Chapter VIII., adding, at pleasure, a flavouring of minced onion or

eschalot, and increasing the quantity of spices; place this on one end of the steak, and roll it up tightly in it; skewer and bind the meat so that the forcemeat cannot escape; fasten a buttered paper over it, and roast it an hour and a half, or more, according to its size. Twenty minutes before it is served, take off the paper and flour the meat, which should be kept well basted with butter all the time it is roasting. Send brown gravy to table with it, and pour a little over the beef. 1-1/2 hour, or more. TO BROIL BEEF STEAKS. The steaks should be from half to three quarters of an inch thick, equally sliced, and freshly cut from the middle of a well kept, finely grained, and tender rump of beef. They should be neatly trimmed, and once or twice divided, if very large. The fire, as we have already said in the general directions for broiling (page 175), must be strong and clear. The bars of the gridiron should be thin, and not very close together. When they are thoroughly heated, without being sufficiently burning to scorch the meat, wipe and rub them with fresh mutton suet; next pepper the steaks slightly, but never season them with salt before they are dressed; lay them on the gridiron, and when done on one side, turn them on the other, being careful to catch, in the dish in which they are to be sent to table, any gravy which may threaten to drain from them when they are moved. Let them be served the _instant_ they are taken from the fire; and have ready at the moment, dish, cover, and plates, as hot as they can be. From eight to ten minutes will be sufficient to broil steaks for the generality of eaters, and more than enough for those who like them but partially done. Genuine amateurs seldom take prepared sauce or gravy with their steaks, as they consider the natural juices of the meat sufficient. When any accompaniment to them is desired, a small quantity of choice mushroom catsup may be warmed in the dish that is heated to receive them; and which, when the not very refined flavour of a raw eschalot is liked, as it is by some eaters, may previously be rubbed with one, of which the large end has been cut off. A thin slice or two of fresh butter is sometimes laid under the steaks, where it soon melts and mingles with the gravy which flows from them. The appropriate tureen sauces for broiled beef steaks are onion, tomata, oyster, eschalot, hot horseradish, and brown cucumber, or mushroom sauce. _Obs. 1._—We have departed a little in this receipt from our previous instructions for broiling, by recommending that the steaks should be turned but _once_, instead of “often,” as all great authorities on the subject direct. By trying each method, our readers will be able to decide for themselves upon the preferable one: we can only say, that we have never eaten steaks so excellent as those which have been dressed _exactly_ in accordance with the receipt we have just given, and we have taken infinite pains to ascertain the really best mode of preparing this very favourite English dish, which so constantly makes its appearance both carelessly cooked and ill served, especially at private tables. _Obs. 2._—It is a good plan to throw a few bits of charcoal on the fire some minutes before the steaks are laid down, as they give forth a strong heat without any smoke: a coke fire is also advantageous for broiling them. The upright gridirons, by which meat is rather _toasted_ than broiled, though used in many kitchens, and generally pronounced exceedingly convenient where they have been tried, do not appear to as so well adapted for dressing steaks as those of less modern fashion, which are placed _over_, instead of before the fire. BEEF STEAKS À LA FRANÇAISE. The inside of the sirloin freed from skin and cut evenly into round quarter-inch slices, should properly be used for these; but when it cannot be obtained, part of the rump must be substituted for it. Season the steaks with fine salt and pepper, brush them with a little clarified butter, and broil them over a clear brisk fire. Mix a teaspoonful of parsley minced extremely fine, with a large slice of fresh butter, a little cayenne, and a small quantity of salt. When the steaks are done, put the mixture into the dish intended for them, lay them upon it, and garnish them plentifully with fried potatoes. It is an improvement to squeeze the juice of half a lemon on the butter before the meat is heaped over it. The potatoes should be sliced rather thin, coloured of a fine brown, and placed evenly round the meat. BEEF STEAKS À LA FRANÇAISE (ENTRÉE). (_Another Receipt._) Cut the beef into small thin steaks as above, season them with fine salt and pepper, dredge them lightly with flour, and fry them in butter over a brisk fire; arrange them in a chain round a very hot dish, and pour into the centre the olive sauce of Chapter V. STEWED BEEF STEAK (ENTRÉE). This may be cut from one to two inches thick, and the time of stewing it must be proportioned to its size. Dissolve a slice of butter in a large saucepan or stewpan, and brown the steak on both sides, moving it often that it may not burn; then shake in a little flour, and when it is coloured pour in by degrees rather more than sufficient broth or water to cover the meat. When it boils, season it with salt, take off the scum, slice in one onion, a carrot or two, and half a turnip; add a small bunch of sweet herbs, and stew the steak very softly from two hours and a half to three hours. A quarter of an hour before it is served, stir well into the gravy three teaspoonsful of rice flour smoothly mixed with a little cayenne, half a wineglassful of mushroom catsup, and a slight seasoning of spice. A teaspoonful of currie powder, in addition, will improve both the flavour and the appearance of the sauce. The onion is sometimes browned with the meat; and the quantity is considerably increased. Eschalots may be used instead, where their strong flavour is approved. A few button-mushrooms, stewed from twenty to thirty minutes with the meat, will render the catsup unnecessary. Wine, or any favourite store sauce, can be added at will. 2-1/2 to 3 hours. FRIED BEEF STEAK. We have little to add here to the directions of Chapter IX., which are sufficient to enable the cook to send a dish of fried steaks to table properly dressed. Currie sauce, highly _onioned_, is frequently served with them. BEEF STEAK STEWED IN ITS OWN GRAVY. (_Good and wholesome._) Trim all the fat and skin from a rump steak of nearly an inch thick, and divide it once or twice; just dip it into cold water, let it drain for an instant, sprinkle it on both sides with pepper, and then flour it rather thickly; lay it quite flat into a well-tinned iron saucepan or stewpan, which has been rinsed with cold water, of which three or four tablespoonsful should be left in it. Place it over (not upon) a _very_ gentle fire, and keep it just simmering from an hour and a half to an hour and three quarters, when, if the meat be good, it will have become perfectly tender. Add salt to it when it first begins to boil, and turn it when rather more than half done. A couple of spoonsful of gravy, half as much catsup, and a slight seasoning of spice, would, to many tastes, improve this dish, of which, however, the great recommendation is its wholesome simplicity, which renders it suitable to the most delicate stomach. A thick mutton cutlet from the middle of the leg is excellent dressed thus. 