Fried Sweet-breads.
Parboil them as just explained. Just before serving, cut them in even-sized pieces, sprinkle over pepper and salt, egg and bread-crumb them, and fry them in hot lard. They are often immersed in boiling lard, yet oftener fried in the sauté pan. If sautéd, when done put them on a hot dish, turn out part of the lard from the sauté pan, leaving about half a tea-spoonful; pour in a cupful of milk thickened with a little flour; let it cook, stirring it constantly, and season it with pepper and salt; strain, and pour over the sweet-breads. With green pease, serve without sauce. This is the usual combination at dinner or breakfast companies, the pease in the centre of the dish, and the sweet-breads around (see cut above). Or they are often served whole with cauliflower or asparagus heads, when the cream-sauce is poured over both; or they are also nice piled in the centre of a dish, with macaroni (cooked with cheese) placed around them like a nest, and browned a little with a salamander (see cut on next page), or with a tomato-sauce in the centre of the dish, and the sweet-breads around, or with stuffed tomatoes alternating with the sweet-breads on the dish, or with mushrooms in the centre, or served on a dish made of boiled rice, called a rice casserole (see page 205), or in little rice molds called cassolettes. To make the latter, boil the rice well, then work it to a smooth paste with a spoon; fill some little buttered patty-pans with the rice, and when it is quite cold take it out, brush the cassolettes with butter on the outside, and color them a little in a hot oven; scoop out the inside, leaving the rice crust a quarter of an inch thick. Fill the cassolettes with the sweet-breads cut into pieces, and pour over each a spoonful of cream dressing; or they may be sautéd as described, and served with a maître-d’hôtel sauce poured over.