Cookery for every household

Wash and prepare the heart as in following recipe, dry it well, and season with pepper and salt. Heat the bacon fat in a large stewpan until it turns brown, put in the heart, and keep turning it frequently until it is a nice brown colour on all sides. Then add half the stock or water, the vegetables cut in small pieces, and the bunch of herbs. Put the lid on the pan, and allow the heart to cook slowly until tender. The heart should be turned occasionally, and more stock or water added if necessary. When ready, lift the heart on to a hot dish and keep it warm. Mix the cornflour smoothly with the remainder of the stock, and add it to the gravy in the pan. Stir until boiling, skim well, and add more seasoning if necessary. About a pint of sauce should be made altogether, so if the liquid has reduced considerably during the cooking, add more to make up this amount. Strain some of the sauce over the heart, and serve the rest in a sauce boat. Mashed potatoes and baked tomatoes, or macaroni with tomatoes, are good accompaniments to this dish. Time to cook, 3 to 4 hours. Probable cost, 2 s. 871. Beef Heart, Stuffed and Roasted (Cceur de Boeuf Fare!) 1 beef heart. f pt. stock. Veal stuffing. Red-currant jelly. 1 tea-cupful dripping. Cut the flaps or lobes off the heart and remove all cartilage or pieces of gristle near the base. Then wash the heart thoroughly in several cold waters, allow it to lie in cold salted water for at least £ hour and wash again. Cut away the membrane which divides the two cavities and see that the inside is quite free from blood. Then dry it, fill it with veal stuffing (Recipe 1281), and tie a strong piece of greased paper over the stuffing to keep it in. Melt a good tea-cupful of dripping in a roasting tin and roast the heart in the usual way, keeping it well basted. When nearly ready, remove the paper and brown the end that was covered. Place the heart on a hot dish and make a gravy with the stock as for an ordinary roast. Serve with redcurrant jelly. Note.— Sausage meat may be used instead of veal stuffing. Time to roast, 2 to 3 hours. Probable cost, 2s. 872. Stewed Ox Kidney 1 ox kidney. 2 oz. dripping or butter. 2 table-sps. flour. 1 tea-sp. mixed spice. Salt. Pepper. 3 gills stock. 1 table-sp. chopped onion. 1 dessert-sp. ketchup. Boiled rice. Wash the kidney and scald it for 2 or 3 minutes in boiling water. Then- dry it and cut it in thin slices, removing the fat. Put the flour on a plate and mix it with the spice, pepper, and salt. Roll the pieces of kidney in this, coating them well. Melt the butter or dripping in a stewpan, when smoking hot put in the pieces of kidney and the chopped onions, and turn them over and over with a spoon until well browned on all sides. Add the stock and ketchup and stir until boiling. Then skim if necessary, cover the saucepan and stew very slowly by the side of the fire, or in the oven, until the kidney is tender. If allowed to cook quickly it will be hard and tough. When ready, remove any grease from the top of the gravy, add more seasoning if necessary, and serve on a hot dish with a border of rice round. Notes. — A little bacon, a few chopped mushrooms or 1 or 2 tomatoes cut in pieces may be added if wished. A little wine may be added to the gravy, and a border of potatoes or macaroni may be used instead of the boiled rice.