Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book Part 9

FRENCH BEEF.--Take a circular piece from the round, (having removed the bone,) and trim it nicely from the fat, skin, &c. Then lard it all over with long slips of fat pork or bacon. The place from whence the bone was taken must be filled with a forcemeat, made of minced suet, grated bread-crumbs, sweet marjoram rubbed fine, and grated lemon-peel; add a little salt and pepper. Tie a tape closely round the outside of the beef, to keep it compact, and in shape. Put it into a broad earthen jar with a cover; or into an iron bake-oven. Add some whole pepper, a large onion, a bunch of sweet herbs, three bay-leaves, a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter, divided into small bits, (each piece rolled in flour,) and half a pint of claret, or port wine. Bake or stew it thus in its own liquor, for five, six, or seven hours, (in proportion to its size,) for it must be thoroughly done, quite tender, and brown all through the inside.

STEWED FRESH BEEF.--Cut a square thick piece of beef from the round or sirloin, and trim off the fat. Put it into a stew-pan with just water enough to cover it, and season it slightly with salt and pepper. Let it stew slowly, till tender all through. Then add potatos pared and quartered, turnips the same; and also, parsnips split and cut short, and (if approved) a few sliced onions. Stew altogether till the vegetables are thoroughly cooked, and then serve up the whole on one large dish.

Mutton, veal, and fresh pork, may be stewed in the same manner. Sweet potatos, sc.r.a.ped and split, are excellent served with fresh meat. There should be a great plenty of vegetables, as they are much liked in stews.

What is called an Irish stew is fresh beef stewed with potatos only--the potatos being first pared, and cut in quarters.

For economy, cold roast beef may be stewed next day with fresh potatos cut up, and as little water as possible. Cold potatos, if re-cooked, are always hard, tough, and unwholesome.

STEWED BEEFSTEAKS WITH OYSTERS.--Take some fine tender beef-steaks cut from the sirloin. If they are taken from the round they should be beaten with a rolling-pin to make them tender. Put them into a close stew-pan, with barely sufficient water to prevent their burning, and set them over the fire to brown. When they are browned, add sufficient oyster-liquor to cook them, and some bits of fresh b.u.t.ter rolled in flour. Let them stew slowly for an hour, or till they are thoroughly done. Then add three or four dozen of fine large fresh oysters, in proportion to the quant.i.ty of meat, seasoning them well with nutmeg, a few blades of mace, and a little cayenne. Cover the pan, and simmer them till the oysters are well plumped, but not till they come to a boil. When all is properly cooked, transfer the whole to a deep dish, and send it to table hot.

The meat, when preparing, should be cut into pieces about as large as the palm of your hand, and an inch thick, omitting the fat. Small clams may be subst.i.tuted for oysters.

TOMATO STEWED BEEF.--Take large ripe tomatos, and scald them, to make the skins peel off easily. Pare, quarter them, and sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper. Lay in a stew-pan some thin tender beef-steaks, lamb, mutton-chops, or cutlets of fresh pork. Bury the meat in the tomatos, and add some bits of fresh b.u.t.ter rolled in flour and a little sugar to take off the extreme acid of the tomatos; also, an onion or two, very finely minced. Let the whole cook slowly till the meat is thoroughly done, and the tomatos dissolved to a pulp. Send it to table all on the same dish.

A rabbit or chicken, (cut apart as for carving,) is very good stewed with tomatos. Freshly killed venison is excellent for this stew.

Many persons mix grated bread with tomato stew. We think it weakens the taste--a thing not desirable in any cooking.

This stew must not have a drop of water in it; the tomatos will give out sufficient liquid to cook the meat. There is not a more wholesome dish.

BEEF STEWED WITH ONIONS.--Take a square piece of beef from the sirloin, where there is no bone or fat. With a sharp knife make very deep incisions all over it, but not quite so deep as to cut it through to the bottom. Prepare a forcemeat by peeling and boiling some onions. Then drain and mince them. Mix in with the onions some fine bread-crumbs, and some chopped sweet-marjoram, (seasoning with powdered nutmeg and mace,) and fill tightly all the incisions. Put into the bottom of a stew-pan some drippings of roast-beef, or else a piece of fresh b.u.t.ter rolled in flour. Lay the seasoned meat upon it. Let it stew till completely cooked, and no redness to be found in any part of it. Serve it up hot, and send it to table in its own gravy.

A round or fillet of fresh pork may be cooked as above, putting into the incisions, or holes, powdered sage instead of sweet marjoram, with the onions and crumbs; and using lard instead of beef-drippings. Eat apple sauce with it.

