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Roasted Sweetbreads

Roasted sweetbreads are braised in consommé, optionally with bacon, and served with a thickened gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Roasted Sweetbreads

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Prepare the sweetbreads as directed in the first receipt and dip them as for frying.

  2. Place the dipped sweetbreads in a roasting pan with a few spoonfuls of strong consommé.

  3. Optionally, lay slices of bacon in the pan under each sweetbread.

  4. For braised sweetbreads, lard if desired and place in the pan with seasonings.

Roast

  1. Baste frequently and roast until nicely browned, about 20 minutes.

  2. Cover the pan with another and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until half cooked.

  3. Remove the top pan and baste frequently with wine and consommé.

  4. Continue baking until brown and firm, about 45 minutes to 1 hour in a moderate oven.

Make the gravy

  1. After removing the sweetbreads, boil the gravy rapidly for a few minutes.

  2. Thicken the gravy slightly with cornstarch blended in cold water, boil for 3 minutes, strain, and pour over the sweetbreads.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Sweetbreads
The main protein; roasting and basting brown and firm up its tender interior.
Strong consommé
Adds savory liquid that moistens the sweetbreads and builds the gravy flavor.
Wine
Basted over the sweetbreads, adding acidity and aroma while helping the surface brown.
Cornstarch
Thickens the strained pan liquid into a glossy gravy that clings to the sweetbreads.

The step that matters

Continue baking until brown and firm. Sweetbreads are delicate; cooking them too briefly leaves them soft, while overcooking dries them out. Frequent basting keeps the surface moist while it browns.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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