See captionLOBSTER FARCI.
The mixture for chops is prepared in the same manner as for farci, except that the meat is cut a little finer. After it is mixedwith the white sauce, spread it on a platter to cool; when sufficiently cold, mold into the form of chops. Then dip in egg, roll in fresh bread crumbs (see croquettes, page293), and immerse in hot fat until fried to an amber color. The chops will mold better if the mixture is left for some time to harden. The chops may also stand for some hours before being cooked. Tin forms are made for molding chops, but they are easily shaped without them if the mixture has stood long enough to stiffen. After they are fried, make a little opening in the pointed end, and insert a small claw.
Serve the chops on a napkin, and garnish with lemon and parsley.
See captionLOBSTER CHOPS, SERVED STANDING.
See captionLOBSTER CHOPS.
One and a half cupfuls of boiled lobster meat cut into pieces one inch square.
Put the butter in a saucepan; when it has melted add the lobster meat, the chopped truffle, the salt, and the pepper; cover and let simmer for five minutes; then add the wine, and cook three minutes longer.
Have ready two yolks and one cupful of cream well beaten together; add this to the lobster, shake the saucepan until the mixture is thickened, and serve immediately. This dish will not keep without curdling, and should not be put together until just in time to serve. The lobster may be prepared and kept hot. The rest of the cooking, from the time the wine goes in, requires but five minutes, so the time can be easily calculated. If the mixture is stirred the meat will be broken; shaking the pan mixes it sufficiently. This is a very good dish, and easily prepared; but it will not be right unless served as soon as it is cooked. The quantity given is enough for six people. Crab meat may be used in the same way.
Put into a saucepan one tablespoonful of butter and one teaspoonful of chopped onion. Before it takes color add one tablespoonful of flour, and cook, but not brown. Then add slowly one cupful of water in which the lobster was boiled, one cupful of milk, and one cupful of good stock. Add the lobster meat, and when it has become thoroughly hot remove the meat and place it on the dish on which it is to be served, arranging it in the shape of a lobster as far as possible. Cut the tail-piece into thick slices, without changing its position. Season the sauce with salt, pepper and cayenne, and pour it over the meat. Place around the edges triangular croûtons, and garnish with head, small claws, and tail.
Put the butter into a saucepan; when melted add the flour, and cook a few minutes, but not brown; add slowly the milk or cream, and stir until perfectly smooth. To this white sauce add the two yolks beaten, and stir them in off the fire; then add the meat, season, and replace on the fire until sufficiently thickened. Mix carefully with a wooden spoon, so as not to break the meat. The filling should be very creamy. The salpicon given below may be used for filling, if preferred.
Put one level tablespoonful of butter into a saucepan, and when melted add one level tablespoonful of flour; cook, but notbrown; add slowly the stock, and stir until perfectly smooth; then add the cream; after it begins to thicken add the lobster meat, the chopped truffle, and the mushrooms cut into dice. Season highly with salt and cayenne or paprica. Let simmer for five minutes. This must be creamy, but not too soft. It can be served as filling for patties or potato croustades, or may be served in paper boxes. This amount makes about a cupful of salpicon, which is enough for six patties.
Crabs are in season during the months of May, June, July, and August. They may be had at other times, but are then light and stringy. Soft-shell crabs are best in July and August. Like lobsters, crabs must be bought while alive, and boiled in the same way. Put them head first into hot water. After five minutes add one tablespoonful of salt, and boil for thirty minutes.
When cold remove the shells, the stomach, which is just under the head, the gills, and the intestine. Take out the meat carefully.
To obtain enough meat to fill nine shells, use twelve crabs. After they are boiled remove the meat with care, breaking it as little as possible.
Put into a double boiler the cream; when it is scalded add to it the flour and butter, which have been rubbed together; stir until smooth and thickened; then add the mashed yolks, the seasoning, and the crab meat. Mix well together, and taste to see if more seasoning is needed. Deviled crabs need to be highly seasoned. A little mustard may be used, if desired. Have theshells carefully washed and dried, and fill them with the mixture, rounding it well on top, and pressing it close to the edges of the shells, so that in frying none of the fat may enter. Smooth the top, and let stand until cold. Beat one egg with one tablespoonful of water, and, holding a shell over this, baste it with the egg, letting it run over the whole top, including the shell; then sprinkle with white bread crumbs. Put two at a time into a frying-basket, and immerse in very hot fat. It will take but a minute to color them. They may be browned in the oven, if preferred, in which case the egging is omitted, and a few pieces of butter are placed on top of the crumbs.