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hour. BEEF OR MUTTON CAKE. (_Very good._) Chop two pounds of lean and very tender beef or mutton, with three quarters of a pound of beef suet; mix them well, and season them with a dessertspoonful of salt, nearly as much pounded cloves, a teaspoonful of pounded mace, and half a teaspoonful of cayenne. Line a round baking dish with thin slices of fat bacon, press the meat closely into it, smooth the top, and cover it with bacon, set a plate on it with a weight, and bake it two hours and a quarter. Take off the bacon, and serve the meat hot, with a little rich brown gravy, or set it by until cold, when it will be equally good. The fat of the meat which is used for this dish can be chopped up with it instead of suet, where it is liked as well; and onion, or eschalot, shred fine, minced savoury herbs, grated lemon-peel, rasped bacon, or mushrooms cut small, may in turn be added to vary it in flavour. Lean beef or mutton, 2 lbs.; suet, 3/4 lb.; salt and cloves in powder, each a dessertspoonful; mace, 1 teaspoonful; half as much cayenne: baked 2-1/4 hours. _Obs._—A larger portion of suet or of fat will render these cakes lighter, but will not otherwise improve them: they may be made of veal or of venison, but one-third of mutton suet or of fat bacon should be mixed with this last. GERMAN STEW. Cut into about three-inch squares, two pounds and a half of the leaner part of the veiny piece of beef, or of any joint which is likely to be tender, and set it on to stew, with rather less than a quart of cold broth or water, and one large onion sliced. When these begin to boil, add a teaspoonful of salt, and a third as much of pepper, and let them simmer gently for an hour and a half. Have ready some young white cabbages, parboiled; press the water well from them, lay them in with the beef, and let the whole stew for another hour. More onions, and a seasoning of mixed spices, or a few bits of lean bacon, or of ham, can be added to this stew when a higher flavour is desired; but it is very good without. Beef, 2-1/2 lbs.; water, or broth, 1-3/4 pint; onion, 1; salt, 1 teaspoonful; third as much pepper: 1-1/2 hour. Parboiled cabbages, 3 or 4: 1 hour. WELSH STEW. Take the same proportions of beef, and of broth or water, as for the German Stew. When they have simmered gently for an hour, add the white part of from twenty to thirty leeks, or two dozens of button onions, and five or six young mild turnips, cut in slices, a small lump of white sugar, nearly half a teaspoonful of white pepper and more than twice as much salt. Stew the whole softly from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half, after the vegetables are added. Beef and water as above: 1 hour. Leeks, 20 to 30: or small onions, 24; young turnips, 6; small lump of sugar; white pepper, nearly 1/2 teaspoonful; salt, twice as much: 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour. A GOOD ENGLISH STEW. On three pounds of tender rump of beef, freed from skin and fat, and cut down into about two-inch squares, pour rather more than a quart of cold broth or gravy. When it boils add salt if required, and a little cayenne, and keep it just simmering for a couple of hours; then put to it the grated rind of a large lemon, or of two small ones, and half an hour after, stir to it a tablespoonful of rice-flour, smoothly mixed with a wineglassful of mushroom catsup, a dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, and a teaspoonful of soy: in fifteen minutes it will be ready to serve. A glass and a half of port, or of white wine, will greatly improve this stew, which may likewise be flavoured with the store-sauce of page 146, or with another, which we find excellent for the purpose, made with half a pint of port wine, the same of mushroom-catsup, a quarter pint of walnut pickle, a tablespoonful of the best soy, and a dessertspoonful of cayenne-vinegar, all well shaken together and poured into a bottle containing the thin rind of a lemon and two fine mellow anchovies, of moderate size. A few delicately fried forcemeat-balls may be slipped into it after it is dished. _Obs._—The limits of our work will not permit us to devote a further space to this class of dishes, but an intelligent cook will find it easy to vary them in numberless ways. Mushrooms, celery, carrots, sweet herbs, parboiled new potatoes, green peas, rice, and currie-powder may be advantageously used for that purpose. Ox-tails, just blanched and cut into joints, will be found excellent substitutes for the beef: mutton and veal also may be dressed in the same way. The meat and vegetables can be browned before broth or water is poured to them; but though, perhaps, more savoury, the stew will then be much less delicate. Each kind of vegetable should be allowed something more than sufficient time to render it perfectly tender, but not so much as would reduce it to pulp. TO STEW SHIN OF BEEF. Wash, and set it on to stew in sufficient cold water to keep it just covered until it is done. When it boils, take off the scum and put an ounce and a quarter of salt to the gallon of water. It is usual to add a few cloves and some black pepper, slightly bruised and tied up loosely in a fold of muslin, two or more onions, a root of celery, a bunch of savoury herbs, four or five carrots, and as many turnips, either whole or sliced: if to be served with the meat, the two last will require a little more than the ordinary time of boiling, but otherwise they may be simmered with the meat from the beginning. Give the beef from four to five hours’ gentle stewing; and serve it with part of its own liquor thickened and flavoured, or quite plain. An excellent dish for a family may be made by stewing the thick fleshy part of the shin or leg, in stock made of the knuckle, with a few bits of lean ham, or a slice of hung beef from which the smoked edges have been carefully pared away, and some spice, salt, and vegetables: by frying these last before they are thrown into the soup-pot the savour of the stew will be greatly heightened; and a tureen of good soup may be made of its remains, after it has been served at table. Ox-cheek, after having been soaked for four or five hours, and washed with great nicety, may be dressed like the shin; but as it has little flavour, the gravy should be strained, and quite cleared from fat, then put into a clean saucepan, and thickened as soon as it boils, with the following