BEEF STEWED WITH OYSTERS.--Prepare two or three pounds of the best beef, by tr.i.m.m.i.n.g off all the fat, and removing the bone. Lay in the bottom of the stew-pan a few bits of fresh b.u.t.ter rolled in flour. Then put in the meat, and sprinkle a little pepper over each piece. Have ready a quart of large fresh oysters. Strain the liquor to clear it from bits of the sh.e.l.l, and pour it over the meat in the stew-pan. Stew the meat in the oyster liquor till it is thoroughly cooked, skimming it well, and keeping it covered, except when skimming. Then add grated nutmeg, and a few blades of mace. Lastly, put in the oysters, and let them remain in just long enough to plump, which will be in a few minutes. If cooked too much oysters always shrivel, and become hard and tough. When all is done, serve up the whole in one dish.

In the same manner clams may be stewed with beef. Never put any salt where there are clams. They are quite salt enough in themselves.

FRENCH STEW.--Cut into pieces two or three pounds of the lean of fresh tender beef, mutton, veal, or pork, and peel and slice a quarter of a peck or more of ripe tomatos. Season the whole with a little pepper and salt. Add, if you choose, a tea-spoonful of sugar to moderate the extreme acid of the tomatos. Put the whole together into a stew-pot, and cover it closely, opening it occasionally to see how it is doing. Put no water to this stew, the juice of the tomatos will cook it thoroughly.

Add a large table-spoonful of minced tarragon leaves. When the tomatos are all dissolved, stir in a piece of fresh b.u.t.ter, dredged with flour.

Let it stew about a quarter of an hour longer. When the meat is quite tender all through, and every thing well done, make some sippets of triangular shaped toast, with the crust trimmed off. Dip the toast, for a moment, in hot water; b.u.t.ter and stand it up all round the inside of a deep dish. Then fill it with the stew, and serve it hot. Any meat may be stewed thus with tomatos.

POTATO BEEF.--This is an excellent family dish. Boil some potatos till well done, all through. Peel them, put them into a large pan, and mash them smoothly, adding, as you proceed, some milk, and one or more beaten eggs, well mixed into the potatos. Rub the bottom of a white ware pudding dish with nice b.u.t.ter, or some drippings of cold beef, and cover it with a thick layer of mashed potatos. Next, put in thin slices of beef, (omitting the fat,) enough to cover the potatos. Next, add another layer of mashed potatos, evenly and thickly spread. Then, more thin slices of beef, and then more potatos. Do this, till the dish is full; finis.h.i.+ng it with potatos, on the top, heaping them up in the centre. Bake it in an oven. There must be plenty of potatos, as they will be much liked.

BEEF AND MUSHROOMS.--Take three pounds of the best sirloin steaks.

Season them with black pepper and a very little salt, having removed the fat and bone. Put a quarter of a pound of the best fresh b.u.t.ter into a frying-pan, and set it over the fire. When it is boiling hot, put in the steaks, and fry them brown. Have ready a quart of very fresh mushrooms, peeled and stemmed. If large, cut them in four. Season them with a little pepper and salt, and dredge them lightly with flour, and add a few bits of b.u.t.ter. Stew them in a separate pan kept closely covered.

When the steaks are done, pour the mushrooms over them with all their juice. Put them all (steaks and mushrooms) into a dish with a cover, and serve them up hot.

This is a breakfast dish, or a side dish for dinner. Unless the company is very small, four pounds of beef steaks, at least, and three pints of mushrooms, (with b.u.t.ter in proportion) will be required at dinner, as it will be much liked.

BEEF'S HEART.--Wash the heart well, and soak it in a pan of tepid water till all the blood is drawn out of the ventricles, and it is made very clean and dry. Next par-boil it a quarter of an hour. Then stuff the cavities with a forcemeat made of minced veal, bread-crumbs, b.u.t.ter or minced suet, and sweet herbs, seasoned with a little pepper and nutmeg; or it may be stuffed simply with sage and onions. Sew up the openings with coa.r.s.e brown thread, lest the forcemeat should fall out. Put the heart on a spit, and roast it before a clear fire, for near two hours; basting it well with nice fresh b.u.t.ter. Thicken the gravy with a little flour, and stir into it a gla.s.s of port wine, or of tarragon vinegar.

Have ready a hot dish and a heated cover. Serve up the heart as hot as possible, for it soon chills, and pour the gravy around it. The gravy should be heated to a boil in a small sauce-pan.

_Calves' Hearts_ are cooked in the same manner. As they are small, it takes four calves' hearts to make a dish.

Hearts may be sliced and stewed with onions and sweet herbs, adding to the stew a little salad oil.

