Palace Hotel, San Francisco.
TO FRY BEEFSTEAKS.
Beefsteak for frying should be cut much thinner than for broiling. Take from the ribs or sirloin and remove the bone. Put some butter or nice beef dripping into a frying pan and set it over the fire, and when it has boiled and become hot lay in the steaks; when cooked quite enough, season with salt and pepper, turn and brown on both sides. Steaks when fried should be thoroughly done. Have ready a hot dish, and when they are done take out the steaks and lay them onit, with another dish cover the top to keep them hot. The gravy in the pan can be turned over the steaks, first adding a few drops of boiling water, or a gravy to be served in a separate dish made by putting a large tablespoonful of flour into the hot gravy left in the pan after taking up the steaks. Stir it smooth, then pour in a pint of cream or sweet rich milk, salt and pepper, let it boil up once until it thickens, pour hot into a gravy dish and send to the table with the steaks.
POT ROAST. (Old Style.)
This is an old-fashioned dish, often cooked in our grandmothers' time. Take a piece of fresh beef weighing about five or six pounds. It must not betoo fat. Wash it and put it into a pot with barely sufficient water to cover it. Set it over a slow fire, and after it has stewed an hour salt and pepper it. Then stew it slowly until tender, adding a little onion if liked. Do not replenish the water at the last, but let all nearly boil away. When tender all through take the meat from the pot and pour the gravy in a bowl. Put a large lump of butter in the bottom of the pot, then dredge the piece of meat with flour and return it to the pot to brown, turning it often to prevent its burning. Take the gravy that you have poured from the meat into the bowl and skim off all the fat; pour this gravy in with the meat and stir in a large spoonful of flour wet with a little water; let it boil up ten or fifteen minutes and pour into a gravy dish. Serve both hot, the meat on a platter. Some are very fond of this way of cooking a piece of beef which has been previously placed in spiced pickle for two or three days.
SPICED BEEF. (Excellent.)
For a round of beef weighing twenty or twenty-four pounds, take one-quarter of a pound of saltpetre, one-quarter of a pound of coarse brown sugar, two pounds of salt, one ounce of cloves, one ounce of allspice and half an ounce of mace; pulverize these materials, mix them well together, and with them rub the beef thoroughly on every part; let the beef lie for eight or ten days in the pickle thus made, turning and rubbing it every day; then tie it around with a broad tape, to keep it in shape; make a coarse paste of flour and water, lay a little suet finely chopped over and under the beef, inclose the beef entirely in the paste, and bake it six hours. When you take the beef from the oven, remove the paste, but do not remove the tape untilyou are ready to send it to the table. If you wish, to eat the beef cold, keep it well covered that it may retain its moisture.
BEEF Á LA MODE.
Mix together three teaspoonfuls of salt, one of pepper, one of ginger, one of mace, one of cinnamon, and two of cloves. Rub this mixture into ten pounds of the upper part of a round of beef. Let this beef stand in this state over night. In the morning, make a dressing or stuffing of a pint of fine bread crumbs, half a pound of fat salt pork cut in dice, a teaspoonful of ground thyme or summer savory, two teaspoonfuls sage, half a teaspoonful of pepper, one of nutmeg, a little cloves, an onion minced fine, moisten with a little milk or water. Stuff this mixture into the place from whence you took out the bone. With a long skewer fasten the two ends of the beef together, so that its form will be circular, and bind it around with tape to prevent the skewers giving way. Make incisions in the beef with a sharp knife; fill these incisions very closely with the stuffing, and dredge the whole with flour.
Put it into a dripping-pan and pour over it a pint of hot water; turn a large pan over it to keep in the steam, and roast slowly from three to four hours, allowing a quarter of an hour to each pound of meat. If the meat should be tough, it may be stewed first in a pot, with water enough to cover it, until tender, and then put into a dripping-pan and browned in the oven.
If the meat is to be eaten hot, skim off the fat from the gravy, into which, after it is taken off the fire, stir in the beaten yolks of two eggs. If onions are disliked you may omit them and substitute minced oysters.
TENDERLOIN OF BEEF.
