Mock Sweetbreads

This is a veal forcemeat shaped and browned to stand in for real sweetbreads. The whole point is texture, so the meat must be worked to a smooth, close paste before anything else happens.

• The mortarPounding 12 oz of veal to a paste by hand takes ten minutes or more. A food processor does it in under a minute; cube the veal cold, pulse to a coarse mince, then run it until it balls up smooth against the bowl.
• "A little suet or bacon"Read this as about 2 oz for the 12 oz of veal. Chopped beef suet gives the softer, blander result closer to real sweetbread; bacon gives a cured, smokier flavour. Either way it is the fat that keeps the paste from turning dry and springy.
• Breadcrumbs and cream"A few" breadcrumbs means roughly 2 tablespoons of soft white crumbs, and the spoonful of cream about 1 tablespoon. The crumbs bind and lighten the paste while the cream loosens it; add the cream last and stop when the paste is smooth but still holds a shape.
• MaceGround mace, the outer covering of the nutmeg seed, was a common seasoning for white meat forcemeats in this period. A quarter teaspoon is enough for this quantity. Nutmeg is a fair substitute at half the amount.
• The Dutch ovenHere a Dutch oven is most likely a tin reflector set on the hearth facing the fire rather than a lidded cast-iron pot, since the recipe browns the pieces "before the fire". The nearest modern equivalent is a hot broiler, or a hot oven of around 425F, turning the pieces once so both sides colour.
• Shaping and donenessForm flattened ovals about three inches long and half an inch thick, which is roughly the size of a veal sweetbread. Cook until well browned and 160F at the centre, about 12 to 15 minutes; ground veal is not something to serve pink.
• Yield and gravyEnough for four as a first course, six or eight pieces in all. "A good gravy" means a veal or brown stock reduced and lightly thickened, spooned round rather than over so the browned surface stays crisp.