BREAST, STEWED

Cut in dice two ounces of bacon, put it in a stewpan and set on a good fire; add two ounces of butter, and two onions cut in slices; when melted, lay the breast in, turn it over and leave till of a golden color on both sides; add then two small carrots cut in pieces, one teaspoonful of chopped green onions, three sprigs of parsley, half a turnip, salt, and pepper; moisten with half a pint of warm water; leave thus about three hours on a moderate fire. Strain the juice in a dish, put the meat on it, and serve.

The pieces of carrots and of bacon may be served with the meat, if you choose.

_The same, with Green Peas._--Cut the breast in square pieces about two inches in size. Put in a stewpan a piece of butter the size of an egg, and set it on the fire; when melted, mix in it a teaspoonful of flour, then lay the meat in, and wet with half a glass of broth, same of warm water, also two sprigs of parsley, salt, and pepper; stir now and then. One hour after add green peas, and leave on the fire till the whole is cooked, when skim off the fat on the surface, and serve.

_In Matelote._--To make a _matelote_ of veal any piece can be used, but most generally it is made with a breast or neck piece. Cut the veal in square pieces about two inches in size; have in a stewpan and on a good fire a piece of butter about the size of an egg; when melted, put the meat in, stir now and then till of a golden color; then take the meat from the stewpan, which you leave on the fire, and in which you put half a pint of warm water, same of claret wine, same of broth, a bay-leaf, two cloves, two sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, a clove of garlic, salt, and pepper; when turning brown, put the meat back in the pan, and fifteen minutes before it is cooked add also ten small onions fried in butter beforehand and four or five mushrooms, then have a brisk fire to finish the cooking; place the meat on a dish, strain the sauce on the meat, put the ten small onions around it, and serve.

_Broiled._--Salt and pepper both sides of the breast of veal, grease it all over with melted butter, by means of a brush, and broil till overdone. Serve with a _maitre d'hotel_, _piquante_, or _poivrade_ sauce.

_Broiled._--When properly trimmed, they may be improved as directed for veal. Salt and pepper both sides; spread a little melted butter on both sides also by means of a brush; place them on, before, or under the fire (_see_ Broiling); baste now and then with melted butter; turn over one, two, or three times, and when rather overdone serve with a _maitre d'hotel_ sauce spread all over.

The above way of serving them is sometimes called _au naturel_.

_With Crumbs._--When trimmed, dip them in egg beaten with salt, pepper, and chopped parsley, roll them in bread-crumbs, and then broil and serve them as the above, with a _maitre d'hotel_.

_Fines Herbes._--Broil the chops as above, either with or without crumbs, and serve them with sauce _aux fines herbes_.

_A l'Italienne._--When broiled as above, serve them on a layer of _macaroni Italienne_.

_With Mushrooms._--When broiled and dished, surround them with a garniture of mushrooms, and serve warm. When there are several cutlets on the dish, and placed all around overlapping, the garniture may be put in the middle of the chops.

Do the same with the following garnitures: chicken-combs, _croutons_, _duxelle_, _financiere_, _Macedoine_, and onion. They may also be served on any _puree_.

_Baked._--Trim six cutlets. Mix well half a pound of sausage-meat with two eggs. Put a piece of buttered paper large enough to cover the bottom of a bakepan in which the six cutlets may be laid easily. Spread half the sausage-meat on the paper in the pan, then lay the cutlets in it; put the other half of the sausage-meat over the cutlets, and place the whole in a rather quick oven. Baste every five minutes with melted butter and broth, using them alternately, and serve warm with the gravy when done. A few drops of lemon-juice may be added to them when on the dish, if liked.

_Sautees._--Trim, and fry them with a little butter. When done on both sides, add a little broth, salt, pepper, and mushrooms and parsley chopped fine; chopped truffles may be added, if handy; boil gently for about ten minutes. Place the cutlets around the dish, one lapping over the other, turn the sauce in the middle, sprinkle some lemon-juice over the whole, and serve warm.

_With Sauce._--When broiled, baked, or _sauted_, they may be dished and served with either of the following sauces: _fines herbes_, _maitre d'hotel_, _piquante_, _poivrade_, _ravigote_, _tarragon_, tomato, or truffle.

_En Bellevue._--Proceed the same as for fillet of beef _en Bellevue_.