To serve tenderloin as directed below, the whole piece must be extracted before the hind-quarter of the animal is cut out. This must be particularly noted, because not commonly practiced, the tenderloin being usually left attached to the roasting pieces, in order to furnish a tidbit for a few. To dress it whole, proceed as follows: Washing the piece well, put it in an oven; add about a pint of water, and chop up a good handful of each of the following vegetables as an ingredient of the dish,viz., Irish potatoes, carrots, turnips and a large bunch ofcelery. They must be washed, peeled and chopped up raw, then added to the meat; blended with the juice, they form and flavor the gravy. Let the whole slowly simmer, and when nearly done, add a teaspoonful of pounded allspice. To give a richness to the gravy, put in a tablespoonful of butter. If the gravy should look too greasy, skim off some of the melted suet. Boil also a lean piece of beef, which, when perfectly done, chop fine, flavoring with a very small quantity of onion, besides pepper and salt to the taste. Make into small balls, wet them on the outside with eggs, roll in grated cracker or fine bread crumbs. Fry these force meat balls a light brown. When serving the dish, put these around the tenderloin, and pour over the whole the rich gravy. This dish is a very handsome one, and, altogether, fit for an epicurean palate. A sumptuous dish.
STEWED STEAK WITH OYSTERS.
Two pounds of rump steak, one pint of oysters, one tablespoonful of lemon juice, three of butter, one of flour, salt, pepper, one cupful of water. Wash the oysters in the water and drain into a stewpan. Put this liquor on to heat. As soon as it comes to a boil, skim and set back. Put the butter in a frying pan, and when hot, put in a steak. Cook ten minutes. Take up the steak, and stir the flour into the butter remaining in the pan. Stir until a dark brown. Add the oyster liquor and boil one minute. Season with salt and pepper. Put back the steak, cover the pan, and simmer half an hour or until the steak seems tender, then add the oysters and lemon juice. Boil one minute. Serve on a hot dish with points of toast for a garnish.
SMOTHERED BEEFSTEAK.
Takethinslices of steak from the upper part of the round or one large thin steak. Lay the meat out smoothly and wipe it dry. Prepare a dressing, using a cupful of fine bread crumbs, half a teaspoonful of salt, some pepper, a tablespoonful of butter, half a teaspoonful of sage, the same of powdered summer savory, and enough milk to moisten it all into a stiff mixture. Spread it over the meat, roll it up carefully, and tie with a string, securing the ends well. Now fry a few thin slices of salt pork in the bottom of a kettle or saucepan, and into the fat that has fried out of this pork, place this roll or rolls of beef, and brown it on all sides, turning it until a rich color all over,then add half a pint of water, and stew until tender. If the flavor of onion is liked, a slice may be chopped fine and added to the dressing. When cooked sufficiently, take out the meat, thicken the gravy, and turn over it. To be carved cutting crosswise, in slices, through beef and stuffing.
BEEFSTEAK ROLLS.
This mode is similar to the above recipe, but many might prefer it.
Prepare a good dressing, such as you like for turkey or duck; take a round steak, pound it, but not very hard, spread the dressing over it, sprinkle in a little salt, pepper, and a few bits of butter, lap over the ends, roll the steak up tightly and tie closely; spread two great spoonfuls of butter over the steak after rolling it up, then wash with a well-beaten egg, put water in the bake-pan, lay in the steak so as not to touch the water, and bake as you would a duck, basting often. A half-hour in a brisk oven will bake. Make a brown gravy and send to the table hot.
TO COLLAR A FLANK OF BEEF.
Procure a well-corned flank of beef—say six pounds. Wash it, and remove the inner and outer skin with the gristle. Prepare a seasoning of one teaspoonful each of sage, parsley, thyme, pepper and cloves. Lay your meat upon a board and spread this mixture over the inside. Roll the beef up tight, fasten it with small skewers, put a cloth over it, bandage the cloth with tape, put the beef into the stewpot, cover it with water to the depth of an inch, boil gently six hours; take it out of the water, place it on a board without undoing it; lay a board on top of the beef, put a fifty pound weight upon this board, and let it remain twenty-four hours. Take off the bandage, garnish with green pickles and curled parsley, and serve.
DRIED BEEF.
Buy the best of beef, or that part which will be the most lean and tender. The tender part of the round is a very good piece. For every twenty pounds of beef use one pint of salt, one teaspoonful of saltpetre, and a quarter of a pound of brown sugar. Mix them well together, and rub the beef well with one-third of the mixture for three successive days. Let it lie in the liquor it makes for six days, then hang up to dry.
A large crock or jar is a good vessel to prepare the meat in before drying it.
