A fricasey of lamb-stones and sweetbreads is a traditional British recipe, based on Hannah Glasse's recipe of 1747, for a classic dish of lamb testicles and/or sweetbreads that are parboiled and finished with egg yolks, pistachio nuts and oysters in a gravy base thickened with a blend of white wine and egg yolks. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: A fricasey of lamb-stones and sweetbreads.
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A fricaſey of lamb-ſtones and ſweetbreads.
TAKE three chickens, ſkin them, cut them into ſmall pieces ; that is, every joint aſunder ; lay them in warm water, for a quarter of an hour, take them out and dry them with a cloth, then put them into a ſtew-pan with milk and water, and boil them tender : take a pint of good cream, a quarter of a pound of butter, and ſtir it till it is thick, then let it ſtand till it is cool, and put to it a little beaten mace, half a nutmeg grated, a little ſalt, a gill of white wine, and a few muſhrooms ; ſtir all together, then take the chickens out of the ſtew-pan, throw away what they are boiled in, clean the pan and put in the chickens and ſauce together : keep the pan ſhaking round till they are quite hot, and diſh them up. Garniſh with lemon. They will be very good without wine.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients
2 lamb's testicles
4 sweetbreads (thymus glands or pancreases, of which the pancreas is the most tender)
6 hard-boiled egg yolks
4 tbsp pistachio nuts
4 large oysters
100g butter
600ml drawn gravy
1 bunch of asparagus tips, trimmed to about 3cm long
freshly-grated nutmeg, to taste
2 shallots, finely shredded
60ml white wine
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
6 raw egg yolks
4 tbsp white wine
1/4 tsp ground mace
slices of lemon, to garnish
Method:
Bring a pan of lightly-salted water to a boil, wash and clean the lamb's testicles, add to the boiling water and parboil for 3 minutes. Drain then slice into rings and set aside.
If the sweetbreads are very thick, halve them lengthways. Melt the butter in a pan, add the sweetbreads, whole egg yolks, pistachio nuts and oysters. Fry until golden brown all over then drain off any excess butter.
Add the gravy and lamb testicle rounds to the pan then bring to a simmer. Now add the asparagus tips and shallots before seasoning with nutmeg, salt and black pepper. Stir in the white wine, bring back to a simmer, cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes.
Beat the 6 egg yolks with the white wine in a bowl. Add a ladleful of the gravy stock and beat into the eggs to temper. Now, whilst stirring constantly, pour the egg yolk mixture into the pan. Heat gently (do not boil) until the sauce is thick.
Turn into a warmed serving dish, garnish with lemon slices and serve.
