No. 1621

Mutton Kidneys Sauted with Fleurons

Rognons de Mouton Sautes aux Fleurons

To obtain good sauted kidneys it should be well understood that they must be tossed over a brisk fire and fried, not cooked in their sauce; split eight mutton kidneys in two, obtaining sixteen, halves. Put three ounces of butter in a sauteing pan, and when hot add the kidneys laying them on their flat side; season with salt and pepper, then toss them over a bright fire until they are sized, but very rare, meaning that the meats are browned without drying. In another pan, fry two tablespoonfuls of chopped onions, and when of a good color moisten with a little gravy (No. 404), brown sauce (No. 414) and white wine; boil this sauce quickly, stirring it for a few moments and when nicely thickened, add to it some cooked fine herbs (No. 385), lemon juice and the kidneys, heat well without boiling, dress and pour the sauce over. Garnish with some fanciful fleurons cut from puff paste parings (No. 146) made as follows: Cut the paste in the shape of minion filets of chicken; cut these through from the edge half way across the width, bring the two ends toward each other to form a half circle, this will open the cuttings, place on a baking sheet and cook in a mild oven.

← No. 1620 Mutton Kidneys on Skewers, Deviled Mutton No. 1622 Leg of Mutton a la Bordelaise →

For the Modern Kitchen Do not make this as written.

Ranhofer's warning at the top is the whole recipe: the kidneys are seared in butter and only warmed through in the sauce afterwards. Everything else is assembly.

The hingeSear the halves cut-side down over high heat until browned but still rosy inside, then finish them in the sauce off the boil. Kidney protein tightens fast; a minute of simmering turns it grainy and gives off the ammoniac note people blame on the organ itself.
Mutton kidneysMutton means an adult sheep, rarely sold in the United States now. Lamb kidneys are the practical substitute and are considerably smaller, so count on 12 to 16 of them to match eight mutton kidneys. Ask a halal or Middle Eastern butcher if a supermarket cannot help.
Preparation not mentionedPeel off the thin outer membrane and trim the pale core of fat and vessels at the hinge of each half, or it will stay chewy. A 20-minute soak in cold salted water or milk is traditional for a mild flavor, then pat completely dry so they brown rather than steam.
Butter and panThree ounces is six tablespoons, generous but correct for browning; the pan should be wide enough that the halves sit flat without crowding. A sauteing pan here is simply a heavy skillet.
The cross-referenced saucesNo. 404 is a meat gravy and No. 414 a brown sauce built on roux and stock. In a modern kitchen, use about a cup of demi-glace or well-reduced brown veal or beef stock, deglazing the onion pan with a splash of dry white wine and letting it reduce before the stock goes in.
Cooked fine herbsNo. 385 is a fines-herbes mixture stewed in butter rather than raw herbs; Ranhofer's versions of this preparation typically involve chopped herbs, and often shallot and mushroom, cooked down with a little sauce. Fresh chopped parsley, tarragon and chives stirred in at the end do much the same work.
FleuronsPuff paste parings baked as crescents. Ranhofer specifies a mild oven here; modern practice for puff pastry is hotter, around 400 to 425F for 12 to 15 minutes. Bake them ahead and keep them dry.
YieldSixteen halves with sauce serves four as a main course, six as a first course. It wants rice, mashed potato or toast to absorb the sauce.

A Little History

Kidneys were breakfast and luncheon food in the nineteenth-century Anglo-American repertoire, most often split, skewered and grilled as "deviled" kidneys, which is exactly the recipe standing at No. 1620 just before this one. Charles Ranhofer, for decades the chef of Delmonico's in New York, gives the French treatment instead: sautes over a brisk fire and finished in a wine-and-onion brown sauce. The fleurons are period economy dressed as ornament, since the recipe has them cut from the parings left over from other puff-paste work. That The Epicurean (1894) can spare a full numbered entry for sauteed kidneys, cross-referenced to four other recipes in the book, says a good deal about how large an organized restaurant brigade could operate and how little of the animal such a kitchen expected to waste.