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Larded Sweetbreads a la Financiere
Soak 4 sweetbreads, boil them quickly till they are firm but not at all hard, cool them, then lard them evenly and thickly with thin strips of fat bacon. Butter a baking-dish, and spread a layer of sliced carrots, onions, and celery at the bottom. Lay the sweetbreads upon the vegetables, and pour round them as much stock as will barely come up to the larding. Put them in a sharp oven, and bake until done enough, basting them frequently with the liquor. When they are done enough, and the surface is brightly browned, dish them as follows: Put a croustade in a dish, and fill it with Toulouse or financiere ragout. Place the sweetbreads against the sides of the croustade, and garnish the dish as prettily as possible. If liked, Toulouse ragout may be used for the croustade instead of financiere ragout, and then the dish becomes Sweetbread a la Toulouse. The croustade may be made as follows: Take an oval loaf one day old. Cut off the round top, and scoop out the crumb of the loaf, leaving three-quarters of an inch of bread all round, and at the bottom. Pare away the crust and dip the case into oiled butter. Put it in the oven till it begins to harden, then again dip it in butter, and place it again in the oven till it acquires a little color, when it will be ready for use. Time to bake the sweetbreads, about half an hour.
A late-Victorian restaurant dish that assumes you can buy sweetbreads, lard with a needle, and keep a ragout warm on the side. The braise itself is straightforward; the assembly is where the time goes.
- Sweetbreads: the hingeSoak in several changes of cold water until they run pale, then blanch. "Boil them quickly till they are firm but not at all hard" points to a short, brisk boil rather than a long one. The recipe says only to cool them; cooling under a light weight between two plates is a later refinement that makes them easier to slice and to lard.
- Which sweetbreadVeal sweetbreads are the usual choice; the recipe does not say whether throat (thymus) or heart/belly (pancreas). Order ahead from a butcher and use them promptly, as they are highly perishable.
- "A sharp oven"A hot oven, roughly 400-425F. Judge by the recipe's own tests: bake about half an hour, until done enough and the surface is brightly browned.
- LardingCut fat back or thick unsmoked bacon into strips about 1/8 inch square and thread them through the surface with a larding needle. Without a needle, drape thin bacon over the top and under the sweetbreads instead; the effect is close enough.
- Stock level"Barely up to the larding" means only a shallow depth of liquid, so the top stays dry and browns while the base braises. Use a light veal or chicken stock, and baste frequently, as the recipe directs.
- Financiere and Toulouse ragoutsFinancière and Toulouse ragouts -- Toulouse is a white ragout of chicken quenelles, mushrooms and sweetbread trimmings in velouté; financière is the richer, darker one, its garnish of cockscombs, kidneys, truffle and olives bound with a Madeira-flavoured brown sauce. Mushrooms, small chicken dumplings and a little truffle are workable modern stand-ins.
- The croustadeHere a hollowed loaf case rather than a pastry shell. "Oiled butter" is melted butter. The recipe gives no temperature; a moderate oven is enough to dry and colour the case without scorching, and a plain firm white loaf browns less fiercely than an enriched one.
- ServingEverything must be hot at once: sweetbreads in the oven, ragout in a bain-marie, croustade crisped last. The recipe uses the liquor for basting and gives no separate sauce.