To fricasey rabbits, lamb, sweetbreads, or tripe is a traditional British recipe, based on Hannah Glasse's recipe of 1747, for a classic dish of blanched rabbit, lamb, sweetbreads or tripe that is boiled in milk and water and finished in a cream sauce with white wine, mace, nutmeg and mushrooms. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: To fricasey rabbits, lamb, sweetbreads, or tripe.
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 rabbits, skinned and cut into serving pieces, 1 baby lamb, skinned and cut into serving pieces, 1kg prepared sweetbreads or 1kg prepared tripe
50:50 mix of milk and water
600ml cream
100g butter
1/4 tsp ground mace
1/2 nutmeg, finely grated
salt, to taste
150ml white wine
6 mushrooms, chopped
1 lemon, cut into wedges, to garnish
Method:
Place the your choice of meat pieces in a bowl, cover with water and set aside to soak for 20 minutes. After this time, drain the meat pieces, pat dry and place in a pan. Add enough of the milk and water mix to cover the chicken pieces then bring to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer, cover the pan and cook for about 80 minutes, or until the meat is tender.
In the meantime, prepare the sauce. Combine the cream and butter in a pan. Heat gently until the butter has dissolved then bring to a gentle simmer and continue cooking until the mixture is thick (about 20 minutes). At this point stir in the wine, add the mace, nutmeg and mushrooms and season to taste with salt.
When the meat is tender, remove from their pan and discard the cooking liquid. Return the chicken piece to the pan, pour over the cream sauce and bring back to a simmer. Turn the chicken pieces over to coat in the sauce and serve garnished with lemon wedges.