mixture:—three dessertspoonsful of rice-flour, nearly a wineglassful of catsup, a teaspoonsful of currie-powder, or a little powdered ginger and cayenne. When these have stewed for ten minutes, dish the head, pour the sauce over, and serve it. Shin of beef, 4 to 5 hours. Ox-cheek, 2 to 3 hours. FRENCH BEEF À LA MODE. (_A common Receipt._) Take seven or eight pounds of a rump of beef (or of any other tender joint), free from bone, and skewer it firmly into a good shape. Put two ounces of butter into a thick saucepan or stewpan, and when it boils stir to it a tablespoonful of flour; keep these well shaken over a gentle fire until they are of a fine amber colour; then lay in the beef, and brown it on both sides, taking care that it shall not stick to the pan. Pour to it by slow degrees, letting each portion boil before the next is added or the butter will float upon the surface and be difficult to clear off afterwards, three quarters of a pint of hot water or gravy; add a bunch of savoury herbs, one large or two small carrots cut in thick slices, two or three moderate-sized onions, two bay-leaves, and sufficient pepper and salt to season the gravy. Let the meat simmer gently from four to five hours, and turn it when it is half done. When ready to serve, lift the beef into a hot dish, lay the vegetables round, and pour the gravy over it, after having taken out the herbs and skimmed away the fat. In France, half or the whole of a calf’s foot is stewed with the beef, which is there generally larded with thick lardoons of fat bacon. (For larding, see Chapter X.) Veal dressed in this way is even better than beef. The stewpan used for either should be as nearly of the size of the meat as possible. Beef, 7 to 8 lbs.: 4 to 5 hours. STEWED SIRLOIN OF BEEF. As a matter of convenience we have occasionally had this joint stewed instead of roasted, and have found it excellent. Cut out the inside or fillet as entire as possible, and reserve it for a separate dish; then remove the bones with care, or let the butcher do this. Spread the meat flat on a table and cover the inside with thin slices of striped bacon, after having first strewed over it a mixed seasoning of a small teaspoonful of salt, half as much mace or nutmeg, and a moderate quantity of pepper or cayenne. Roll and bind the meat up firmly, lay it into a stewpan or thick iron saucepan nearly of its size, and add the bones and as much good beef broth as will nearly cover the joint. Should this not be at hand, put a few slices of lean ham or bacon under the beef, and lay round it three pounds of neck or knuckle of veal, or of stewing beef divided into several parts; then pour to it cold water instead of broth. In either case, so soon as it has boiled a few minutes and been well cleaned from scum, throw in a large faggot of savoury herbs, three or four carrots, as many leeks, or a large onion stuck with a dozen cloves; and an hour later two blades of mace, and half a teaspoonful of peppercorns. Stew the beef _very_ gently indeed from four to five hours, and longer, should the joint be large: serve it with a good _Espagnole sauce piquante_, or brown caper sauce. Add what salt may be needed before the vegetables are thrown in; and, after the meat is lifted out, boil down to soup or gravy the liquor in which it has been stewed. To many tastes it would be an improvement to flour and brown the outside of the beef in butter before the broth or water is poured to it: it may also be stewed (but somewhat longer) half-covered with rich gravy, and turned when partially done. Minced eschalots may be strewed over the inside before it is rolled, when their strong savour is relished, or veal forcemeat may supply their place. TO STEW A RUMP OF BEEF. This joint is more easily carved, and is of better appearance when the bones are removed before it is dressed. Roll and bind it firmly with a fillet of tape, cover it with strong cold beef broth or gravy, and stew it very gently indeed from six hours to between seven and eight; add to it, after the scum has been well cleared off, one large or two moderate-sized onions stuck with thirty cloves, a head of celery, two carrots, two turnips, and a large faggot of savoury herbs. When the beef is perfectly tender quite through, which may be known by probing it with a sharp thin skewer, remove the fillets of tape, dish it neatly, and serve it with a rich _Espagnole_, and a garnish of forced tomatas, or with a highly-flavoured brown English gravy, and stewed carrots in the dish: for these last the mild preparation of garlic or eschalots, of page 122, may be substituted with good effect. They should be well drained, laid round the meat, and a little brown gravy should be poured over the whole. This is the most simple and economical manner of stewing the beef; but should a richer one be desired, half roast the joint, and stew it afterwards in strong gravy to which a pint of mushrooms, and a pint of sherry or Madeira, should be added an hour before it is ready for table. Keep it hot while a portion of the gravy is thickened with a well-made brown roux (see Chapter IV.), and seasoned with salt, cayenne, and any other spice it may require. Garnish it with large balls of forcemeat highly seasoned with minced eschalots, rolled in egg and bread-crumbs, and fried a fine golden brown. Plainly stewed from 6 to 7 or 8 hours. Or: half roasted then stewed from 4 to 5 hours. _Obs._—Grated horseradish, mixed with some well-thickened brown gravy, a teaspoonful of mustard, and a little lemon-juice or vinegar, is a good sauce for stewed beef. BEEF PALATES. (ENTRÉE.) First rub them well with salt, to cleanse them well; then wash them thoroughly in several waters, and leave them to soak for half an hour before they are dressed. Set them over the fire in cold water, and boil them gently until the skin will peel off, and the palates are tolerably tender. It is difficult to state the exact time required for this, as some will be done in two hours and a half, and others in not less than from four to five hours. When thus prepared, the palates may be cut into various forms, and simmered until fit to serve in rich brown gravy, highly flavoured with ham, cayenne, wine, and lemon-peel; or they will make an excellent currie. As they are very insipid of themselves, they require a sauce of some piquancy, in which, after they have been peeled and trimmed, they should be stewed from twenty to thirty minutes, or until they are perfectly tender. The black parts of them must be cut away, when the skin is taken off. An onion, stuck with a few cloves, a carrot sliced, a teaspoonful of whole white pepper, a slice of butter, and a teaspoonful of salt, may be boiled with the palates in the first instance; and they will be found very good, if sent to table in the curried gravy of Chapter XVI., or in the Soubise of Chapter VI., made thinner than the receipts direct. Boiled from 2-1/2 to 4 or 5 hours. Stewed from 20 to 30 minutes. _Obs._—A