Soak the sweetbreads in cold water for an hour or more. Change the water several times, so that all the blood will be extracted, and leave the sweetbreads very white. Put them on the fire in cold water, and simmer (not boil) for twenty minutes. Then immerse them again in cold water. This is to parboil and blanch them. Remove all the pipes, strings, and fibers it is possible to do without breaking the sweetbreads to pieces. When half cold tie each one in a piece of cheese-cloth, drawing it tightly into an oval form, and place them under a light weight until cold. They will then be smooth and a uniform shape, and may be larded with fine lardoons if desired. Use a silver knife for cutting sweetbreads.

Baked Sweetbreads

Take parboiled larded sweetbreads, and place them on slices of salt pork in a baking-pan. Add enough stock to cover well the pan. Cook them in a hot oven for twenty minutes, basting frequently. Serve with a brown or with a mushroom sauce.

Braised Sweetbreads

Place in a baking-pan a bed of vegetables cut in small dice, and a few pieces of salt pork. Lay parboiled sweetbreads on it. Add enough water or stock to cover the vegetables. Close the pan tight, and cook for forty to forty-five minutes. Uncover the pan the last fifteen minutes to let the sweetbreads brown. Paint them with glaze. Strain the liquor from the pan; thicken it with a brown roux, and serve it on the dish under the sweetbreads.

Sauted Sweetbreads

Cut the parboiled sweetbreads in slices and saute them in butter; serve with green peas.

Fried Sweetbreads

Roll the sweetbreads (either whole or cut in slices) in egg and crumbs; let them stand for a time, then fry in hot fat; dress them on a folded napkin and serve with them a Bechamel sauce. They may also be dipped in fritter batter and fried.

Sweetbreads A La Poulette

Simmer the sweetbreads for thirty or forty minutes; blanch them, then cut or break them in pieces and place them on a dish. Pour over them a Bechamel or a Poulette sauce. Mushrooms and chopped truffles may be added if desired.

Chaudfroid Of Sweetbreads

Simmer the sweetbreads until cooked; blanch and tie them in cloth as directed above, or place them in muffin-rings under pressure until cold; cover them with a Chaudfroid sauce (see page 281). Place fancy bits of truffle on the top lightly, and when the sauce has set, paint it over with liquid aspic. Arrange them on a socle or on a mound of salad, and serve with them a Mayonnaise sauce and lettuce.