BEEF PATTIES.--A nice way of disposing of underdone roast beef, is to mince fine all the lean, and a _very little_ of the fat. Season it with cayenne, and powdered nutmeg, or mace, or else chopped sweet herbs. If you have any stewed mushroom-gravy, moisten the meat with that. Make a nice paste, and cut it into small circular sheets, rolled out not very thin. Cover one half of each sheet of paste with the minced beef (not too near the edge) and fold over the other half, so as to form a half moon. Wet your fingers with cold water, and pinch together the two edges of the half moon. Then crimp them with a sharp knife. Lay the patties in square baking pans, p.r.i.c.k them with a fork, and bake them brown. Or you may fry them in lard. Serve them up hot, as side dishes.

Cold veal, minced with cold ham, or tongue, makes very nice patties; also cold chicken or turkey.

A BEEF STEAK PIE.--Stew two pounds or more, of fine tender sirloin steaks, divested of fat and bone, and cut rather thin. Season them with a very little salt and pepper; and, when about half done, remove them from the fire, and keep them warm, saving all the gravy. Make a nice paste, allowing to two quarts of flour one pound and a quarter of fresh b.u.t.ter. Divide the b.u.t.ter into four quarters. Rub one half into the pan of flour, and make it into a dough with, a very little cold water. Roll it out into a large sheet, and with a broad knife stick over it, at equal distances, one of the remaining divisions of b.u.t.ter. Then sprinkle it with more flour, fold it, and roll it out again into a large sheet.

Put on the remainder of the b.u.t.ter in bits, as before. Then fold it again. Cut the paste into equal halves, and roll them out into two sheets, trimmed into round or oval forms. With one sheet line a pie-dish, and fill it with your meat, adding, if convenient, some mushrooms, or some fresh oysters, or the soft part of a few clams, and some blades of mace. Use the other sheet of paste as a cover for the pie, uniting the edges with the under crust by crimping it nicely. Of the tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs of the paste, make an ornament or tulip, and stick it into the slit at the top of the pie.

MEAT PIES--May be made in the above manner of lamb, veal, or pork. Also of venison or any sort of fresh meat. Pie crust for baking should be shortened with b.u.t.ter, or with the dripping of roast beef, veal, or _fresh_ pork. Mutton or lamb dripping are unfit for pie crust, as they make it taste of tallow. Suet will not do at all for _baked_ paste, though very good if the paste is to be boiled. b.u.t.ter and lard will make a nice plain paste for pies, if both are fresh and good; the b.u.t.ter to be rubbed into the flour, mixed with a little cold water, and rolled out; the lard to be spread evenly all over the sheet; then folded and rolled out again. Meat pies should always have a bottom crust, as the gravy it imbibes makes it very relis.h.i.+ng. Veal pies are insipid without the addition of some cold ham.

Pies made of game should have a puff-paste, as they are generally for company.

On the sh.o.r.es of the Chesapeake, very fine pies are made of canvas-back, or red-neck ducks, when in season. They require puff-paste to be made in perfection. Pot-pies of these ducks are, of course, excellent.

A BEEF STEAK POT-PIE.--Take two pounds or more of tender beef steaks, exclusive of the fat and bone, which must be omitted; the steaks from the sirloin end, cut less than an inch thick, and not larger than four or five inches square. Put them into a pot with enough water to cover them, and season them slightly with pepper and salt. Dredge them with a little flour, and lay on each a morsel of nice fresh b.u.t.ter. Stew the steaks for half an hour. Meanwhile make a large portion of paste; allowing to every quart or pound of flour, a small half pound of nice beef-suet, entirely freed from all its skin and strings, and minced with a chopper as finely as possible. To three pounds of beef allow four quarts of flour and not quite two pounds of suet. A pot-pie with but little paste in proportion to the meat, is no better than a stew. The paste, if good, is always much liked. Divide the minced suet into two halves. Rub or crumble one half the suet into the pan of flour; adding by degrees a little _cold_ water, barely enough to make a stiff dough; first mixing in a small tea-spoonful of salt. Roll out the lump of dough into a large sheet, and spread it all over with the remainder of the minced suet, laid on with a broad knife. Then fold it up, and set it on a dish in a cool place, to get quite cold. Take a large iron pot, made very clean. Lay in the bottom the largest pieces of beef steak, and line round the sides with pieces of the paste, cut to fit. Next put in the remainder of the meat, interspersed with raw potatos sliced, (either white or sweet potatos,) and also pieces of the paste cut into squares, and laid among the meat, to which must be added the gravy saved from the stew. When the pot is nearly full, cover its contents with a large round or circular piece of paste. This must not fit _quite closely_, but a little s.p.a.ce or crack must be left all around for the gravy to bubble up as it boils. Before you put on the lid pour in half a pint, or more, of water. Cut a cross-slit in the centre of the top-crust. Set the pot over a good fire, and let it boil steadily, till all is done, meat and paste.