French cook of some celebrity, orders the palates to be laid on the gridiron until the skin can be easily peeled or scraped off; the plan seems a good one, but we have not tried it. BEEF PALATES. (_Neapolitan Mode._) Boil the palates until the skin can be easily removed, then stew them very tender in good veal broth, lay them on a drainer and let them cool; cut them across obliquely into strips of about a quarter-inch in width, and finish them by either of the receipts for dressing maccaroni, which will be found in Chapters XVIII. and XX. STEWED OX-TAILS. They should be sent from the butcher ready jointed. Soak and wash them well, cut them into joints or into lengths of two or three joints, and cover them with cold broth or water. As soon as they boil remove the scum, and add a half-teaspoonful of salt or as much more as may be needed, and a little common pepper or cayenne, an onion stuck with half a dozen cloves, two or three small carrots, and a branch or two of parsley. When these have simmered for two hours and a quarter, try the meat with a fork, and should it not be perfectly tender, let it remain over the fire until it is so. Ox-tails sometimes require nearly or quite three hours’ stewing: they may be served with the vegetables, or with the gravy strained from them, and thickened like the English stew of the present chapter. Ox-tails, 2; water or broth to cover them; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful, or more; little pepper or cayenne; onion, 1; cloves, 6; carrots, 2 or 3; parsley, 2 or 3 branches: 2-1/2 to 3 hours. BROILED OX-TAIL. (ENTRÉE.) (_Very good._) When the ox-tail is ready for the stewpan, throw it into plenty of boiling water slightly salted, and simmer it for fifteen minutes; then take it up and put it into fresh water to cool; wipe it, and lay it round in a small stewpan without dividing it, just cover it with good beef gravy, and stew it gently until very tender; drain it a little, sprinkle over it a small quantity of salt and cayenne, dip it into clarified butter and then into some fine bread-crumbs, with which it should be thickly covered, lay it on the gridiron, and when equally browned all over serve it immediately. If more convenient the ox-tail may be set into the oven or before the fire, until properly coloured: it may likewise be sent to table without broiling, dished upon stewed cabbage or in its own gravy thickened, and with tomata sauce, in a tureen. TO SALT AND PICKLE BEEF, IN VARIOUS WAYS. Let the meat hang a couple of days in mild weather, and four or five in winter, before it is salted or pickled. During the heat of summer it is better to immerse it entirely in brine, that it may be secured alike from the flies, and from the danger of becoming putrid. Trim it, and take out the kernels from the fat; then rub a little fine dry salt over it, and leave it until the following day; drain it well from the blood, which will be found to have flowed from it, and it will be ready for any of the following modes of curing, which are all excellent of their kind, and have been well proved. In very cold weather, the salt may be applied quite warm to the meat: it should always be perfectly dry, and reduced to powder. Saltpetre hardens and renders the meat indigestible; sugar, on the contrary, mellows and improves it much; and it is more tender when cured with bay salt than when common salt is used for it. TO SALT AND BOIL A ROUND OF BEEF. Mix an ounce of saltpetre, finely powdered, with half a pound of very coarse sugar, and rub the beef thoroughly with them; in two days add three quarters of a pound of common salt, well dried and beaten; turn and rub the meat well in every part with the pickle for three weeks, when it will be fit to dress. Just wash off the salt, and skewer the beef as round and as even as possible; bind it tightly with broad tape, cover it with cold water, place it over a rather brisk fire, and after it boils draw it to the side of the stove and let it simmer gently for at least five hours. Carrots, mashed turnips, or cabbages, are usually served with boiled beef; and horseradish stewed for ten minutes in equal parts of vinegar and water, then pressed well from them, and mixed with some rich melted butter, is a good sauce for it. Beef, 20 lbs.; coarse sugar, 1/2 lb.; saltpetre, 1 oz.: 2 days. Salt, 3/4 lb.: 21 days. Boil 5 hours, or more. _Obs._—Beef cured by this receipt if properly boiled, is tender, of good colour and flavour, and not over salt. The rump, edgebone, and brisket may be salted, or pickled in the same way as the round. HAMBURGH PICKLE FOR BEEF, HAMS, AND TONGUE. Boil together, for twenty minutes, two gallons of water, three pounds of bay salt, two pounds of coarse sugar, two ounces of saltpetre, and two of black pepper, bruised, and tied in a fold of muslin; clear off the scum thoroughly, as it rises, pour the pickle into a deep earthen pan, and when it is quite cold lay in the meat, of which every part must be perfectly covered with it. A moderate-sized round of beef will be ready for table in a fortnight; it should be turned occasionally in the brine. Five pounds of common salt may be substituted for the quantity of bay salt given above; but the meat will not be so finely flavoured. Water, 2 gallons; bay-salt, 3 lbs.; saltpetre, 2 oz.; black pepper, 2 oz.; sugar, 2 lbs.: 20 minutes. ANOTHER PICKLE FOR TONGUES, BEEF, AND HAMS. To three gallons of spring water add six pounds of common salt, two pounds of bay-salt, two pounds of common loaf sugar, and two ounces of saltpetre. Boil these over a gentle fire, and be careful to take off all the scum as it rises: when quite cold it will be fit for use. Rub the meat to be cured, with fine salt, and let it drain for a day in order to free it from the blood; then immerse it in the brine, taking care that every part of it shall be covered. Young pork should not remain more than from three to five days in the pickle; but hams for drying may be left in it for a fortnight at least; tongues will be ready in rather less time. Beef may remain from one week to two, according to its size, and the degree of saltness desired for it. A little experience will soon teach the exact time required for the different kinds of meat. When the pickle has been in use for about three months, boil it up again gently, and take the scum carefully off. Add to it three pounds of common salt, four ounces of sugar, and one of saltpetre: it will remain good for many months. Water, 3 gallons; common salt, 6 lbs.; bay salt, 2 lbs.; loaf sugar, 2 lbs.; saltpetre, 2 oz.: boil 20 to 30 minutes. DUTCH, OR HUNG BEEF. For fourteen pounds weight of the round, the rump, or the thick flank of beef, mix two ounces of saltpetre with the same quantity of coarse sugar; rub the meat with them in every part, and let it remain for two days, then add one pound of bay salt, four ounces of common salt, and one ounce of ground black pepper. Rub these ingredients thoroughly into the beef, and in