Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (104 page)

1 cup dry white wine or ⅔ cup dry white French vermouth

1 cup tongue-cooking stock; more if needed

1 cup rich beef stock or bouillon; more if needed

½ cup currants (small, black, seedless raisins)

1 imported bay leaf

A cover for the pan

Pour the wine or vermouth into the
mirepoix
and boil down rapidly until reduced by ⅓ of its volume. Then add the cup of tongue stock, the beef stock or bouillon, currants, bay leaf, and peeled onions. Bring to simmer, cover pan, and simmer very slowly for 40 to 60 minutes, or until onions are tender. (Add more liquid if needed; you should end up with about 2 cups.)

3 Tb strong Dijon-type prepared mustard blended to a paste with 1 Tb cornstarch in a small bowl

Salt and pepper

2 to 3 Tb soft butter

When onions are tender, remove from heat; gradually beat about ½ cup of their cooking liquid into the mustard and cornstarch mixture. Fold mixture into onions, and when smoothly blended, return over heat; simmer 2 minutes. Sauce should be lightly thickened. Carefully correct seasoning, and set aside. Reheat just before serving; remove from heat, and fold in the butter, a half tablespoon at a time.

3)
Slicing the tongue, and serving

When slicing the tongue, try for even pieces ⅜ inch thick and as uniform in diameter as possible: place the hot tongue on a carving board and cut several vertical slices off the thick end; then, continuing at the thick end, start gradually slicing on the bias, angling the back of your knife progressively down toward the board as you come off the hump; your blade will be almost horizontal as you reach the tip of the tongue.

Either
arrange the slices of tongue down the center of a hot, lightly buttered, oval platter, spoon a little sauce with raisins and onions over the tongue, decorate sides with green vegetables, and pass rest of sauce separately,
or
arrange the slices of tongue against a mound of puréed chestnuts or mashed potatoes, spoon a little sauce over each slice, surround with onions, raisins, and the rest of the sauce, and pass the vegetables separately.

OTHER SAUCES TO SERVE WITH BOILED TONGUE

Tomato sauces, brown sauces, white sauces, and oil and vinegar sauces all go well with boiled tongue. With one exception, these come from Volume I. Use tongue-cooking broth boiled down or fortified, if necessary, with chicken stock or beef bouillon for the liquids called for in the various recipes.

Tomato Sauces

The classic tomato sauce in Volume I on page 76, the excellent Provençal sauce with fresh tomatoes following it, or an alternate using canned tomatoes
here
in Volume II.

Brown Sauces

Pick any of the brown sauces in Volume I, pages 71 to 76. Particularly recommended are the
sauce piquante
with pickles and capers, the
sauce brune au cari
, brown curry sauce, the
sauce chasseur
with mushrooms, tomatoes, and herbs, and the
sauce à l’Italienne
with ham and mushrooms.

White Sauces

Sauce au cari
—a light curry sauce with onions, cream, and lemon, Volume I, page 63.

Sauce soubise
—an excellent onion sauce, to which you may add 2 to 3 tablespoons of chopped capers and minced parsley, if you wish, Volume I, page 64.

Sauce aux câpres, sauce à la moutarde, sauce aux anchors
—Caper, Mustard, or Anchovy Sauce, easy to make, and all variations of the mock hollandaise,
sauce au beurre
, Volume I, page 64.

Oil and Vinegar Sauces

Sauce de Sorges
—a delicious and unusual herbal mayonnaise made with shallots, capers, and soft-boiled eggs, Volume I, page 93, for tongue served either hot or cold.

Sauce ravigote
—
vinaigrette
with onions and capers, or the two variations following it, one with sour cream and dill, the other with mustard—all three good for tongue served hot or cold, Volume I, page 95.

LANGUE DE BOEUF BRAISÉE, AU MADÈRE

[Beef Tongue Braised Whole, Madeira Sauce]

When you want a splendid presentation and have an able carver at the table, braise the tongue whole and present it glazed in its sauce and surrounded by a handsome display of vegetables. We suggest a garniture of glazed carrots, onions, and turnips, and whole baby mushrooms—all fresh vegetables, because of their fine taste and texture. A red Bordeaux-Médoc would be your best choice of wine.

For 6 to 8 people

1)
Preliminaries to braising—2 hours of soaking; 2 hours of boiling

A fully trimmed fresh beef tongue weighing about 4 lbs.

Follow
directions
to scrub, soak, salt if you wish, and simmer the tongue for 2 hours; peel it.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE
: This may be done the day before braising.

2)
Braising the tongue—2 hours at 350 to 325 degrees

1 cup each of sliced carrots and onions

¼ cup diced mild-cured boiled ham (such as a supermarket ham slice)

3 Tb butter

A heavy, covered, flame-proof casserole just large enough to hold tongue comfortably

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook vegetables and ham with butter for about 10 minutes in covered casserole over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until vegetables are tender and beginning to brown lightly.

Salt and pepper

The peeled beef tongue

Salt and pepper the tongue and place in the casserole, turning and basting it with the vegetables and butter. Cover casserole and let tongue sweat (
suer
) over moderately low heat for 10 minutes; turn the tongue, baste again, cover casserole, and sweat it 10 minutes more. (If tongue was refrigerated, double the number of minutes.)