_In Papillotes._--Trim six veal-chops, spread salt and pepper on them, and fry them with a little butter till about half done. Take from the fire, and cut a small hole in the middle with a paste-cutter. While they are frying, fry with a little butter one onion chopped fine; as soon as fried, add half a pound of sausage-meat; stir now and then for about five minutes; add also a pinch of cinnamon, same of nutmeg; take off and mix with the whole one yolk of egg, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, salt, and pepper. Cut six pieces of white paper of a heart-like shape, and large enough to envelop a chop; grease them slightly with butter or sweet-oil; place some sausage-meat on one side of the paper (say half a tablespoonful), place a chop on it; put some sausage-meat on the chop and in the hole; fold the paper in two; then, by folding all around the border, the chop and seasonings are perfectly enveloped in the paper; put the chops in a baking-pan, spread a few drops of oil all over, and bake for about fifteen minutes in an oven at about 250 deg. Fahr. Instead of baking them, broil them carefully turning them over often and basting them to prevent the paper from burning, and serve with the paper on. They may be served on a _duxelle_ garniture, or with a _puree_.

_Fricandeau._--Take a piece of veal of any size, from the leg, loin, or cutlet piece, about three-quarters of an inch in thickness, lard one side with salt pork, the same as a fillet of beef. Put in a saucepan (for two pounds of meat) one ounce of butter, half a middling-sized onion, and as much carrot in slices, two or three stalks of parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, six or eight pepper-corns, and rind of the pork you have used; spread all these seasonings on the bottom of the saucepan, put the piece of veal on them, the larded side up, set on a good fire for about fifteen minutes; after which you look if the under side of the meat is well browned; if so, add a gill of broth, put in the oven and baste often, if not, leave a little longer on the fire. Add a little broth once in a while, to keep the bottom of the pan wet, and to have enough to baste till a little overdone, and serve with the gravy strained all over it. It is then called _au jus_.

_With Spinach._--Prepare and cook the _fricandeau_ as above; and when done, put some broth in the pan after having taken off the meat; give one boil; turn in the spinach _au jus_; stir on the fire one minute; dish the spinach; place the _fricandeau_ on it, and serve.

_With Sorrel._--Proceed as with spinach in every particular, except that you serve on sorrel _au jus_ instead of spinach. It makes a more delicate dish with sorrel, although excellent with spinach.

It may also be served with green peas _au jus_ or _a l'anglaise_.

_Financiere._--When prepared, cooked, and dished as directed, surround it with a _financiere_ garniture, and serve warm.

_Jardiniere._--After being cooked and dished, put a _Macedoine_ garniture around it, and serve warm.

_Boned._--Lay the shoulder on the table, the inside up, split it just in the middle, lengthwise, and following the middle of the bones; remove the flat bone at the larger end first. Do the same for the remaining bone. Then spread the shoulder open, and salt and pepper it. Fill the inside with sausage-meat; roll it of a round shape, and when properly tied with twine, roast or bake it, as directed for roasted or baked veal. It is then dished, decorated, and served in the same and every way as directed for roasted pieces of veal.

It is an excellent dish served on either of the following purees: _beans_, _celery_, _lentils_, _peas_, _potatoes_, _sorrel_, _spinach_, or _tomatoes_.

When served on a _puree_, it may be decorated with skewers, the same as when served with a garniture.

It may also be served with a _piquante_ or _poivrade_ sauce.

_Stuffed._--Bone the shoulder as directed above; spread it open, and salt and pepper it, also as directed. Spread a coat of sausage-meat on it, about one-third of an inch in thickness, then put a layer of salt pork on the sausage-meat; then a layer of boiled ham; again a layer of sausage-meat; on this a layer of beef or sheep's tongue, boiled. The ham and tongue are cut in square fillets, about one-fourth of an inch broad and about two inches long. The tongues may be fresh or salted, according to taste. When filled, roll it so as to give it a round shape; wrap it up in a towel and drop it in boiling water, to which you have added salt. Boil gently for about four hours, take the kettle from the fire and let cool. When cold take the shoulder off, wipe it dry and serve with meat jelly. The jelly is chopped, or cut in fancy shapes, or both. Some chopped jelly may be placed all around the meat, and some cut in fancy shapes with a paste-cutter or with a knife, and placed over it.

It may also be decorated with skewers, as directed for roasted pieces of veal.

_En Bellevue._--When boiled and cold, prepare it like a fillet of _beef en Bellevue_, and serve.