Put into a saucepan one tablespoonful of butter, and one slice of onion chopped fine; before it becomes brown, add one tablespoonful of flour; cook, but not brown; and add slowly one cupful of milk or cream. Stir until smooth and thickened; then add the mashed yolks, the seasoning, the crab meat, and the chopped mushrooms. This mixture should not be very soft. Fill the shells with it, and finish the same as deviled crabs.
Wash the crabs carefully; lift up the flap, and remove the sand-bag (stomach), gills, and intestine; dry them well, and dredge with salt and pepper. Roll in flour, and sauté them in butter. Have a generous amount of butter in the frying-pan, and sauté them on both sides; when done place them on a hot dish. To the butter in the frying-pan add a little lemon juice.Strain this over the crabs, and sprinkle them with parsley chopped very fine.
Soft-shell crabs may also be fried, in which case they are first dipped in milk, then covered with fine bread-crumbs, and immersed in hot fat.
They may also be broiled over a slow fire, and when done covered with maître d’hôtel sauce. The preferable way of cooking them is by the method first given.
After they are carefully washed and dried, dip them in milk, then roll them in flour, and fry them for one minute in hot fat.
Serve them on a hot napkin with quarters of lemon, or they may be served in fontage cups, or in paper boxes, or in shells. (See also oyster-crabs, page310.)
Put into a saucepan one tablespoonful of butter; when melted add the flour; cook, but not brown; add slowly the stock, and stir until perfectly smooth; then add the cream, and when thickened, add the salt and pepper, then the crab meat and the cheese; simmer for a few minutes, and add the wine; spread this mixture over pieces of buttered toast cut in squares or circles; sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, and place on each piece a small bit of butter; set in the oven for three minutes; serve very hot on a napkin garnished with parsley. This dish may be prepared in a chafing-dish, in which case the mixture must be placed on the toast and served directly from the chafing-dish.
Boiled halibut may be substituted for the crab meat.
Mash the hard-boiled yolks fine, and rub into them the butter, flour and mustard.
Put the milk into a double boiler; when it is scalded stir in the mixture of egg, etc.; season, and just before serving stir in the crab meat, and add one cupful of sherry. Place in bottom of a deep dish a few thin slices of lemon and turn the stew over them.
128-*This mixture can be spread on a pan, then marked into squares, and baked in the oven. This method makes it a more wholesome dish for those who are unable to eat fried preparations.—M. R.
128-*This mixture can be spread on a pan, then marked into squares, and baked in the oven. This method makes it a more wholesome dish for those who are unable to eat fried preparations.—M. R.
Slow cooking.Long,slow cooking breaks down the fiber of meat, and so makes it more tender. Whatever method of cooking is employed, this fact should be remembered. Many of the tough pieces are the most nutritious ones, and can by slow cooking be made as acceptable as the more expensive cuts.Juices.In order to shut in the juices, meat should at first be subjected to a high degree of heat for a short time. A crust or case will then be formed on the outside by the coagulation of the albumen, after which the heat should be lowered, and the cooking proceed slowly. The same rule holds for baking, where the oven must be very hot for the first few minutes only; for boiling, where the water must be boiling and covered for a time, and then placed where it will simmer only; for broiling, where the meat must be placed close to the coals at first, then held farther away.Tough meats are better boiled, because a lower degree of heat can be maintained and slower cooking insured.Degree of cooking.Dark meats should be served underdone or red; the white meats thoroughly cooked, but not dried.Dry meats.Dry meats are improved by being larded.Cleaning.Clean meat by wiping it with a wet cloth, but do not put it in water.Seasoning.Salt and pepper draw out the juices; therefore do not put them on meat before cooking, or until afterthe meat is seared, unless the meat is to be covered at once with egg and crumbs, or with flour.Do not pierce the meat with a fork while cooking, as it makes an outlet for the juices. If necessary to turn it, use two spoons.
Slow cooking.Long,slow cooking breaks down the fiber of meat, and so makes it more tender. Whatever method of cooking is employed, this fact should be remembered. Many of the tough pieces are the most nutritious ones, and can by slow cooking be made as acceptable as the more expensive cuts.
Juices.In order to shut in the juices, meat should at first be subjected to a high degree of heat for a short time. A crust or case will then be formed on the outside by the coagulation of the albumen, after which the heat should be lowered, and the cooking proceed slowly. The same rule holds for baking, where the oven must be very hot for the first few minutes only; for boiling, where the water must be boiling and covered for a time, and then placed where it will simmer only; for broiling, where the meat must be placed close to the coals at first, then held farther away.
Tough meats are better boiled, because a lower degree of heat can be maintained and slower cooking insured.
Degree of cooking.Dark meats should be served underdone or red; the white meats thoroughly cooked, but not dried.
