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Veal, Loin of, Kidney End, Roasted
Place a piece of buttered paper round the lean part of the loin, being careful to cover the kidney entirely with its fat. Hang the veal close to a good fire. At the end of twenty minutes draw it back a little, and roast gently, basting frequently until done enough. Half an hour before it is taken up remove the paper, dredge a little flour upon the veal, and sprinkle over it the strained juice of a lemon and a little salt. Continue to baste until it is brightly browned. Make a little brown sauce according to the instructions given in the preceding recipe. Toast a round of bread on both sides. Put it on a hot dish, and place the veal upon it, with the kidney resting on the toast. Pour a little of the gravy over the meat, serve the rest in a tureen, and send a cut lemon to table on a plate. Bacon, ham, or tongue should be served with this dish. Time to roast the veal, twenty-eight minutes to the pound. Probable cost, 11d. per pound.
This is a spit recipe written for an open fire, and the whole method turns on that: the meat hangs in front of the heat, is shielded with paper until the surface sets, then finishes exposed so it browns. In an oven the sequence still works, but the numbers need translating.
- The kidney endThis is the rear portion of the veal loin, sold today as a bone-in loin roast; the kidney and its surrounding suet are rarely left attached. Ask a butcher to keep the kidney in, or omit it and treat the recipe as a plain loin roast.
- Buttered paperButtered parchment does the same job as the greased kitchen paper intended here. It shields the lean muscle while the fat and kidney render, and it comes off for the last half hour so the surface can brown.
- Fire to ovenHanging "close to a good fire" for twenty minutes then drawing back is a two-stage heat. The recipe gives no temperatures, but the same sequence in an oven means a hot start, on the order of 425F, then reducing to a moderate 325-350F for the remainder.
- Twenty-eight minutes to the poundThat is Victorian practice, when veal was cooked well beyond modern taste. Roast instead to an internal temperature of 145-150F at the thickest part away from bone and rest it 15 minutes; go by the thermometer rather than by minutes per pound, as the total will vary with the joint.
- Flour and lemonThe flour dredge plus lemon juice in the final half hour is a glazing step, not a thickener. Keep basting after it goes on or the flour scorches instead of browning.
- Basting substituteVeal loin is very lean once the suet has gone. If your roast has little fat cover, baste with melted butter or the pan drippings every 15 minutes, or lay a sheet of caul or thin barding fat over the lean side.
- Brown sauceThe "preceding recipe" is not reproduced here; a brown sauce of this period is generally a browned flour-and-butter roux moistened with stock. A modern equivalent is the deglazed pan juices with a little stock and a beurre manie, strained.
- The toastThe round of bread, toasted on both sides as the recipe directs, sits beneath the joint and catches the juices and the fat from the kidney. Use a firm, close-crumbed bread and toast it hard, or it collapses.
- YieldA 4-5 lb bone-in loin serves six, with the bacon, ham or tongue and a cut lemon alongside as the original directs.
Cassell's belonged to the era when a spit or a bottle-jack in front of the range was still the standard for a good joint, and the instructions to hang the meat close to the fire and then "draw it back" describe controlling heat by distance rather than by a dial. The kidney end of the loin was prized precisely because it came with its own basting fat and the kidney itself, which the recipe rests on the toast. The insistence on bacon, ham or tongue reflects what is often said of veal, that it is too mild and too lean to stand alone, a pairing that also underlies veal-and-ham pie; the cut lemon sent to table is the same logic applied more lightly. The costing of 11d. per pound places this in a book written for households keeping accounts, where a joint's price per pound was as much part of the recipe as the timing.