four days pour over it a pound of treacle; rub and turn it daily for a fortnight; drain, and send it to be smoked. When wanted for table, put it into plenty of boiling water, boil it slowly, and press it under a heavy weight while hot. A slice of this beef, from which the edges have been carefully trimmed, will serve to flavour soups or gravies as well as ham. Beef, 14 lbs.; saltpetre and coarse sugar, each 2 oz.: 2 days. Bay salt, 1 lb.; common salt, 4 oz.: pepper, 1 oz.: 4 days. Treacle, 1 lb.: 14 days. _Obs._—Three quarters of a pound of coarse sugar may be rubbed into the meat at first, and the treacle may be altogether omitted; cloves and mace, too, may be added in the same proportion as for spiced beef. COLLARED BEEF. Only the thinnest part of the flank, or the ribs, which are not so generally used for it, will serve conveniently for collaring. The first of these should be hung in a damp place for a day or two, to soften the outer skin; then rubbed with coarse sugar, and left for a couple of days; when, for eight pounds of the meat, one ounce of saltpetre and half a pound of salt should be added. In ten days it will be fit to dress. The bones and tough inner skin must be removed, and the beef sprinkled thickly on the under side with parsley and other savoury herbs shred small, before it is rolled, which should be done very tightly: it must then be secured with a cloth, and bound as closely as possible with broad tape. It will require nearly or quite five hours of gentle boiling, and should be placed while hot under a weight, or in a press, without having the tape and cloth removed. Beef, 8 lbs.; sugar, 3 oz.; salt, 8 oz.: 10 days. Boil 5 hours. COLLARED BEEF. (_Another way._) Mix half an ounce of saltpetre with the same quantity of pepper, four ounces of bay salt, and four of common salt; with these rub well from six to seven pounds of the thin flank, and in four days add seven ounces of treacle; turn the beef daily in the pickle for a week or more; dip it into water, bone it and skin the inside, roll and bind it up very tightly, lay it into cold water, and boil it for three hours and a half. We have found beef dressed by this receipt extremely good: herbs can, of course, be added to it as usual. Spices and juniper berries would to many tastes improve it, but we give the receipt simply as we have been accustomed to have it used. Thin flank, 6 to 7 lbs.; bay salt, and common salt, each 4 oz.; saltpetre, 1/2 oz.; pepper, 1/2 oz.: 4 days. Treacle, 7 oz.: 8 to 10 days. Boiled 3-1/2 hours. A COMMON RECEIPT FOR SALTING BEEF. One ounce of saltpetre, and a pound of common salt, will be sufficient for sixteen pounds of beef. Both should be well dried, and finely powdered; the saltpetre rubbed first equally over the meat, and the salt next applied in every part. It should be rubbed thoroughly with the pickle and turned daily, from a week to ten days. An ounce or two of sugar mixed with the saltpetre will render the beef more tender and palatable. Beef, 16 lbs.; saltpetre, 1 oz.; salt, 1 lb.: 7 to 10 days. SPICED ROUND OF BEEF. (_Very highly flavoured._) Rub the beef well in every part with half a pound of coarse brown sugar, and let it remain two days; then reduce to powder, and mix thoroughly before they are applied to the meat, two ounces of saltpetre, three quarters of a pound of common salt, a quarter of a pound of black pepper, three ounces of allspice, and four of bruised juniper-berries. Rub these ingredients strongly and equally over the joint, and do so daily for three weeks, turning it at the same time. Just wash off the spice, and put the beef into a tin, or covered earthen pan as nearly of its size as possible, with a cup of water or gravy; cover the top thickly with chopped beef-suet, and lay a coarse thick crust over the pan; place the cover on it, and bake the meat from five to six hours in a moderate oven, which should not, however, be sufficiently fierce to harden the outside of the joint, which, if properly managed will be exceedingly tender. Let it cool in the pan; and clear off the suet before it is dished. It is to be served cold, and will remain good for a fortnight. Beef, 20 to 25 lbs. weight; sugar, 3 oz.: 2 days. Saltpetre, 2 oz.; common salt, 3/4 lb.; black pepper, 4 oz.; allspice, 3 oz.; juniper-berries, 4 oz.: 21 days. Baked 5 to 6 hours. _Obs._—We have not ourselves tested this receipt, but the meat cured by it has received such high commendation from several of our friends who have partaken of it frequently, that we think we may safely insert it without. The proportion of allspice appears to us more than would be agreeable to many tastes, and we would rather recommend that part of it should be omitted, and that a portion of nutmeg, mace, and cloves, should be substituted for it; as we have found these spices to answer well in the following receipt. SPICED BEEF. (_Good and wholesome._) For twelve pounds of the round, rump, or thick flank of beef, take a large teaspoonful of freshly-pounded mace, and of ground black pepper, twice as much of cloves, one small nutmeg, and a quarter of a teaspoonful of cayenne, all in the finest powder. Mix them well with seven ounces of brown sugar, rub the beef with them and let it lie three days; add to it then half a pound of fine salt, and rub and turn it once in twenty-four hours for twelve days. Just wash, but do not soak it; skewer, or bind it into good form, put it into a stewpan or saucepan nearly of its size, pour to it a pint and a half of good beef broth, and when it begins to boil, take off the scum, and throw in one small onion, a moderate-sized faggot of thyme and parsley, and two large, or four small carrots. Let it simmer quite softly for four hours and a half, and if not wanted to serve hot, leave it in its own liquor until it is nearly cold. This is an excellent and far more wholesome dish than the hard, bright-coloured beef which is cured with large quantities of salt and saltpetre: two or three ounces of juniper-berries may be added to it with the spice, to heighten its flavour. Beef, 12 lbs.; sugar, 7 oz.; mace and black pepper, each, 1 large teaspoonful; cloves, in powder, 1 large dessertspoonful; nutmeg, 1; cayenne, 1/4 teaspoonful: 3 days. Fine salt, 1/2 lb.: 12 days. Beef broth (or bouillon), 1-1/2 pint; onion, 1 small; bunch of herbs; carrots, 2 large, or 4 small: stewed 4-1/2 hours. _Obs._—We give this receipt _exactly_ as we have often had it used, but celery and turnips might be added to the gravy; and when the appearance of the meat is much considered, three-quarters of an ounce of saltpetre may be mixed with the spices; the beef may also be plainly boiled in water only, with a few vegetables, or baked in a deep pan with a little gravy. No meat must ever be left to cool in the stewpan or saucepan in which it is cooked; it must be lifted into a pan of its own depth, and the liquor poured upon it. A MINIATURE ROUND OF BEEF. “Select a fine rib of beef, and have it cut small