Time.—20 minutes after the palates are cooked. Average Cost, 2s.
Note.—The palates, after being either braised or stewed until tender, and pressed until cold, may be marinaded (soused in brine), and, after being drained, dipped in butter coated with egg and breadcrumbs and fried, cut into rounds, re-heated, glazed, and dished alternately with slices of cooked tomato, or stuffed with meat farce, and dressed as olives.
911.—OX-TAIL BROILED. (Fr.—Queux de Bœuf grillés.)
Ingredients.—2 tails, 1½ pints of stock, 1 egg, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper, piquante sauce or good gravy, oiled butter or salad oil.
Method.—Wash and dry the tails, and divide them at the joints. Put them into a stewpan with the stock, which should be highly-flavoured, otherwise vegetables and herbs must be added. Simmer gently for 2½ hours, then drain and put aside until cold. When ready, coat carefully with egg and breadcrumbs, dip into oiled butter or salad-oil, and broil over a clear fire. Serve with sauce or gravy. Cold remains may be utilized in this manner.
Time.—To stew, 2½ hours; to broil, 10 minutes. Average Cost, 1s. 8d. to 2s. 6d. Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons. Seasonable at any time.
912.—OX-TAIL, STEWED. (Fr.—Queux de Bœuf.)
Ingredients.—1 ox-tail, 2 ozs. of butter, 1½ ozs. of flour, 1 pint of stock or water, a bouquet-garni (parsley, thyme, bay-leaf), 2 cloves, 1 blade of mace, 1 sliced onion, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, salt and pepper.
Method.—Wash the tail, cut it into pieces about 1½ inches long, and divide the thick parts in half. Make the butter hot in a stewpan, dry the pieces of tail thoroughly, and fry them brown in the butter. Take them out of the stewpan, put in the sliced onion and flour, fry until well browned, then add the stock, bouquet-garni, cloves, mace, salt and pepper, and stir until boiling. Replace the pieces of tail, cover closely, and simmer gently for 2½ to 3 hours. Arrange the pieces of tail on a hot dish, season the sauce to taste, add the lemon-juice, and strain over them. Garnish with croûtons of fried bread, or groups of cooked turnip and carrot, cut either into dice or julienne strips.
Time.—From 2½ to 3 hours. Average Cost, 2s. to 2s. 9d. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
The Tails of Animals.—The vertebral column, or backbone of the Mammalia, presents only slight modifications, and everywhere shows the same characteristics as in man, who stands at the head of this division of the animal kingdom. The length of this column, however, varies much, and the number of vertebrae of which it is composed is far from being uniform. These numerical differences principally depend on the unequal development of the caudal appendage, or tail-end, of the column. Thus, the tail-forming vertebrae sometimes do not exist at all—amongst certain bats, for example, in other examples forty, fifty, and even sixty of these bones may be reckoned. Among the greater number of mammals, the tail is of little use for locomotion, except that in many cases it performs the function of a rudder, steadying the animal in his rapid movements, and enabling him to turn more easily and quickly. Among some animals it is a very powerful aid to progression, as in the case of the kangaroos and jerboas, the tail forming, with the hind feet, a kind of tripod from which the animal makes its spring. With most of the American monkeys, the tail is prehensile, and serves the animal as a fifth hand to suspend itself from the branches of trees; and lastly, among the whales, it grows to an enormous size, and becomes the principal agent for swimming.
