| Share page |
|
92 DIFFERENT WAYS TO COOK MEAT. |
||
|
Hot Beef a la Mode.—Take 4 1-2 lbs. of flank steak and 10 ounces of fat bacon, (cut off the rind and put it aside to blanch,) cut the bacon into strips 1-2 inch thick and sprinkle them with pepper. Lard the beef in the grain of the meat and tie it up with strings; put into a stew pan with 1 pint of French white wine or good vinegar, 1 gill of brandy, 1 1-2 pint of broth, 2 calves' feet which have been blanched and boned; also the blanched rind of bacon ; put on the fire and add 1 ounce of salt; boil and skim, then add 3 carrots, 1 onion, 2 small pinches of pepper, 3 cloves and parsley, thyme and a little sage. Put to simmer in a closed stew pan for 4 hours and a half on the stove corner; try the beef, and when done take it out together with the calf s feet and carrots ; keep hot till serving; strain the gravy through a pointed gravy strainer, take off all the fat and reduce it 1-4; untie the beef, put it on a dish and garnish it around with calf s feet, each cut into eight pieces, with the carrots cut to the shape of corks and 10 glazed onions. Pour the gravy over all, and should there be too much reserve it for the next day. Taste for seasoning—a la mode beef should be full flavored ; a clove of garlic is sometimes added. This is not essential, for the taste of the mistress must be consulted.
Cold Bekf a la Mode.—Cold beef a la mode should be prepared as directed for hot beef a la mode. Put in a basin together with the calf's feet vegetables and the gravy, which will be set to a jelly; when ready to serve turn out of the basin on to a dish; the beef a la mode will then present its proper appearance.
N. B. The main points in the preparation of so popular a dish as beef a la mode are as follows: After the selection of the meat, the great secret of success is to cook it very slowly. When cooked hurriedly it invariably produces white, watery and insipid gravy. Slow cooking produces red, rather thick gravy of a gelatinous consistency, full of nourishing flavor of the vegetables stewed in the gravy, which is one of the characteristics of a la mode beef. The carrots and spices should be cooked with the meat, by which they add a savory flavor which is so much prized by connoiseusrs. I would recommend that the pieces of meat should be chosen rather too large than small.
Rib of Beff Bones—(A Pretty dish).—Rib of beef bones, one onion chopped fine, a few slices of carrot and turnips, and 1-2 pint of gravy. 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. Cook 3-4 of an hour. Seasonable at any time. |
||