The sweetbreads found in veal are considered the best. They are two large glands lying along the back of the throat and in the breast. The lower one is round and compact, and called the heart sweetbread, because nearer the heart. The upper, or throat, sweetbread is long and narrow, and easily divided into sections. The connecting membrane is sometimes broken, and each gland sold as a whole sweetbread. But there should always be two Sweetbreads were formerly thrown away as worthless; but the demand for them has increased so that now they are a luxury. They have a delicate flavor, and as they spoil quickly, should be put into cold water as soon as purchased, and parboiled before using in any form, to insure their being thoroughly cooked. They are sometimes left on the breast of veal, and may then be roasted with the meat.

How To Prepare Sweetbreads

Put them in cold water; remove the pipes and membranes. Cook them in boiling salted water, with one tablespoonful of lemon juice, twenty minutes, and plunge into cold water to harden. They may then be cooked in either of the following ways: -

Larded Sweetbreads

Lard, and bake until brown, basting with brown stock. Serve with peas.

Fried Sweetbreads

Roll in fine bread crumbs, egg, and a second time in crumbs, and fry in deep fat, or saute in a little fat.

No. 2. - Cut in half-inch slices, roll in seasoned crumbs, egg, and crumbs again. Put three slices on a small skewer, alternating with three thin slices of bacon one inch square. Fry in deep fat. Serve on the skewers, with tomato sauce.

Creamed Sweetbreads

Cut in small pieces, and serve in a white sauce, on toast or in toast patties or in puff-paste shells or as a vol-au-vent.

Broiled Sweetbreads

Rub with butter, salt, and pepper; wrap in buttered paper, and broil ten minutes. Serve with Maitre d'Hotel butter.

Scalloped Sweetbreads Or In Cases

Cut or break the sweetbreads into small sections. Mix with a rich cream sauce made with eggs (see page 190). Put them in a scallop dish, in shells, or in paper cases. Cover with buttered crumbs, and bake until the crumbs are brown.

Fig. 31. Sweetbreads and Bacon.

Sweetbreads With Mushrooms

Prepare as for creamed or scalloped, and add half or an equal amount of mushrooms, chopped or cut into quarters. Garnish with toast points.

Braised Sweetbreads

Lard with bacon. Put in a covered pan with fried onions, and parsley, and a pinch of herbs, tied in a cloth. Half cover with stock. Bake forty or fifty minutes.

Sweetbread Fritters

Break into sections, and mix with a fritter batter (page 106). Fry by small spoonfuls in deep fat.

Sweetbread Croquettes, See Index

To serve sweetbreads, either larded, broiled, or fried, arrange around a centre of tomato sauce, mushrooms, or peas. Or put the sweetbreads in the centre on a nest of boiled macaroni. Sprinkle the macaroni with cheese, and pour white sauce or tomato sauce over it; or garnish the sweetbreads with stuffed tomatoes.

Fig. 32. Sweetbreads on Macaroni.

How To Garnish For Fried Or Larded Sweetbreads

Cut into strips the size of matches, part of the breast of a roasted or boiled chicken, some cold boiled ham and cooked spaghetti, about a cup of each. Keep them hot in a steamer until the sauce is ready. Stew half a can of tomato until soft. Rub all but the seeds through a puree strainer. Heat again and boil down till quite thick and reduced to one cup. Season with one tablespoonful of butter, half a teaspoonful of salt, a bit of cayenne, and one tablespoonful of lemon juice. Add one tablespoonful of glaze if you have it. When the sweetbreads are ready, arrange the mixture of ham, spaghetti, and chicken on a hot platter; pour the tomato over it and lay the sweetbreads on the top.