Dry meats.Dry meats are improved by being larded.
Cleaning.Clean meat by wiping it with a wet cloth, but do not put it in water.
Seasoning.Salt and pepper draw out the juices; therefore do not put them on meat before cooking, or until afterthe meat is seared, unless the meat is to be covered at once with egg and crumbs, or with flour.
Do not pierce the meat with a fork while cooking, as it makes an outlet for the juices. If necessary to turn it, use two spoons.
Time for cooking rib roast rare eight to ten minutes per pound; time for cooking rolled roast rare, ten to twelve minutes per pound.
To roast beef on a spit before the fire is unquestionably the best method of cooking it; but as few kitchens are equipped for roasting meats, baking them in the oven is generally practised, and has come to be called roasting. Beef should be well streaked with fat, and have a bright-red color. Place the meat to be baked on a rack which will raise it a little above the bottom of the pan. Dredge the whole, top and sides, with flour. Place in a corner of the pan a half teaspoonful of salt and a quarter teaspoonful of pepper. Do not let them touch the raw meat, as they draw out the juices. Put into the pan also two tablespoonfuls of drippings. Place it in a very hot oven for fifteen or twenty minutes, or until the meat is browned; then shut off the drafts and lower the temperature of the oven, and cook slowly until done; baste frequently; do not put water in the pan, as it makes steam, and prevents browning. A roast has a better appearance if the ribs are not too long. They may be cut off and reserved for the soup pot, or broken and doubled under.
Serve it standing on the ribs, and cut the slices in line with the ribs.
For a rolled roast, remove the bones, roll it, and tie securely into good shape; when cooked, cut the cords and run through a fancy skewer holding at the head a slice of lemon or piece of carrot cut into ornamental shape. This piece of beef stands on the dish like a cylinder, and should be cut across horizontally.
If the beef is cooked as directed it will have one quarter ofan inch of seared meat; the rest will be of a uniform red color all through. If cooked in too hot an oven the center will be raw, while an inch or two of the outside will be much overdone, hard, and tasteless. (See illustration facing page152.)
See captionROLLED RIB ROAST OF BEEF GARNISHED WITH POTATOES ROASTED IN SAME DISH WITH THE BEEF. FANCY SKEWER GARNISHED WITH SLICES OF TURNIP AND CARROT, RUN INTO THE SIDE TO HOLD IT TOGETHER. (SEE PAGE146.)
Put two cupfuls of flour into a bowl, and mix in one half a teaspoonful of salt. Beat up three eggs, and stir them into the flour; then add two cupfuls of milk. Stir until the mixture is smooth, then turn it into a pan containing a little of the drippings from the roast beef. Let the batter be only one inch deep in the pan. Bake thirty to forty minutes. Cut the pudding in squares, and place it around the roast beef.
Ten to twelve minutes per pound.
The cut from the upper side of the round is a good roasting piece. It should be cooked very slowly after it is browned in order to make it tender. The under side of the round should be cookedà la mode, or braised.
Take one half cupful of salt pork, one half cupful each of carrot, turnip, onion, and celery, all cut into dice. Mix them together and spread them on a baking pan, reserving one half cupful for the top of the meat. On the bed of vegetables place a piece of beef cut from the upper or under side of the round, weighing five or six pounds. Dredge it with flour. Place it in hot oven to brown for twenty to twenty-five minutes. Then add two cupfuls of stock or water; a bouquet of herbs, consisting of parsley, six peppercorns, three cloves, one bay-leaf; spread the one half cupful of vegetables over the meat; add a half teaspoonful of salt to the pan, cover it closely with another pan, reduce the heat of the oven, and cook very slowly for four or five hours.
Double pans are made which are especially good for braising, where the steam should be confined as much as possible, and the basting is done automatically. These pans should not be used for baking meats. If very close fitting pans are not used, the water must be renewed when necessary, and basting done frequently. The success of this dish depends upon slow cooking. Strain the sauce from the pan, season with salt and pepper; pour a little of the sauce over the meat; serve the rest in a sauce-boat. It is very like a Spanish sauce. The vegetables may be served around the meat if desired. This way of cooking can be done in a pot if more convenient, and is then called a pot roast.
Use six or seven pounds of the upper round of beef for this dish. (It is very good cold when properly cooked.) The success depends upon very slow cooking. The vegetables give it a distinctive flavor.
