Mrs. Beeton's Dictionary of Every-Day Cookery. Mrs. Beeton
6 or 8 lbs. of the brisket of beef, 4 or 5 slices of bacon, 2 carrots, 1 onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, salt and pepper to taste, 4 cloves, 4 whole allspice, 2 blades of mace. Mode.—Choose that portion of the brisket which contains the gristle, trim it, and put it into a stewpan with the slices of bacon, which should be placed under and over the meat. Add the vegetables, herbs, spices, and seasoning, and cover with a little weak stock or water; shut the stewpan-lid as closely as possible, and simmer very gently for 4 hours. Strain the liquor, reserve a portion of it for sauce, and the remainder boil quickly over a sharp fire until reduced to a glaze, with which glaze the meat. Garnish the dish with scooped carrots and turnips, and, when liked, a little cabbage; all of which must be cooked separately. Thicken and flavour the liquor that was saved for sauce, pour it round the meat, and serve. The beef may also be garnished with glazed onions, artichoke-bottoms, &c. Time.—4 hours. Average cost, 7d. per lb. Sufficient for 6 or 8 persons. Seasonable at any time.
BEEF, Brisket of, Stewed.
Ingredients.—7 lbs. of the brisket of beef, vinegar and salt, 6 carrots, 6 turnips, 6 small onions, 1 blade of pounded mace, 2 whole allspice pounded, thickening of butter 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 substituted 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 butter 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.
BEEF, Broiled, and Mushroom Sauce.
[Cold Meat Cookery.] Ingredients.—2 or 3 dozen small button mushrooms, 1 oz. of butter, salt and cayenne to taste, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, mashed potatoes, slices of cold roast beef. Mode.—Wipe the mushrooms free from grit with a piece of flannel, and salt; put them in a stewpan with the butter, seasoning, and ketchup; stir over the fire until the mushrooms are quite done, when pour it in the middle of mashed potatoes, browned. Then place round the potatoes slices of cold roast beef, nicely broiled over a clear fire. In making the mushroom sauce the ketchup may be dispensed with, if there is sufficient gravy. Time.—¼ hour. Average cost, exclusive of the meat, 8d. Seasonable from August to October.
BEEF, Broiled, and Oyster Sauce.
[Cold Meat Cookery.] Ingredients.—2 dozen oysters, 3 cloves, 1 blade of mace, 2 oz. of butter,½ teaspoonful of flour, cayenne and salt to taste, mashed potatoes, a few slices of cold roast beef. Mode.—Put the oysters in a stewpan, with their liquor strained; add the cloves, mace, butter, flour, and seasoning, and let them simmer gently for 5 minutes. Have ready in the centre of a dish round walls of mashed potatoes, browned; into the middle pour the oyster sauce quite hot, and round the potatoes place, in layers, slices of the beef, which should be previously broiled over a nice clear fire. Time.—5 minutes. Average cost, 1s. 6d., exclusive of the cold meat. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons. Seasonable from September to April.
BEEF BUBBLE-AND-SQUEAK.
[Cold Meat Cookery.] Ingredients.—A few thin slices of cold boiled beef; butter, cabbage, 1 sliced onion, pepper and salt to taste. Mode.—Fry the slices of beef gently in a little butter, taking care not to dry them up. Lay them on a flat dish, and cover with fried greens. The greens may be prepared from cabbage sprouts or green savoys. They should be boiled till tender, well drained, minced, and placed till quite hot in a frying-pan, with butter, a sliced onion, and seasoning of pepper and salt. When the onion is done it is ready to serve. Time.—Altogether,½ hour. Average cost, exclusive of the cold beef, 3d. Seasonable at any time.
BEEF CAKE.
[Cold Meat Cookery.] Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast beef; to each pound of cold meat allow ¼ lb. of bacon or ham; seasoning to taste of pepper and salt, 1 small bunch of minced savoury herbs, 1 or 2 eggs. Mode.—Mince the beef very finely (if underdone it will be better), add to it the bacon, which must also be chopped very small, and mix well together. Season, stir in the herbs, and bind with an egg, or 2 should 1 not be sufficient. Make it into small square cakes, about ½ inch thick, fry them in hot dripping, drain them, and serve in a dish with good gravy poured round. Time.—10 minutes. Average cost, exclusive of the cold meat, 6d. Seasonable at any time.
BEEF, Collared.
COLLARED BEEF.
Ingredients.—7 lbs. of the thin end of the flank of beef, 2 oz. of coarse sugar, 6 oz. of salt, 1 oz. of saltpetre, 1 large handful of parsley, minced, 1 dessertspoonful of minced sage, a bunch of savoury herbs,½ teaspoonful of pounded allspice; salt and pepper to taste. Mode.—Choose fine tender beef, but not too fat; lay it in a dish, rub in the sugar, salt, and saltpetre, and let it remain in the pickle for a week or ten days, turning and rubbing it every day. Then bone it, remove all the gristle and the coarse skin of the inside part, and sprinkle it thickly with parsley, herbs, spice, and seasoning in the above proportion, taking care that the former are finely minced, and the latter well pounded. Roll the meat up in a cloth as tightly as possible; bind it firmly with broad tape, and boil it gently for 6 hours. Immediately on taking it out of the pot put it under a good weight, without undoing it, and let it remain until cold. This dish is a very nice addition to the breakfast-table. Time.—6 hours. Average cost, for this quantity, 4s. Seasonable at any time.
Note.—During the time the beef is in pickle it should be kept cool, and regularly rubbed and turned every day.
BEEF COLLOPS.
Ingredients.—2 lbs. of rump-steak,¼ lb. of butter, 1 pint of gravy (water may be substituted for this), salt and pepper to taste, 1 shalot, finely minced,½ pickled walnut, 1 teaspoonful of capers. Mode.—Have the steak cut thin, and divide it in pieces about 3 inches long; beat these with the blade of a knife, and dredge with flour. Put them in a frying-pan with the butter, and let them fry for about 3 minutes; then