BEEF CORNED OR SALTED. (Red.)
Cut up a quarter of beef. For each hundred weight take half a peck of coarse salt, a quarter of a pound of saltpetre, the same weight of saleratus and a quart of molasses, or two pounds of coarse brown sugar. Mace, cloves and allspice may be added for spiced beef.
Strew some of the salt in the bottom of a pickle-tub or barrel, then put in a layer of meat, strew this with salt, then add another layer of meat, and salt and meat alternately, until all is used. Let it remain one night. Dissolve the saleratus and saltpetre in a little warm water, and put it to the molasses or sugar; then put it over the meat, add water enough to cover the meat, lay a board on it to keep it under the brine. The meat is fit for use after ten days. This recipe is for winter beef. Rather more salt may be used in warm weather.
Towards spring take the brine from the meat, make it boiling hot, skim it clear, and when it is cooled, return it to the meat.
Beef tongues and smoking pieces are fine pickled in this brine. Beef liver put in this brine for ten days, and then wiped dry and smoked, is very fine. Cut it in slices, and fry or broil it. The brisket of beef, after being corned, may be smoked, and is very good for boiling.
Lean pieces of beef, cut properly from the hind-quarter, are the proper pieces for being smoked. There may be some fine pieces cut from the fore-quarter.
After the beef has been in brine ten days or more, wipe it dry, and hang it in a chimney where wood is burned, or make a smothered fire of sawdust or chips, and keep it smoking for ten days; then rub fine black pepper over every part to keep the flies from it, and hang it in adry, dark, cool place. After a week it is fit for use. A strong, coarse brown paper, folded around the beef, and fastened with paste, keeps it nicely.
Tongues are smoked in the same manner. Hang them by a string put through the root end. Spiced brine for smoked beef or tongues will be generally liked.
ROAST BEEF PIE WITH POTATO CRUST.
When you have a cold roast of beef, cut off as much as will half fill a baking-dish suited to the size of your family; put this slicedbeef into a stewpan with any gravy that you may have also saved, a lump of butter, a bit of sliced onion and a seasoning of pepper and salt, with enough water to make plenty of gravy; thicken it, too, by dredging in a tablespoonful of flour; cover it up on the fire, where it may stew gently, but not be in danger of burning. Meanwhile there must be boiled a sufficient quantity of potatoes to fill up your baking-dish, after the stewed meat has been transferred to it. The potatoes must be boiled done, mashed smooth, and beaten up with milk and butter, as if they were to be served alone, and placed in a thick layer on top of the meat. Brush it over with egg, place the dish in an oven, and let it remain there long enough to be brown. There should be a goodly quantity of gravy left with the beef, that the dish be not dry and tasteless. Serve with it tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce or any other kind that you prefer. A good, plain dish.
ROAST BEEF PIE.
Cut up roast beef, or beefsteak left from a previous meal, into thin slices, lay some of the slices into a deep dish which you have linedon the sideswith rich biscuit dough, rolled very thin (say a quarter of an inch thick); now sprinkle over this layer a little pepper and salt; put in a small bit of butter, a few slices of cold potatoes, a little of the cold gravy, if you have any left from the roast. Make another layer of beef, another layer of seasoning, and so on, until the dish is filled; cover the whole with paste leaving a slit in the centre, and bake half an hour.
BEEFSTEAK PIE.
Cut up rump or flank steak into strips two inches long and about an inch wide. Stew them with the bone, in just enough water to cover them, until partly cooked; have half a dozen of cold boiled potatoes sliced. Line a baking-dish with pie paste, put in a layer of the meat with salt, pepper, and a little of thinly-sliced onion, then one of the sliced potatoes, with bits of butter dotted over them. Then the steak, alternated with layers of potato, until the dish is full. Add the gravy or broth, having first thickened it with brown flour. Cover with a top crust, making a slit in the middle; brush a little beaten egg over it, and bake until quite brown.
FRIZZLED BEEF.
Shave offvery thinslices of smoked or dried beef, put them in a frying pan, cover with cold water, set it on the back of the range or stove, and let it come to a very slow heat, allowing it time to swell out to its natural size, but not to boil. Stir it up, then drain off the water. Melt one ounce of sweet butter in the frying pan and add the wafers of beef. When they begin to frizzle or turn up, break over them three eggs; stir until the eggs are cooked; add a little white pepper, and serve on slices of buttered toast.