Make several deep incisions into the meat with a thin, sharp knife, or with a steel. Press into them lardoons of salt pork about half an inch square, and two or three inches long. This is called daubing, and the butcher will ordinarily do it ifrequested. Put trimmings of pork, or two tablespoonfuls of drippings, into the bottom of a large iron pot. When it is hot, put in the meat, and brown it on all sides by turning it to the bottom of the pot. This will take about half an hour. Next dredge it with flour, and brown that also. Then put a small plate under the beef to lift it a little off the bottom of the pot, and prevent its burning. Fill the pot with enough boiling water to half cover the meat. Add a half cupful each of sliced onions, carrots, and turnips, and a sprig of parsley. Cover the pot very tight, so the meat will cook in steam; and simmer it for four or five hours. Add more boiling water when necessary. When the meat is done, place it on a hot dish. Place some of the vegetables around and over it. Make a gravy as follows: put into a saucepan a tablespoonful of butter; when it bubbles, add a tablespoonful of flour, andstir until it is browned; then add a cupful of liquor strained from the pot in which the beef was cooked. If there is not a cupful of liquor in the pot, add enough hot water to make that quantity. Season with pepper and salt. This will resemble a Spanish sauce. It can be poured over the meat, or served separately.
This dish is prepared usually from the meat used in making soup. Take a piece from the lower side of round; trim, and tie it into good shape; place it in the soup pot with cold water, allowing one quart of water to each pound of meat. Let it come slowly to the boiling point, and then let it simmer for four hours. After it has cooked two hours add a whole carrot, onion, and turnip, parsley, celery, six peppercorns, three cloves, one teaspoonful of salt. The meat will be tender if cooked very slowly, and not allowed to boil; but having been put into cold water, its juices will be extracted. Therefore the water is used as soup, and the meat will depend on a good sauce for flavor. Any rich brown sauce will do. Tomato or horseradish sauce is recommended. Cut the vegetables into fancy shapes with cutters, or into dice, and place them on the dish around the meat.
Time, thirty minutes in hot oven.
The fillet is the tenderloin of beef, and is taken from the underside of the sirloin cut. Remove, taking care not to make the meat ragged, the sinewy skin and the muscle from the top, and most of the fat from the other side. Fold the thin end under, trim it into good shape. Lard it plentifully, letting the whole upper surface be perforated with fine lardoons. Place in a small baking pan thin slices of larding pork, over the pork place a layer of chopped onion, carrot, turnip and celery; lay the tenderloin on top. Pour in the pan a cupful of stock, add one half teaspoonful of salt, one quarter teaspoonful of pepper, and a bouquet of parsley, one bay-leaf, and two cloves. Bakein a hot oven for thirty minutes, and baste frequently. The fillet should be rare. Remove it when done; strain off the gravy, and skim off the grease. Put into the same pan a tablespoonful each of butter and of flour; stir until they are browned; then add slowly the gravy strained from the pan; if not enough to give a cupful, add enough stock to make that measure. Stir until it boils; then add a canful of mushrooms (which have been drained), and let them simmer for five minutes; not longer, or the mushrooms will harden. Taste to see if the seasoning is right. Add a half teaspoonful of kitchen bouquet to make it brown. The sauce should be of the consistency of cream. A half cupful of Madeira or of sherry may be used in place of the mushrooms if preferred. Spread the sauce on the serving dish, and lay the fillet on it. Arrange the mushrooms top side up, evenly around the fillet. In carving cut the fillet diagonally, instead of straight across; and put a little gravy in the center of each slice. The time for cooking is always thirty minutes, for the weight is in the length, and not in the thickness of the meat.
A profitable way to obtain a fillet is to buy a large cut of the sirloin, remove the tenderloin, and have the top cut into two or more roasting pieces. Beef will keep for some time, and the butcher will hold it until called for. In this way it will cost twenty-two to twenty-five cents per pound, while, if bought by itself, it would be from eighty cents to one dollar per pound.
For a moderate sized family it may seem too much beef to buy at one time; but it is the one kind of meat that can be served very often, and there is no waste. It is good hot or cold, warmed over or hashed. The suet is the best fat for frying purposes, and the bones make good soup. Part of the sirloin piece can be cut into steaks, and one of the roasting pieces rolled to give variety. The flank can be made into Hamburg steaks, or into soup. If judiciously cut there will be little left over to cook again.
Roasted and braised beef are both quite as good cold as hot, and in summer are sometimes preferable cold. Serve with cold beef a vegetable salad when it is used for dinner. Make the salad of string beans, asparagus, or a macédoine of vegetables. For a supper dish, the rolled rib roast can be made very attractive by garnishing it with aspic jelly cut into fancy forms. Place a large star of the jelly on top, and small timbale forms of jellied vegetables, and broken jelly on the dish around the meat; or a simpler garnishing can be made with lettuce leaves, tomatoes stuffed with mayonnaise, or celery, etc. Use lettuce with any of the salads. Have a fancy skewer stuck in the side.
