I came across some interesting recipes for terrapin or turtle which were associated with the White House. The basis of the recipe seemed to throw live turtles into boiling water like a lobster and a giving them the heat until the shells loosened.
If the turtle had eggs inside, they were set aside for later.......otherwise, the inerds were removed, the gall from the liver as that made it all taste bad, but the blood was kept and it all went back into a pot to form a sort of flour stew.
Another thing which caught my eye was calves brains, so I add the recipe.
BRAIN CUTLETS. Well wash the brains and soak them in cold water until white. Parboil them until tender in a small saucepan for about a quarter of an hour; then thoroughly drain them and place them on a board. Divide them into small pieces with a knife. Dip each piece into flour, and then roll them in egg and bread crumbs, and fry them in butter or well-clarified drippings .
Serve very hot with gravy. Another way of doing brains is to prepare them as above, and then stew them gently in rich stock, like stewed sweetbreads . They are also nice plainly boiled and served with parsley and butter sauce.
Somehow including sweatbreads which are like the thimus gland does not make this any more appealing, nor would adding tripe which is beef gut.
If you do want sweatbreads though, I will serve. The most interesting part is soaking the brains and sweatbreads to get them to a form which they can be worked with.
SWEETBREADS. There are two in a calf, which are considered delicacies. Select the largest. The color should be clear and a shade darker than the fat. Before cooking in any manner let them lie for half an hour in tepid water; then throw into hot water to whiten and harden, after which draw off the outer casing, remove the little pipes, and cut into thin slices. They should always be thoroughly cooked.
FRIED SWEETBREADS. After preparing them as above they are put into hot fat and butter, and fried the same as lamb chops, also broiled the same, first rolling them in egg and cracker crumbs.
I will add the Stewed Terrapin as in the historic Age of Obama, am always looking to serve here.
Plunge the terrapins alive into boiling water, and let them remain until the sides and lower shell begin to crack— this will take less than an hour; then remove them and let them get cold; take off the shell and outer skin, being careful to save all the blood possible in opening them. If there are eggs in them put them aside in a dish; take all the inside out, and be very careful not to break the gall, which must be immediately removed or it will make the rest bitter. It lies within the liver.
Then cut up the liver and all the rest of the terrapin into small pieces, adding the blood and juice that have flowed out in cutting up; add half a pint of water; sprinkle a little flour over them as you place them in the stewpan; let them stew slowly ten minutes, adding salt, black and cayenne pepper, and a very small blade of mace; then add a gill of the best brandy and half a pint of the very best sherry wine; let it simmer over a slow fire very gently. About ten minutes or so, before you are ready to dish them, add half a pint of rich cream , and half a pound of sweet butter, with flour, to prevent boiling; two or three minutes before taking them off the fire peel the eggs carefully and throw them in whole. If there should be no eggs use the yolks of hens' eggs, hard boiled. This recipe is for four terrapins.
nuff said
agtG