or large in width according to your taste; it may thus be made to weigh from five to twelve pounds, or more. Take out the bone, and wrap the meat round like a fillet of veal, securing it with two or three wooden skewers; place it in a strong pickle for four or five days, and then cook it, taking care that it does not boil, but only simmers, from forty minutes, or more, according to its size. It is best to put it on in hot water, as it will not draw the gravy so much as cold. Many persons adjust a rib of beef in this way for roasting: let them try it salted, and they need not envy the possessor of the finest round of beef.” We give the receipt to our readers in its original form, and we can assure them, from our own experience, that it is a good one; but we would recommend that, in dressing the meat, quite the usual time for each pound of it should be allowed. When boned and rolled at the butcher’s, the skewers should be removed when it is first brought in; it should be well wiped with a dry cloth, or washed with a little fresh brine, and a small quantity of salt and saltpetre should be rubbed over the inside, it may then be firmly bound with tape, and will be quite ready to boil when taken from the pickle. The sirloin, after the inside fillet is removed, may be cured and dressed in the same way, and will be found super-excellent if the beef be well fatted and properly kept. The Hamburgh pickle (see page 197) is perhaps the best for these joints. Part of the rump, taken clear of bone, answers admirably when prepared by this receipt. BEEF ROLL, OR CANELLON DE BŒUF. (ENTRÉE.) Chop and mix thoroughly two pounds of lean and very tender beef with one pound of slightly striped bacon; season them with a large teaspoonful of pepper, a little salt, a small nutmeg, or two-thirds as much mace, the grated rind of a lemon, or a teaspoonful of thyme and parsley finely minced. Form the whole into a thick rouleau, wrap a buttered paper round it, enclose it in a paste made of flour and water, and send it to a moderate oven for a couple of hours. Remove the paper and the crust, and serve the meat with a little brown gravy. Lamb and veal are excellent dressed in this way, particularly when mixed with plenty of mushrooms. Brown cucumber sauce should be served with the lamb; and currie, or oyster sauce, when there are no mushrooms, with the veal. A flavouring of onion or of eschalot, where it is liked, can be added at pleasure to the beef: suet, or the fat of the meat, may be substituted for the bacon. Beef, 2 lbs.; bacon, 1 lb.; pepper, 1/4 oz.; little salt; small nutmeg; rind of 1 lemon, or savoury herbs, 1 tablespoonful: baked 2 hours. MINCED COLLOPS AU NATUREL. Mince finely a pound of very tender rump steak, free from fat or skin; season it with a moderate quantity of pepper and salt, set it over a gentle fire, and keep it stirred with a fork until it is quite hot that it may not gather into lumps. Simmer it very slowly in its own gravy from ten to twelve minutes, and then, should it be too dry, add a little boiling water, broth, or gravy; stew it for two minutes longer, and serve it directly. These collops are particularly suited to persons in delicate health, or of weak digestion; and when an extra dish is required at a short notice, from the expedition with which they may be dressed, they are a convenient resource. 10 to 12 minutes. SAVOURY MINCED COLLOPS. Make a little thickening (see Brown _Roux_, Chapter V.) with about an ounce and a half of butter, and a dessertspoonful of flour; when it begins to be coloured, shake lightly into it a large teaspoonful of finely-shred parsley or mixed savoury herbs, two-thirds as much of salt, and half the quantity of pepper. Keep these stirred over a gentle fire until the thickening is of a deep yellow brown; then add a pound of rump-steak, finely minced, and keep it well separated with a fork until it is quite hot; next pour to it gradually half a cupful of boiling water, and stew the collops very gently for ten minutes. Before they are served, stir to them a little catsup, chili vinegar or lemon-juice: a small quantity of minced onion, eschalot, or a _particle_ of garlic, may be added at first to the thickening when the flavour is not objected to. A RICHER VARIETY OF MINCED COLLOPS. Omit the minced herbs from the thickening, and season it with cayenne and a small quarter of a teaspoonful of pounded mace. Substitute beef gravy for the boiling water, and when the collops are nearly done, fill a wineglass with one fourth of mushroom catsup, and three of port wine, and stir these to the meat. Serve the collops very hot, and garnish them with alternate forcemeat balls (see No. 1, Chapter VIII.) and fried sippets. If flavoured with a little gravy made from the bones of a roast hare, and served with currant jelly, these collops will scarcely be distinguished from game. SCOTCH MINCED COLLOPS. “Chop the beef small, season it with salt and pepper, put it, in its raw state, into small jars, and pour on the top some clarified butter. When wanted for use put the clarified butter into a frying-pan, and slice some onions into the pan and fry them. Add a little water to them, and put in the minced meat. Stew it well, and in a few minutes it will be fit to serve.” BEEF TONGUES. These may be cured by any of the receipts which we have already given for pickling beef, or for those which will be found further on for hams and bacon. Some persons prefer them cured with salt and saltpetre only, and dried naturally in a cool and airy room. For such of our readers as like them highly and richly flavoured we give our own method of having them prepared, which is this:—“Rub over the tongue a handful of fine salt, and let it drain until the following day; then, should it weigh from seven to eight pounds, mix thoroughly an ounce of saltpetre, two ounces of the coarsest sugar, and half an ounce of black pepper; when the tongue has been well rubbed with these, add three ounces of bruised juniper-berries; and when it has laid two days, eight ounces of bay salt, dried and pounded; at the end of three days more, pour on it half a pound of treacle, and let it remain in the pickle a fortnight after this; then hang it to drain, fold it in brown paper, and send it to be smoked over a wood fire for two or three weeks. Should the peculiar flavour of the juniper-berries prevail too much, or be disapproved, they may be in part, or altogether, omitted; and six ounces of sugar may be rubbed into the tongue in the first instance when it is liked better than treacle.” Tongue, 7 to 8 lbs.; saltpetre, 1 oz.; black pepper, 1/2 oz.; sugar, 2 oz.; juniper-berries, 3 oz.: 2 days. Bay salt, 8 oz.: 3 days. Treacle, 1/2 lb.: 14 days. _Obs._—Before the tongue is salted, the root end, which has an unsightly appearance, should be trimmed away: it is indeed usual to take it off entirely, but some families prefer part of it left on for the sake of the fat. BEEF TONGUES. (_A Suffolk Receipt._) For each very large tongue, mix with half a pound of salt two ounces of saltpetre and three quarters of a pound of the coarsest sugar; rub the tongues daily, and turn them in the pickle for five weeks, when they will be fit to be dressed, or to be smoked. 