Spread in a baking dish alternate layers of bread-crumbs, meat chopped very fine, a sprinkling of chopped parsley and onion, pepper and salt. When the dish is nearly full, pour over enough white sauce to moisten it well; cover with crumbs and bits of butter. Set in oven until browned. Soup stock or tomatoes may also be used for moistening a scallop. If uncooked meat is used, it will require longer cooking (one hour in slow oven), and more liquid used, so that it will not get too dry. The coarse ends of steak can be utilized in this way. A scallop made of raw meat and tomatoes makes a good luncheon dish.
Chop one pound of lean raw meat very fine, remove all the fiber possible. To the mince add
Form it into small balls, and flatten; dredge them with flour, and sauté them in butter. Place them on a hot dish, and spread with maître d’hôtel butter; or make a thick brown sauce byadding a tablespoonful of flour to the butter used in the sauté pan. Let it brown; then add slowly a little soup stock. Season with salt and pepper, and lemon juice, or Worcestershire sauce. Drop a teaspoonful of sauce on each cake without spreading it. Garnish with water-cresses. These steaks can be made from the end pieces of steaks, or from the round.
When made for invalids, the best meat is used. They are seasoned only with salt and pepper, and broiled just enough to be thoroughly heated. Another way to serve them is to make them the size of English muffins; on the upper side make a depression or hollow, broil or sauté them, and place them on a baking dish; spread them with maître d’hôtel butter, and drop an egg in the hollow top of each one. Put them in the oven just long enough to set the white of the egg. Place a dash of pepper on the center of the yolk, and serve at once very hot.
Lay in a pie dish a few thin slices of onion; then a layer of cold cooked beef cut very thin. Dredge with a little flour, pepper, and salt; fill the dish with these articles in alternate layers, and add any cold gravy there may be at hand. Scald and peel enough tomatoes to cover the top of the dish; have them of uniform size, and place them close together. Spread over them some bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and bits of butter. Place the dish in the oven, and cook until the tomatoes are tender.
Mutton or veal may be used in the same way.
Cut the beef into small thin slices, and trim off the fat. Put into a stew pan one tablespoonful of butter, and one tablespoonful of flour. When cooked, and a little browned, add slowly one cupful of stock, one teaspoonful each of Worcestershire sauce and mushroom catsup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the slices of beef, and let them becomethoroughly hot. Then place in the center of a hot dish, and pour the sauce over them. Garnish with croûtons, and serve with it farina balls (see page223). Tomato catsup may be substituted for the Worcestershire sauce. When this dish is to be prepared in a chafing-dish, the sauce may be made beforehand; the heating and mixing only being done over the lamp, and croûtons alone served with it. Any kind of meat or fish may be used in this way.
Take the piece of meat called the inside flank; wipe it clean with a wet cloth; carefully remove the skin and fat and lay it flat on a board; moisten three quarters of a cupful of crumbs with stock; add one teaspoonful of salt, one quarter teaspoonful of pepper, one teaspoonful onion juice or one half onion chopped fine, one tablespoonful chopped parsley. Spread this mixture on the meat evenly; then roll and tie it with white twine; turn in the ends to make it even and shapely.
Cut into dice an onion, turnip, and carrot, and place them in a baking-pan; lay the rolled meat on the bed of vegetables; pour in enough stock or water to cover the pan one inch deep; add a bouquet made of parsley, one bay-leaf and three cloves; cover with another pan, and let cook slowly for four or five hours, basting frequently. It can be done in a pot just as well, and should be covered as tight as possible; when cooked, strain off the vegetables; thicken the gravy with brown roux and serve it with the meat. Long, slow cooking is essential to make the meat tender. If cooked too fast it will not be good.
A thin steak cut from the round may be cooked the same way, and a little ham chopped fine may be added to the stuffing. The cost of this dish is not more than eighteen to twenty-five cents, and is enough for four or five persons.
Cut two pounds of the upper round of beef into inch squares; dredge them with salt and pepper, and roll them in flour. Putinto a saucepan some butter and some drippings, or a little suet, and let it try out, using enough only to cover the bottom of the saucepan; when the grease is hot, turn in the pieces of meat, and let them cook until well browned on all sides. Watch, and turn them as soon as browned; then draw the meat to one side of the pan, and add a tablespoonful of flour; let the flour brown, and add a cupful of stock or water, and stir until it comes to the boiling-point; then add a teaspoonful of salt, a half teaspoonful of pepper, one half teaspoonful of kitchen bouquet; one carrot cut into blocks, and one tablespoonful of onion; cover the saucepan, and let it simmer (not boil) for an hour. Just before serving add two tablespoonfuls of sherry or of Madeira. Serve a border of rice around the ragout.
