the term pig is never applied to a grown hog. A pig when roasted whole is preferred very young, so as not to weigh over twelve pounds. Bhote is the meat of a half-gro¥m bog ; pork, the meat of the full-grown animal when fit for curing. VIMOINIA COQKERT'BOOK, \5X peri ^ blade of mace broken, and one clove whole. Ijet tbifl be set on again over a gentle fire, and covered up ; when it has stood about a quarter of an hour simmering take out the sweet herbs and skim off the fat, then thick- en it up, and pour it into a small dish. Send it up hot. This dish is not only useful as a dish for lunch or supper, but serves excellently as a garnish to any larger dish composed of bacon. A Ragout of Swbetbrsads. Choose a couple of fine veal sweetbreads, throw them into a pot of boiling water, and have ready a pan of the coldest water you can get. When the sweetbreads have been a few minutes in the boiling water throw them into the cold, and let them lie there a little ; double a cloth three or four times and spread it out upon the dresser, take the sweetbreads out of the water, lay them upon this cloth, aud cover them with another ; thus dry them per- fectly. Put them into a saucepan with a quarter of a pound of butter, toss them up, and add some pepper and salt, and a little bundle of sweet herbs ; then cut to pieces some large, fresh mushrooms, and put into the saucepan ; then put in some fresh ones whole, and very small, set it over a fire, let it simmer longer, and then take out the bundle of herbs ; put in some rich veal gravy, and set it on again ; then, after it has been cooking for some time, skim off the fat, and thicken it up ; serve it hot, without any garnish. This, like the recipe preceding it, is used sometimes for a dish of itself, and sometimes for garnish of others. A Rag6ut of Truffles. Cut some truffles into very thin slices, and lay them over -night to soak in some strong veal gravy. In the morning heat them up, throw in two cloves and a blade 152 VIRGINIA VOOKEHYBOOK. of mace torn to pieces, and set them on to boil up ; then take them off the fire. There must be only just as much of the veal gravy as will moisten them thoroughly ; let them stand now till near the time they are wanted ; they will be perfectly soft, and fully and richly impregnated with the strength of the gravy ; then pour in enough es- sence of a gammon of bacon to make the whole somewhat thin, set it on to stew again, and then thicken it up with a lump of butter rolled in flour

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.