Part 74 (1/2)

II.

643. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast or boiled beef, 1/4 lb. of b.u.t.ter, cayenne to taste, 2 blades of pounded mace.

_Mode_.--As we have stated in recipe No. 608, the outside slices of boiled beef may, with a little trouble, be converted into a very nice addition to the breakfast-table. Cut up the meat into small pieces and pound it well, with a little b.u.t.ter, in a mortar; add a seasoning of cayenne and mace, and be very particular that the latter ingredient is reduced to the finest powder. When all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, put it into gla.s.s or earthen potting-pots, and pour on the top a coating of clarified b.u.t.ter.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

_Note_.--If cold roast beef is used, remove all pieces of gristle and dry outside pieces, as these do not pound well.

PRESERVED MEATS.--When an organic substance, like the flesh of animals, is heated to the boiling-point, it loses the property of pa.s.sing into a state of fermentation and decay. Fresh animal milk, as is well known, coagulates, after having been kept for two or three days, into a gelatinous ma.s.s; but it may be preserved for an indefinite period, as a perfectly sweet liquid, if it be heated daily to the boiling-point. The knowledge of this effect of an elevated temperature has given rise to a most important branch of industry,--namely, the preparation of preserved meats for the use of the navy and merchant service. At Leith, in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, at Aberdeen, at Bordeaux, at Ma.r.s.eilles, and in many parts of Germany, establishments of enormous magnitude exist, in which soup, vegetables, and viands of every description are prepared, in such a manner that they retain their freshness for years. The prepared aliments are inclosed in canisters of tinned iron plate, the covers are soldered air-tight, and the canisters exposed to the temperature of boiling water for three or four hours. The aliments thus acquire a stability, which one may almost say is eternal; and when a canister is opened, after the lapse of several years, its contents are found to be unaltered in taste, colour, and smell. We are indebted to the French philosopher Gay-Lussac for this beautiful practical application of the discovery that boiling checks fermentation. An exclusive salt-meat diet is extremely injurious to the health; and, in former times, thousands of mariners lost their lives for the want of fresh aliments during long voyages. We are sorry to say that the preserved meats are sometimes carelessly prepared, and, though the statement seems incredible, sometimes adulterated.

Dr. Lankester, who has done so much to expose the frauds of trade, that he ought to be regarded as a public benefactor, says that he has seen things which were utterly unfit for food, s.h.i.+pped as preserved meats. Surely, as he observes, there ought to be some superintendent to examine the so-called articles of food that are taken on board s.h.i.+p, so that the poor men who have been fighting our battles abroad may run no risk of being starved or poisoned on their way home.

RIB OF BEEF BONES.

(_A Pretty Dish_.)

644. INGREDIENTS.--Rib of beef bones, 1 onion chopped fine, a few slices of carrot and turnip, 1/4 pint of gravy.

_Mode_.--The bones for this dish should have left on them a slight covering of meat; saw them into pieces 3 inches long; season them with pepper and salt, and put them into a stewpan with the remaining ingredients. Stew gently, until the vegetables are tender, and serve on a flat dish within walls of mashed potatoes.

_Time_.--3/4 hour. _Average cost_, exclusive of the bones, 2d.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

BEEF RISSOLES (Cold Meat Cookery).

645. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast beef; to each pound of meat allow 3/4 lb. of bread crumbs, salt and pepper to taste, a few chopped savoury herbs, 1/2 a teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, 1 or 2 eggs, according to the quant.i.ty of meat.

_Mode_.--Mince the beef very fine, which should be rather lean, and mix with this bread crumbs, herbs, seasoning, and lemon-peel, in the above proportion, to each pound of meat. Make all into a thick paste with 1 or 2 eggs; divide into b.a.l.l.s or cones, and fry a rich brown. Garnish the dish with fried parsley, and send with them to table some good brown gravy in a tureen. Instead of garnis.h.i.+ng with fried parsley, gravy may be poured in the dish, round the rissoles: in this case, it will not be necessary to send any in a tureen.

_Time_.--From 5 to 10 minutes, according to size.

_Average cost_, exclusive of the meat, 5d.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

ROLLED BEEF, to eat like Hare.

646. INGREDIENTS.--About 5 lbs. of the inside of the sirloin, 2 gla.s.ses of port wine, 2 gla.s.ses of vinegar, a small quant.i.ty of forcemeat (No.

417), 1 teaspoonful of pounded allspice.

_Mode_.--Take the inside of a large sirloin, soak it in 1 gla.s.s of port wine and 1 gla.s.s of vinegar, mixed, and let it remain for 2 days. Make a forcemeat by recipe No. 417, lay it on the meat, and bind it up securely. Roast it before a nice clear fire, and baste it with 1 gla.s.s each of port wine and vinegar, with which mix a teaspoonful of pounded allspice. Serve, with a good gravy in the dish, and send red-currant jelly to table with it.

_Time_.--A piece of 5 lbs. about 1-1/2 hour before a brisk fire.

_Average cost_, for this quant.i.ty, 5s. 4d.