Some one has said, “There is as much difference between beefsteaks as between faces; and a man of taste can find as much variety in a dinner at the Beefsteak Club as at the most plentifully-served table in town.”The difference between a thick and a thin steak is particularly marked—the former seems like an altogether different dish from the latter.Thickness.Some may like their steak well done, but it is not a taste to be commended. A perfect steak should be cut one and a half inches thick, and cooked so that on both sides it has a crust one eighth of an inch thick of browned meat, the rest being an even red color. It should be puffed and elastic from the confined steam of the juices. When the steak is over-cooked the steam and the juices have escaped, leaving the meat dry and tasteless. The three best sauces which are served with steak are first the maître d’hôtel and then the Béarnaise and mushroom sauces.Sauces.Tough beefsteaks can be made more tender by pounding them; but a better way is to brush them on both sides with a mixture of one tablespoonful of vinegar and two tablespoonfuls of oil or melted butter. The steak should then stand two or more hours before being cooked. It is the fiber of meat which makes it tough, and this fiber is soluble in acetic acid, which is found in vinegar. Broiling under the coals is better than over them when possible, as all smoke is then avoided.
Some one has said, “There is as much difference between beefsteaks as between faces; and a man of taste can find as much variety in a dinner at the Beefsteak Club as at the most plentifully-served table in town.”
The difference between a thick and a thin steak is particularly marked—the former seems like an altogether different dish from the latter.Thickness.Some may like their steak well done, but it is not a taste to be commended. A perfect steak should be cut one and a half inches thick, and cooked so that on both sides it has a crust one eighth of an inch thick of browned meat, the rest being an even red color. It should be puffed and elastic from the confined steam of the juices. When the steak is over-cooked the steam and the juices have escaped, leaving the meat dry and tasteless. The three best sauces which are served with steak are first the maître d’hôtel and then the Béarnaise and mushroom sauces.Sauces.Tough beefsteaks can be made more tender by pounding them; but a better way is to brush them on both sides with a mixture of one tablespoonful of vinegar and two tablespoonfuls of oil or melted butter. The steak should then stand two or more hours before being cooked. It is the fiber of meat which makes it tough, and this fiber is soluble in acetic acid, which is found in vinegar. Broiling under the coals is better than over them when possible, as all smoke is then avoided.
Time: one inch thick, eight minutes; one and a half inches thick, ten minutes.
Trim a steak into good shape, taking off the end-piece to be used in some other form, as it is not eatable when broiled; take off superfluous fat; make the surface smooth by striking it with the broad blade of knife; heat the broiler very hot. Take a piece of the fat, trimmed off the meat, on a fork and grease the broiler well; lay on the steak with the outside or skin edge toward the handle, so the fat may run on the meat. Place it close to the hot coals and count ten slowly; turn it and do the same; this is to sear the outside and keep the juices in; then hold it farther from the coals to cook more slowly, and turn it as often as you count ten, counting about as fast as the clock ticks. If turned in this way very little fat will run into the fire, and it also cooks slowly, giving an even color all through. The flame from fat does not injure the meat, but the smoke must be avoided. Wrap a napkin around the hand holding the broiler to protect it from the heat. A steak ought not to be less than an inch, but should be one and a half to one and three quarters inches thick. Allow eight to ten minutes for cooking according to the thickness. One two inches thick will take fourteen to eighteen minutes. A steak should be rare but not raw, should have a uniform red color, and be full of juice.
When done it will be puffed between the wires of broiler, and will offer a little resistance to the touch. If experience does not enable one to judge in this way, remove the broiler to a dish on the table, and make a small clean cut on one side. Do not at any time pierce the meat with a fork. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper, and spread with maître d’hôtel butter. If the steak has to stand a few minutes before serving, which should be avoided if possible, dredge it at once with salt and pepper, but do not spread with the maître d’hôtel butter until just before sending it to the table. The heat of the meat mustmelt the butter, and the parsley should look fresh and bright. Steak, as well as all broiled articles, should be garnished with slices of lemon and with water-cress.
Fried potato-balls, straws, puffed, or Saratoga potatoes may be served on the same dish.
The Chateaubriand is cut from the center of the fillet; but a good substitute is a tenderloin steak cut two inches thick, the bone removed, and the meat then turned so as to make a circle. Flatten it by striking with broad blade of knife or a cleaver. Broil slowly as directed above for eighteen minutes. Serve with maître d’hôtel butter, mushroom, or olive sauce, placing the mushrooms or olives on top of the steak, the sauce under it. (See illustration facing page152.)