The upper-crust should be well-browned. When cooked, serve the whole upon one large dish, laying the brown upper-crust on the top of all. If there is too much gravy, send some of it to table in a sauce-boat, first skimming it.

It will be improved by adding to the seasoning some nutmeg or powdered mace. These are the only spices that accord well with meat or poultry.

POT-PIES.--The preceding receipt is good for any sort of pot-pie. They are all on the same principle. The meat to be divested of the fat, and stewed first in a pot by itself, saving the gravy. The paste (of which there should always be an ample allowance) sufficient to line the sides of the pot all round, and reaching up nearly to the top, besides plenty of small square pieces to intersperse with the meat, and an upper crust to cover the whole. At the very bottom the meat and gravy only, as there the paste might burn. Pot-pies may be made of any sort of fresh meat, or of fowls or any sort of poultry (cut up, as if for carving,) and previously stewed. If made of chickens or pigeons or rabbits, add a few slices of cold ham and put no other salt. For want of suet you may make the paste with b.u.t.ter, but it must be fresh and good. Allow half a pound of b.u.t.ter to a large quart of flour. Potato paste is tolerable for shortening pot-pies, if you make it half mashed potato and half lard. We do not recommend bread dough or any thing raised with yeast or soda for boiled paste; when there is no shortening, boiled paste is always tough and unwholesome.

Pot-pies may be made of apples pared, cored, and quartered; of peaches quartered and stoned, or of any nice fruit. Fruit pot-pies should have b.u.t.ter paste, and be well sweetened with brown sugar.

All boiled dough should be eaten warm. It falls and becomes heavy as soon as cold.

BEEF-STEAK PUDDING.--After clearing it from the skin and strings, mince as fine as possible three quarters of a pound of nice beef suet. Sift into a pan two small quarts of flour. Rub half the suet into the flour, and make it into a paste with a little cold water, (as little as possible.) Roll it out into a large sheet, and spread over it, evenly, the other half of the minced suet. Fold it, flour it, roll it again, and divide it unequally into two pieces, one nearly three times larger than the other. Roll them out, rather thick than thin. Have ready a large pound and a quarter of tender-loin beef steak, that has been cut into thin pieces (without fat or bone, seasoned with a very little salt and pepper, and some nutmeg) and half-stewed, saving its gravy. Lay this meat upon the large thick sheet of crust; pour the stewed gravy among it, and add some bits of fresh b.u.t.ter rolled in flour. Cover it with the small round of paste, cut to fit, only allowing the lid large enough to project a little over, so as to be joined firmly by pressing it all round with your fingers. Do it well and securely, that it may not come apart while boiling. Dip a large square pudding-cloth in hot water--shake it out--lay it in a deep pan, dredge it with flour, lay the pudding into it and tie it firmly, leaving room for swelling. Put it into a large pot of boiling water, and boil it till, on probing with a fork, you find the meat quite tender.

Or you may boil it in a large bowl with a rim, tying the cloth carefully all over the top. Set the bowl in a pot of boiling water.

TO BOIL TRIPE.--Clean the tripe very carefully, giving it a thorough sc.r.a.ping, and was.h.i.+ng in warm water, and trim off the superfluous fat.

Lay it all night in weak salt and water. Then wash it again. Let it lie an hour or two in milk and water, and then boil it five hours or more, putting it on in cold water. It must be perfectly tender throughout.

This should be done the day _before_ it is to be cooked for dinner. On that day, cut it into strips or bands, roll them with the fat side inwards. Tie the rolls round with small white twine, and boil them two hours longer; or till they are _perfectly tender throughout, and incline to look transparent near the edges_. Have ready in a saucepan, some onions peeled; and boil in milk and water, till soft enough to mash.

Then take them out; drain them; mix with the onion-water some nice fresh b.u.t.ter divided into pieces and rolled in flour. When this has come to a boil, return the onions to the liquor; season them with pepper, and give them one boil up. When the tripe is done, transfer it to a deep dish, and pour the onion sauce over it. When on your plate, add to it some tarragon vinegar or mustard. Take the strings off before the tripe goes to table.

TRIPE CURRY.--Having boiled two pounds of double tripe, cut it into slips, peel two large onions, cut them also into dice, and put them into a stew-pan, with three ounces, or three table-spoonfuls of fresh b.u.t.ter.

Let them stew till brown, stirring frequently, and mixing in a table-spoonful of curry-powder. Add a pint of milk, and the cut-up tripe. Let all stew together for an hour or more, skimming it well.