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Calf's Ears

From Mrs. Beeton's household management (1907).

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A historical recipe

Mrs. Beeton's household management, by Mrs. (Isabella Mary) Beeton (1907).

United Kingdom

Known as a British recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards. Printed in United Kingdom: that says where the book was made, not where the dish comes from.

Ingredients 3 ingredients

  1. a pint of milk
  2. a pint of stock
  3. 2 tablespoonfuls of cream

Cook safely

Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.

  • Hot oil. Never put water on an oil fire: turn off the heat and cover the pan with a lid or a damp tea towel. Pat food dry before it goes into hot oil, and lower it in gently, away from you.
  • Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.
  • Sharp knives. Cut on a board that doesn't slip (a damp cloth under it helps), and curl the fingers of the hand that holds the food.

Method

  1. Ingredients.
  2. — 2 ears, forcemeat, No.
  3. 396, 1-2 small mushrooms, i onion stuck with 2 cloves, \ a pint of milk, \ a pint of stock, No.
  4. 7, 2 tablespoonfuls of cream, i yolk of egg, i sliced lemon, salt and pepper, peppercorns.
  5. Method.
  6. — The ears should be cut as deeply as possible from the head.
  7. Wash, blanch, and drain them thoroughly, put them into a stewpan with the milk, a little water and a seasoning of salt, stew gently for i hour, then drain and dry well.
  8. Fill the insides with veal forcemeat, fold and tie securely, and place them in a stewpan with the stock, onion, cloves, 6 peppercorns, and salt to taste.
  9. Cook gently for i hour, then strain off the stock, and keep the ears as hot as possible.
  10. Meanwhile wash and skin the mushrooms, stew them until tender in a little of the milk in which the ears were cooked, and halve or quarter them.
  11. Beat the yolk of egg and cream together, and add the strained stock, stirring meanwhile.
  12. Replace in the stewpan, stir by the side of the fire until the yolk of egg thickens, add the prepared mushrooms, and season to taste.
  13. Place the ears on a hot dish, pour the sauce round, garnish with sliced lemon, and if liked some small fried forcemeat balls.
  14. Time.
  15. — 2\ hours.
  16. Average Cost, is.
  17. 9d.
  18. to 2s.
  19. 3d.
  20. Sufficient for 4 persons.
  21. Seasonable at any time.

Plating

Cookware for this recipe

  • Frying pan
  • Saucepan
  • Whisk
  • Chef's knife
  • Cutting board
  • Wooden spoon
  • Sieve
  • Colander
Source public domain per archive.org metadata; unverified
Credit

From Mrs. Beeton's household management (1907), printed page 440, digitised by the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/mrsbeetonshouse00beetuoft

What was changed: Read by machine from the book's scanned text into ingredients and method. The title's capitals were tidied; spelling and scanning errors are left as they are.