The Chateaubriand may also be roasted or braised.
See captionA BONED TENDERLOIN STEAK MADE TO IMITATE A CHATEAUBRIAND GARNISHED WITH WATER-CRESS AND LEMON. (SEE PAGE157.)
Cut slices from the end of the fillet of beef about five eighths of an inch thick. Press and trim them into circles; dredge with salt and pepper; sauté them in butter; spread Béarnaise sauce on a hot dish, and lay the mignon fillets on it, or lay the fillets on croûtons of the same size as the fillet, and place on top of each one a small spoonful of peas, string-beans, or macédoine of vegetables.
Put corned beef into cold water; using enough to cover it well; let it come slowly to the boiling-point; then place where it will simmer only; allow thirty minutes or more to each pound. It is improved by adding a few soup vegetables the last hour of cooking. A piece from the round is the best cut, and should have a layer of fat. If cooked very slowly as directed, it will be tender and juicy.
If the piece can be used a second time, trim it to good shape; place it again in the water in which it was boiled; let it getheated through; then set aside to cool in the water and under pressure, a plate or deep dish holding a flat-iron being set on top of the meat. The water need not rise above the meat sufficiently to wet the iron. When cooled under pressure the meat is more firm and cuts better into slices.
Cabbage is usually served with hot corned beef, but should not be boiled with it. The receipt given on page212is recommended, and if that method is followed, there will be no odor from the cooking, and the objection to this very good dish will be removed.
Chop cooked corned beef, using some of the fat. Do not make it too fine; chop some cold boiled potatoes (not fine); mix the two together in equal proportions; season with salt, pepper, and onion juice, if liked.
Put a tablespoonful of butter in a frying-pan with as much milk, stock, or hot water as will be required to moisten the hash; add the chopped meat and potatoes; mix them together with care to not mash the potatoes; cover and cook slowly for half an hour, or until a crust has formed on the bottom of the pan; then turn it on to a hot dish, like an omelet. Hash should not be like mush, but the meat and potato quite distinct, and as both ingredients have been already cooked they need only to be well heated and incorporated with the seasoning.
Unless for brown hash, or corned beef hash, potato is not used. Chop the meat to a fine mince. Put a tablespoonful of butter into a frying-pan with one slice of onion; remove the onion when cooked, and add one tablespoonful of flour, and let it brown, thus making a brown roux, if the hash is to be made of beef or mutton. Do not let it brown if it is to be used for veal or chicken hash. To the brown roux add slowly a cupful of stock or hot water; then a cupful and a half of minced meat; season with salt and pepper; stir until well incorporated, andserve at once on toast. To a white roux add slowly a cupful of milk; then add one and a half cupfuls of veal or chicken chopped fine; season with salt and pepper. Cut toast into large circles with a biscuit-cutter. Spread them with a thick layer of mince, and on this place a poached egg, neatly trimmed to the same size as the toast. It can be cut with the same cutter, or it may be poached in a muffin-ring (see page263).
Put a dash of pepper on the center of yolk. Garnish with parsley. This makes a very presentable breakfast or luncheon dish.
Cut lean meat into small dice; cut also cold boiled potatoes into dice of the same size; mix them together, and place in a small baking-pan; dredge with salt and pepper, and dot plentifully with bits of butter. Put into hot oven to brown; stir them often so all sides will brown alike, and do not let them become too dry.
Have the bones cut into pieces two or three inches long; scrape and wash them very clean; spread a little thick dough on each end to keep the marrow in; then tie each bone in a piece of cloth and boil them for one hour. Remove the cloth and paste, and place each bone on a square of toast; sprinkle with red pepper and serve very hot. Or the marrow-bone can be boiled without being cut, the marrow then removed with a spoon and placed on squares of hot toast. Serve for luncheon. (See illustration facing page152.)
See captionMARROW-BONES SERVED ON ROUND SLICES OF TOAST. (SEE PAGE159.)
