Calf's Head

Ingredients

• a Calf’s Head
• a lump of salt
• the yolks of four eggs
• loz. of butter
• £ pint of gravy
• cayenne pepper
• grated breadcrumbs
• finely-chopped parsley

Method

1. 1

   Scald and clean the Calf’s Head, boil it with salt until tender.

2. 2

   Drain, bone, and press it into shape.

3. 3

   Cut in halves when cold.

4. 4

   Warm butter, beat with egg yolks, season with salt and pepper.

5. 5

   Brush the head with beaten eggs, cover with breadcrumbs mixed with parsley, and bake until browned.

6. 6

   Boil brains, chop finely, mix with gravy, season, and keep hot.

7. 7

   Serve the head with gravy and parsley butter sauce.

As published

This recipe was extracted from The encyclopædia of practical cookery (1890) by Theodore Francis Garrett, page 78. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

a Calf’s Head, put it into a saucepan with a lump of salt and boil it until tender. Drain and bone the head, put it between two dishes with a weight on the top, and press it to an oblong shape. When the head is quite cold cut it in halves. Warm loz. of butter, and beat it well Sauces, d'C., referred to, see under their special heads. THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF PRACTICAL COOKERY. 271 Calf — continued. with the yolks of four eggs ; season with salt and pepper. Brush the head over with a paste-brush dipped in the beaten eggs, then strew it thickly with grated breadcrumbs; brush it over again with the beaten eggs, then cover with more breadcrumbs, this time mixing finely-chopped parsley with them. Put the head on a baking-dish, and bake it in a brisk oven until nicely browned. Boil the brains, and when tender chop them finely ; put them in a saucepan with £ pint of gravy, season it with salt and cayenne pepper, and keep it hot at the side of the fire. When the head is cooked, put it on a hot dish, pour the gravy round, and Berve with a sauceboatful of parsley and butter sauce. Calf’s-Head Cheese. — This tasty preparation can be made with any remains of cold, cooked Calf s Head, as follows : Cut the meat into moderate-sized pieces, put them in a saucepan with some brains or brain sauce, pour in 1 wineglassful t f Madeira or sherry, 1 table-spoonful of vinegar, and sufficient Calf’s-Head stock to cover; dust in some salt, pepper, and powdered sage, and add a lump of sugar. When boiling move the stewpan to the side of the fire, and let the contents simmer gently, keeping them well stirred. When the liquor has reduced to a jelly, turn the cheese into a mould, and leave it till cold and stiff. When ready to serve, tarn the cheese out of the mould on to a folded napkin or an ornamental dish- paper on a dish. Calf’s Head d la Pinanciere. — For the preparation of this fanciful dish all the parts of the head are prepared as for a ragout — the ears are scalded and stuffed, the brains made into cakes. The pieces of meat are cut into large discs and arranged round a pain of forcemeat made of the trimmings. and around this again, either on the same dish or one below it, the cars and brain-cakes are arranged with blanched olives and button mushrooms. Attelettes garnished with cocks’ combs, truffles, and other things surmount the whole (see Fig. 309). Calf’s Head a 1% Luxemborg-. — Run a knife under the skin upon the top of the skull and saw off about 2in. of the skull-bone. Boil the head, take it out and drain it, and wipe on a cloth. Prepare a forcemeat as follows : Well wash the brains, cut them up into slices, put them into a saute-pan with 2oz. of butter, sprinkle over with chopped parsley, salt and pepper, squeeze over the juice of half a lemon, and cook gently over a slow fire, turning frequently. Mince them as fine as possible, put them into a basin, mix in 4 table-spoonfuls of sifted breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, grated nutmeg, and chopped lemon-peel, and make the whole into a mass by adding the yolks of two eggs. Spread this over the head placed in a saute-pan, brush the surface with egg, sprinkle over bread- crumbs, and bake in a moderate oven for about half-an-hour. Brown the top with a salamander, and put it on a dish. 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 sauce- pan, 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 d la Roy ale. — 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 wedge- shaped 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 wine- glassful of white wine and £ table-spoonful of sauce (Worcester- shire 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. Calf’s-Head Ragout. — Cut the meat from a parboiled Calf’s Head

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