Calf's Head, the Warder's Way

Modern cookery for private families · Acton, Eliza · 1845
Source
Modern cookery for private families
Status
success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (10)
main
flavoring
Instructions (12)
  1. Boil the half-head until tolerably tender.
  2. Let it cool, and bone it entirely.
  3. Replace the brain.
  4. Lay the head into a stewpan, and simmer it gently for an hour in rich gravy.
  5. From five-and-twenty to thirty minutes before it is dished, add half a pint of mushroom-buttons.
  6. Thicken the gravy, if needful, with rice flour or with flour and butter.
  7. Serve plenty of forcemeat-balls round the head.
  8. For dishes of this kind, a little sweet-basil wine, or a few sprigs of the herb itself, impart a very agreeable flavour.
  9. When neither these nor mushrooms are within reach, the very thin rind of a small but fresh lemon may be boiled in the gravy, and the strained juice added at the instant of serving.
Observation
  1. The skin, with the ear, may be left on the head for this receipt.
  2. The ear may be slit into narrow strips from the tip to within an inch and a half of the base; which will give it a feathery and ornamental appearance.
  3. The head may then be glazed or not at pleasure.
Original Text
CALF’S HEAD, THE WARDER’S WAY. (An excellent Receipt.) Boil the half-head until tolerably tender; let it cool, and bone it entirely; replace the brain, lay the head into a stewpan, and simmer it gently for an hour in rich gravy. From five-and-twenty to thirty minutes before it is dished, add half a pint of mushroom-buttons. Thicken the gravy, if needful, with rice flour or with flour and butter, and serve plenty of forcemeat-balls round the head. For dishes of this kind, a little sweet-basil wine, or a few sprigs of the herb itself, impart a very agreeable flavour. When neither these nor mushrooms are within reach, the very thin rind of a small but fresh lemon may be boiled in the gravy, and the strained juice added at the instant of serving. Boiled from 1 to 2 hours; stewed 1 hour. Obs.—The skin, with the ear, may be left on the head for this receipt, and the latter slit into narrow strips from the tip to within an inch and a half of the base; which will give it a feathery and ornamental appearance, the head may then be glazed or not at pleasure.
Notes
—