The cuts and cooking of Mutton.Mutton should be hung for some days before being used. The leg may be either boiled or roasted; the saddle always roasted; the shoulder boned, stuffed and roasted; the chops broiled, and the neck stewed. Except where it is stewed, mutton should be cooked rare. Mrs. Brugière recommends pounding the leg of mutton before cooking it. The roasted leg or the saddle are the only forms of mutton permissible to serve at a ceremonious dinner. The strong taste of mutton is in the fat. Therefore trim off a part of the fat from the outside, and when baking it in the oven set the joint on a rack in the pan, so it will not cook in the fat.Vegetables to serve with Mutton.Certain vegetables have by experience been found to go well with certain meats. Of these turnips have been established as the accompaniment of mutton. This has been amusingly emphasized by an anecdote told of Charles Lamb.Anecdote of Charles Lamb.On an occasion when riding in a stage coach, he was much annoyed by a Scotch farmer, who was a fellow passenger, asking him questions about the crops. “And pray, sir,” asked the farmer, “how are turnips t’ year?” “Why,” stammered Lamb, “that will depend upon the boiled legs of mutton.”Turnips and carrots cut into dice, boiled separately, then mixed and covered with white sauce, also make a good vegetable dish for boiled mutton. Caper sauce is always served with it.Another anecdote is given as a suggestion for anexpedient in case the mutton is too underdone (boiled mutton should be red, but not black). An English nobleman, on being shown a Dutch picture representing a man in a passion with his wife because the mutton was underdone, exclaimed, “What a fool the fellow is not to see that he may have a capital broil.”With roasted mutton may be served baked turnips stuffed with seasoned bread-crumbs soaked in cream. It is a Russian dish. Bananas cut in two, rolled in egg and crumbs, and fried like croquettes, are also recommended for roast mutton. Mint sauce and green peas are usually served with spring lamb.
The cuts and cooking of Mutton.Mutton should be hung for some days before being used. The leg may be either boiled or roasted; the saddle always roasted; the shoulder boned, stuffed and roasted; the chops broiled, and the neck stewed. Except where it is stewed, mutton should be cooked rare. Mrs. Brugière recommends pounding the leg of mutton before cooking it. The roasted leg or the saddle are the only forms of mutton permissible to serve at a ceremonious dinner. The strong taste of mutton is in the fat. Therefore trim off a part of the fat from the outside, and when baking it in the oven set the joint on a rack in the pan, so it will not cook in the fat.
Vegetables to serve with Mutton.Certain vegetables have by experience been found to go well with certain meats. Of these turnips have been established as the accompaniment of mutton. This has been amusingly emphasized by an anecdote told of Charles Lamb.Anecdote of Charles Lamb.On an occasion when riding in a stage coach, he was much annoyed by a Scotch farmer, who was a fellow passenger, asking him questions about the crops. “And pray, sir,” asked the farmer, “how are turnips t’ year?” “Why,” stammered Lamb, “that will depend upon the boiled legs of mutton.”
Turnips and carrots cut into dice, boiled separately, then mixed and covered with white sauce, also make a good vegetable dish for boiled mutton. Caper sauce is always served with it.
Another anecdote is given as a suggestion for anexpedient in case the mutton is too underdone (boiled mutton should be red, but not black). An English nobleman, on being shown a Dutch picture representing a man in a passion with his wife because the mutton was underdone, exclaimed, “What a fool the fellow is not to see that he may have a capital broil.”
With roasted mutton may be served baked turnips stuffed with seasoned bread-crumbs soaked in cream. It is a Russian dish. Bananas cut in two, rolled in egg and crumbs, and fried like croquettes, are also recommended for roast mutton. Mint sauce and green peas are usually served with spring lamb.
Time ten minutes per pound (rare); fifteen minutes per pound (moderately well done).
Cut the bone short, place in a hot oven for twenty minutes; then add one cupful of hot water; baste frequently. Allow ten minutes to the pound for cooking rare. When ready to serve conceal the bone with a frill of paper, or a few leaves of parsley.
Have the joints cracked entirely through, so there may be no trouble in carving. Remove the fat and kidney. Allow nine minutes to the pound; roast the same as the leg.
The saddle is the back of the animal. If split it would be called the loin, and when cut gives the chops. It does not furnish very much meat for a roast, so requires to be a large cut. It is esteemed for its handsome appearance, as well as for its flavor. Remove the skin from the top, also the fat and kidneys from the under side. The suet on the top can be lightly cut in points, and a little raised to make decoration. Roll the flaps under, and tie into a well rounded shape. If a large saddle is used, the tail is left on. It should be cooked in a hot oven, basted frequently, and cooked rare, allowing nine minutes to the pound. In carving cut slices the length of the saddle, and parallel to the back bone; then slip the knife under, and separate them from the rib bones. After the top is carved, the saddle is turned, and the tenderloin, which lies on the under side, is cut in the same way.
Serve currant jelly with the saddle of mutton.
Have the butcher cut a full loin, split the bone between the chops, trim the rib bones as for French chops, and chop them offto a uniform length; then roll the loin backward into a circle, and tie securely. Have a thick slice of larding pork wrapped around each bone, so it will not burn while cooking. Baste frequently while roasting, and allow nine minutes to the pound. Serve with Saratoga or other fancy fried potatoes in the basket-like top formed by the bones. Place a frill of paper on each bone.