Practical household cookery

After having wiped the shreds of bacon and larded the tongue with them, place this in a saucepan with four quarto of cold water, two rashers of bacon, an onion and a carrot nicely shred, together with a bay-leaf, a little thyme, three cloves, a teaspoonful of salt, and two pinches of pepper. Set the saucepan boiling and simmer for about three hours and a half (if the tongue is a large one), then ascertain whether it is cooked. When done, take it off the fire and dish it up with Gherkin sauce (No. 192) and serve. Ox-tongue cooked in this way can also be served with Sharp, Italian, or Tomato sauce ; you can also omit the larding and serve it with a purée of spinach, macédoine or any vegetable that may be in season. 861. PICKLED OXTONGUE. MADEIRA SAUCE. Get a good pickled ox-tongue from your butcher, wash it in two or three cold waters, put it in a saucepan on the fire with four quarts of cold water; let it boil gently for about three hours, when it must be drawn from the fire, but leave the tongue in its liquor. Meanwhile put three tablespoonfids of Espagnole sauce in a small stewpan with a piece of glaze as big as a walnut, and half a pint of Marsala, Madeira, or sherry, a little salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg. Boil it, stir it well with a wooden spoon, and reduce it one -third by sharp boiling. Meantime take the tongue out of its liquor, trim it and remove the white skin, put the tongue back into the saucepan on the fire to warm it up. When boiling dish it up, pour the sauce over it, and serve with a purée of potatoes apart, or any other vegetable puree. If the pickled ox-tongue is to be served cold, cook it in the same way, and leave it in its liquor for ten minutes before trimming ; and when still hot pin it on a board in the larder, so as to give it a round shape, and let it get cold, then glaze it in the following manner : — 362. TO GLAZE COLD MEAT. Put some glaze into a small earthenware pot; put this in a saucepan two-thirds full of warm w^ater ; set the saucepan on the fire to bring the water gradually till it boils. When the glaze is well dissolved see that the tongue is well dried ; then with a brush varnish the surface, evenly and smoothly, and when cold lay on another coat, also a third if necessary ; but let it be well understood that the glazing has not for object the hiding of the article glazed, but to give it only a polished and transparent appearance, in the same way as a polished piece of furniture, which in either case is always pleasing to the eye. 868. SWEETBREADS LARDED À LA MACÉDOINE. Soak and blanch two sweetbreads, as described in Hot Hors-d'Œuvres, drain and press them between two dishes until cold, after which lard them closely with small strips of bacon, without having been soaked, as for the ox-tonguo. Put them in a sauté-pan with a pint of good broth slightly coloured with caramel, a " bouquet garni," a bay- leaf, and salt to taste. Cover the sauté-pan with its lid, and boil gently for about half an hour, taking care to add a little more broth if required ; take the lid off, and put the sauté-pan in the oven to dry the surface, which should be of a nice light-brown colour. Then dish them up with a garnish of macédoine (No. 281) and serve, after having poured over the remainder of the glaze in which the sweetbreads were cooked. Sweetbread prepared in this way may also be served with any garnish of vegetables or vegetable purée, as described in this book, as well as with Tomato or Soubise sauce, &c., &c, 864w OX-BRAINS, NEAPOLITAN STYLE.