1 large tongue; salt, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 3/4 lb.; saltpetre, 2 oz.: 5 weeks. TO DRESS BEEF TONGUES. When taken fresh from the pickle they require no soaking, unless they should have remained in it much beyond the usual time, or have been cured with a more than common proportion of salt; but when they have been smoked and highly dried, they should be laid for two or three hours into cold, and as much longer into tepid water, before they are dressed: if extremely dry, ten or twelve hours must be allowed to soften them, and they should always be brought very slowly to boil. Two or three carrots and a large bunch of savoury herbs, added after the scum is cleared off, will improve them. They should be simmered until they are extremely tender, when the skin will peel from them easily. A highly dried tongue of moderate size will usually require from three and a half to four hours’ boiling; an unsmoked one about an hour less; and for one which has not been salted at all a shorter time will suffice. BORDYKE RECEIPT FOR STEWING A TONGUE. After the tongue has been soaked, trimmed, and washed with extreme nicety, lay it into a vessel of fitting size, and place round it three or four pounds of the neck, or of any other lean cuttings of beef, with some bones of undressed veal, and pour in sufficient cold water to keep it covered until it is done; or, instead of this, use strong unseasoned beef broth made with the shin, and any odd bits or bones of veal which may be at hand. Let the tongue be brought to boil very gradually, that it may be plump and tender. Remove the scum when it first rises, and when it is quite cleared off add a large faggot of parsley, thyme, and winter savoury, three carrots, a small onion, and one mild turnip. After three hours and a half of gentle simmering, probe the tongue, and if sufficiently done peel off the skin and serve it quickly. If not wanted hot for table, lay it upon a very clean board or trencher, and fasten it down to it by passing a carving fork through the root, and a smaller one through the tip, drawing the tongue straight with the latter before it is fixed in the board; let it remain thus until it is quite cold. It is much the fashion at present to glaze hams and tongues, but this should never be attempted by a cook not well acquainted with the manner of doing it, and the proper flavour and appearance of the glaze. For directions to make it, see page 104. Where expense is not regarded, three or four pounds of veal may be added to the beef in this receipt, or the tongue may be stewed in a prepared gravy made with equal parts of beef and veal, and vegetables as above, but without salt: this may afterwards be converted into excellent soup. A fresh or an unsmoked tongue may be dressed in this way, but will require less time: for the former, salt must be added to the gravy. TO ROAST A BEEF HEART. Wash and soak the heart very thoroughly, cut away the lobes, fill the cavities with a veal forcemeat (No. 1, Chapter VIII.), secure it well with a needle and twine, or very coarse thread, and roast it at a good fire for an hour and a half, keeping it basted plentifully with butter. Pour melted butter over it, after it is dished, and send it to table as hot as possible. Many persons boil the heart for three quarters of an hour before it is put to the fire, and this is said to render it more delicate eating; the time of roasting must of course be proportionately diminished. Good brown gravy may be substituted for the melted butter, and currant jelly also may be served with it. 1-1/2 hour, or more. BEEF KIDNEY. Slice the kidney rather thin, after having stripped off the skin and removed the fat; season it with pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg, and sprinkle over it plenty of minced parsley, or equal parts of parsley and eschalots chopped very small. Fry the slices over a brisk fire, and when nicely browned on both sides, stir amongst them a teaspoonful of flour, and pour in by degrees a cup of gravy and a glass of white wine; bring the sauce to the point of boiling, add a morsel of fresh butter and a tablespoonful of lemon-juice, and pour the whole into a hot dish garnished with fried bread. This is a French receipt, and a very excellent one. BEEF KIDNEY. (_A plainer way._) Trim, and cut the kidney into slices; season them with salt and pepper, and dredge them well with flour; fry them on both sides, and when they are done through lift them out, empty the pan, and make gravy for them with a small slice of butter, a dessertspoonful of flour, pepper and salt, and a cup of boiling water; shake these round and give them a minute’s simmering: add a little mushroom catsup, lemon juice, eschalot vinegar, or any store sauce that will give a good flavour. Minced herbs are to many tastes an improvement to this dish, to which a small quantity of onion shred fine can be added when it is liked. 6 to 9 minutes. AN EXCELLENT HASH OF COLD BEEF. Put a slice of butter into a thick saucepan, and when it boils throw in a dessertspoonful of minced herbs, and an onion (or two or three eschalots) shred small: shake them over the fire until they are lightly browned, then stir in a tablespoonful of flour, a little cayenne, some mace or nutmeg, and half a teaspoonful of salt. When the whole is well coloured, pour to it three-quarters of a pint or more of broth or gravy, according to the quantity of meat to be served in it. Let this boil gently for fifteen minutes; then strain it, add half a wineglassful of mushroom or of compound catsup, lay in the meat, and keep it by the side of the fire until it is heated through and is on the point of simmering, but be sure not to let it boil. Serve it up in a very hot dish, and garnish it with fried or toasted sippets of bread. A COMMON HASH OF COLD BEEF OR MUTTON. Take the meat from the bones, slice it small, trim off the brown edges, and stew down the trimmings with the bones well broken, an onion, a bunch of thyme and parsley, a carrot cut into thick slices, a few peppercorns, four cloves, some salt, and a pint and a half of water. When this is reduced to little more than three quarters of a pint, strain it, clear it from the fat, thicken it with a large dessertspoonful of rice flour, or rather less of arrow-root, add salt and pepper if needed, boil the whole for a few minutes, then lay in the meat and heat it well. Boiled potatoes are sometimes sliced hot into a very common hash. _Obs._—The cook should be reminded that if the meat in a hash or mince be allowed to boil, it will immediately become hard, and can then only be rendered eatable by very _long stewing_, which is by no means desirable for meat which is already sufficiently