Part 77 (2/2)

_Average cost_, exclusive of the meat, 6d.

_Seasonable_ from September to January.

STEWED BEEF WITH OYSTERS (Cold Meat Cookery).

668. INGREDIENTS.--A few thick steaks of cold ribs or sirloin of beef, 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 1 onion sliced, pepper and salt to taste, 1/2 gla.s.s of port wine, a little flour to thicken, 1 or 2 dozen oysters, rather more than 1/2 pint of water.

_Mode_.--Cut the steaks rather thick, from cold sirloin or ribs of beef; brown them lightly in a stewpan, with the b.u.t.ter and a little water; add 1/2 pint of water, the onion, pepper, and salt, and cover the stewpan closely, and let it simmer very gently for 1/2 hour; then mix about a teaspoonful of flour smoothly with a little of the liquor; add the port wine and oysters, their liquor having been previously strained and put into the stewpan; stir till the oysters plump, and serve. It should not boil after the oysters are added, or they will harden.

_Time_.--1/2 hour. _Average cost_, exclusive of the meat, 1s. 4d.

_Seasonable_ from September to April.

STEWED BRISKET OF BEEF.

669. INGREDIENTS.--7 lbs. of a brisket of beef, vinegar and salt, 6 carrots, 6 turnips, 6 small onions, 1 blade of pounded mace, 2 whole allspice pounded, thickening of b.u.t.ter and flour, 2 tablespoonfuls of ketchup; stock, or water.

_Mode_.--About an hour before dressing it, rub the meat over with vinegar and salt; put it into a stewpan, with sufficient stock to cover it (when this is not at hand, water may be subst.i.tuted for it), and be particular that the stewpan is not much larger than the meat. Skim well, and when it has simmered very gently for 1 hour, put in the vegetables, and continue simmering till the meat is perfectly tender. Draw out the bones, dish the meat, and garnish either with tufts of cauliflower or braised cabbage cut in quarters. Thicken as much gravy as required, with a little b.u.t.ter and flour; add spices and ketchup in the above proportion, give one boil, pour some of it over the meat, and the remainder send in a tureen.

_Time_.--rather more than 3 hours. _Average cost_, 7d. per lb.

_Sufficient_ for 7 or 8 persons.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

_Note_.--The remainder of the liquor in which the beef was boiled may be served as a soup, or it may be sent to table with the meat in a tureen.

STEWED RUMP OF BEEF.

670. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 rump of beef, sufficient stock to cover it (No.

105), 4 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 2 tablespoonfuls of ketchup, 1 large bunch of savoury herbs, 2 onions, 12 cloves, pepper and salt to taste, thickening of b.u.t.ter and flour, 1 gla.s.s of port wine.

_Mode_.--Cut out the bone, sprinkle the meat with a little cayenne (this must be sparingly used), and bind and tie it firmly up with tape; put it into a stewpan with sufficient stock to cover it, and add vinegar, ketchup, herbs, onions, cloves, and seasoning in the above proportion, and simmer very gently for 4 or 5 hours, or until the meat is perfectly tender, which may be ascertained by piercing it with a thin skewer. When done, remove the tape, lay it into a deep dish, which keep hot; strain and skim the gravy, thicken it with b.u.t.ter and flour, add a gla.s.s of port wine and any flavouring to make the gravy rich and palatable; let it boil up, pour over the meat, and serve. This dish may be very much enriched by garnis.h.i.+ng with forcemeat b.a.l.l.s, or filling up the s.p.a.ce whence the bone is taken with a good forcemeat; sliced carrots, turnips, and onions boiled with the meat, are also a great improvement, and, where expense is not objected to, it may be glazed. This, however, is not necessary where a good gravy is poured round and over the meat.

_Time_.--1/2 rump stewed gently from 4 to 5 hours.

_Average cost_, 10d. per lb. _Sufficient_ for 8 or 10 persons.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

_Note_.--A stock or gravy in which to boil the meat, may be made of the bone and tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, by boiling them with water, and adding carrots, onions, turnips, and a bunch of sweet herbs. To make this dish richer and more savoury, half-roast the rump, and afterwards stew it in strong stock and a little Madeira. This is an expensive method, and is not, after all, much better than a plainer-dressed joint.

THE BARON OF BEEF.--This n.o.ble joint, which consisted of two sirloins not cut asunder, was a favourite dish of our ancestors.

It is rarely seen nowadays; indeed, it seems out of place on a modern table, as it requires the grim boar's head and Christmas pie as supporters. Sir Walter Scott has described a feast at which the baron of beef would have appeared to great advantage.

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