cooked. BRESLAW OF BEEF. (_Good._) Trim the brown edges from half a pound of undressed roast beef, shred it small, and mix it with four ounces of fine bread-crumbs, a teaspoonful of minced parley, and two-thirds as much of thyme, two ounces of butter broken small, half a cupful of gravy or cream, a high seasoning of pepper and cayenne and mace or nutmeg, a small teaspoonful of salt, and three large eggs well whisked. Melt a little butter in a deep dish, pour in the beef, and bake it half an hour; turn it out, and send it to table with brown gravy in a tureen. When cream or gravy is not at hand, an additional egg or two and rather more butter must be used. We think that grated lemon-rind improves the breslaw. A portion of fat from the joint can be added where it is liked. The mixture is sometimes baked in buttered cups. Beef, 1/2 lb.; bread-crumbs, 4 oz.; butter, 2 oz.; gravy or cream, 1/2 cupful; parsley, 1 teaspoonful; thyme, two-thirds of teaspoonful; eggs, 3 or 4, if small; salt, 1 teaspoonful; pepper and nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoonful each: bake 1/2 hour. NORMAN HASH. Peel and fry two dozens of button onions in butter until they are lightly browned, then stir to them a tablespoonful of flour, and when the whole is of a deep amber shade, pour in a wineglassful and a half of red wine, and a large cup of boiling broth or water; add a seasoning of salt and common pepper or cayenne, and a little lemon-pickle catsup or lemon-juice, and boil the whole until the onions are quite tender; cut and trim into small handsome slices the remains of either a roast or boiled joint of beef, and arrange them in a clean saucepan; pour the gravy and onions on them, and let them stand for awhile to imbibe the flavour of the sauce; then place the hash near the fire, and when it is thoroughly hot serve it immediately, without allowing it to boil. FRENCH RECEIPT FOR HASHED BOUILLI. Shake over a slow fire a bit of butter the size of an egg, and a tablespoonful of flour; when they have simmered for a minute, stir to them a little finely-chopped onion, and a dessertspoonful of minced parsley; so soon as the whole is equally browned, add sufficient pepper, salt, and nutmeg to season the hash properly, and from half to three quarters of a pint of boiling water or of bouillon. Put in the beef cut into small but thick slices; let it stand by the fire and heat gradually; and when near the point of boiling thicken the sauce with the yolks of three eggs, mixed with a tablespoonful of lemon-juice. For change, omit the eggs, and substitute a tablespoonful of catsup, and another of pickled gherkins minced or sliced. BAKED MINCED BEEF. Mince tolerably fine, with a moderate proportion of its own fat, as much of the inside of a cold roast joint as will suffice for a dish: that which is least done is best for the purpose. Season it rather highly with cayenne and mace or nutmeg, and moderately with salt; add, when they are liked, one or two eschalots minced small, with a few chopped mushrooms either fresh or pickled, or two tablespoonsful of mushroom catsup. Mix the whole well with a cupful of _good_ gravy, and put it into a deep dish. Place on the top an inch-thick layer of bread-crumbs, moisten these plentifully with clarified butter passed through a small strainer over them, and send the mince to a slow oven for twenty minutes, or brown it in a Dutch oven. SAUNDERS. Spread on the dish in which the saunders are to be served, a layer of smoothly mashed potatoes, which have been seasoned with salt and mixed with about an ounce of butter to the pound. On these spread equally and thickly some underdressed beef or mutton minced and mixed with a little of the gravy that has run from the joint, or with a few spoonsful of any other; and season it with salt, pepper, and a small quantity of nutmeg. Place evenly over this another layer of potatoes, and send the dish to a moderate oven for half an hour. A very superior kind of saunders is made by substituting fresh meat for roasted; but this requires to be baked an hour or something more. Sausage-meat highly seasoned may be served in this way, instead of beef or mutton. TO BOIL MARROW BONES. Let the large ends of the bones be sawed by the butcher, so that when they are dished they may stand upright; and if it can be done conveniently, let them be placed in the same manner in the vessel in which they are boiled. Put a bit of paste, made with flour and water, over the ends where the marrow is visible, and tie a cloth tightly over them; take the paste off before the bones are sent to table, and serve them, placed upright in a napkin, with slices of dry toasted bread apart. When not wanted for immediate use, they may be partially boiled, and set into a cool place, where they will remain good for many days. Large marrow bones, 2 hours; moderate sized, 1-1/2 hour. To keep; boil them 1-1/2 hour, and from 1/2 to 3/4 hour more when wanted for table. BAKED MARROW BONES. When the bones have been sawed to the length of a deep pie-dish, wash and wipe them dry, lay them into it, and cover them entirely with a good batter. Send them to a moderate oven for an hour or more, and serve them in the batter. CLARIFIED MARROW FOR KEEPING. Take the marrow from the bones while it is as fresh as possible; cut it small, put it into a very clean jar, and melt it with a gentle heat, either in a pan of water placed over the fire, or at the mouth of a cool oven; strain it through a muslin, let it settle for a minute or two, and pour it, clear of sediment, into small jars. Tie skins, or double folds of thick paper, over them as soon as the marrow is cold, and store it in a cool place. It will remain good for months. OX-CHEEK STUFFED AND BAKED. (_Good, and not expensive._) Cleanse, with the greatest nicety, a fresh ox-cheek by washing, scraping it lightly with a knife, and soaking out the blood; then put it into plenty of warm water, and boil it gently for about an hour. Throw in a large teaspoonful of salt, and carefully remove all the scum as it rises to the surface. Let it cool after it is lifted out, and then take away the bones, remembering always to work the knife close to them, and to avoid piercing the skin. When the cheek has become cold, put into it a good roll of forcemeat, made by the receipt Nos. 1, 2, or 3, of Chapter IX., or substitute the oyster or mushroom forcemeat which follows; but in any case increase the quantity one-half at least: then skewer or bind up the cheek securely, and send it to a moderate oven for an hour or an hour and a half. It should be baked until it is exceedingly tender quite through. Drain it well from fat, dish it, withdraw the skewers, or unbind it gently, and either sauce it with a little good brown gravy, or send it to table with melted butter in a tureen, a cut lemon, and cayenne, or with any sauce of Chapter V., which may be considered more appropriate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------