FLANK STEAK.
This is cut from the boneless part of the flank and is secreted between an outside and inside layer of creamy fat. There are two ways for broiling it. One is to slice diagonally across the grain; the other is to broil it whole. In either case brush butter over it and proceed as in broiling other steaks. It is considered by butchers the finest steak, which they frequently reserve for themselves.
TO BOIL CORNED BEEF.
The aitch-bone and the brisket are considered the best pieces for boiling. If you buy them in the market already corned, they will be fit to put over the fire without a previous soaking in water. If you corn them in the brine in which you keep your beef through the winter, they must be soaked in cold water over night. Put the beef into a pot, cover with sufficientcoldwater, place over a brisk fire, let it come to a boil in half an hour; just before boiling remove all the scum from the pot, place the pot on the back of the fire, let it boil very slowly until quite tender.
A piece weighing eight pounds requires two and a half hours' boiling. If you do not wish to eat it hot, let it remain in the pot after you take it from the fire until nearly cold, then lay it in a colander to drain, lay a cloth over it to retain its fresh appearance; serve with horse-radish and pickles.
If vegetables are to accompany this, making it the old-fashioned "boiled dinner," about three-quarters of an hour before dishing up skim the liquor free from fat andturn part of it out into another kettle, into which put a cabbage carefully prepared, cutting it into four quarters; also half a dozen peeled medium-sized white turnips, cutinto halves; scrape four carrots and four parsnips each cut into four pieces. Into the kettle with the meat, about half an hour before serving, pour on more water from the boiling tea-kettle, and into this put peeled medium-sized potatoes. This dinner should also be accompanied by boiled beets, sliced hot, cooked separate from the rest, with vinegar over them. Cooking the cabbage separately from the meat prevents the meat from having the flavor of cabbage when cold. The carrots, parsnips and turnips will boil in about an hour. A piece of salt pork was usually boiled with a "New England boiled dinner."
SPICED BEEF RELISH.
Take two pounds of raw, tender beefsteak, chop itvery fine, put into it salt, pepper and a little sage, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter; add two rolled crackers made very fine, also two well-beaten eggs. Make it up into the shape of a roll and bake it; baste with butter and water before baking. Cut in slices when cold.
FRIED BEEF LIVER.
Cut it in rather thin slices, say a quarter of an inch thick; pour over itboilingwater, which closes the pores of the meat, makes it impervious to the fat, and at the same time seals up the rich juice of the meat. It may be rolled in flour or bread crumbs, seasoned with salt and pepper, dipped in egg and fried in hot fat mixed with one-third butter.
PRESSED BEEF.
First have your beef nicely pickled; let it stay in pickle a week; then take the thin, flanky pieces, such as will not make a handsome dish of themselves, put on a large potful, and let them boil until perfectly done; then pull to pieces, and season just as you do souse, with pepper, salt and allspice; only put it in a coarse cloth and press down upon it some very heavy weight.
The advantage of this recipe is that it makes a most acceptable, presentable dish out of a part of the beef that otherwise might be wasted.
FRENCH STEW.
Grease the bottom of an iron pot, and place in it three or four pounds of beef; be very careful that it does not burn, and turn it until it is nicely browned. Set a muffin ring under the beef to prevent its sticking. Add a few sliced carrots, one or two sliced onions, and a cupful of hot water; keep covered and stew slowly until the vegetables are done. Add pepper and salt. If you wish more gravy, add hot water, and thicken with flour. Serve on a dish with the vegetables.
TO POT BEEF.
The round is the best piece for potting, and you may use both the upper and under part. Take ten pounds of beef, remove all the fat, cut the lean into square pieces, two inches thick. Mix together three teaspoonfuls of salt, one of pepper, one of cloves, one of mace, one of cinnamon, one of allspice, one of thyme, and one of sweet basil. Put a layer of the pieces of beef into an earthen pot, sprinkle some of this spice mixture over this layer, add a piece of fat salt pork, cut as thin as possible, sprinkle a little of the spice mixture over the pork, make another layer of the beef with spices and pork, and so on, until the pot is filled. Pour over the whole three tablespoonfuls of Tarragon vinegar, or, if you prefer it, half a pint of Madeira wine; cover the pot with a paste made of flour and water, so that no steam can escape. Put the pot into an oven, moderately heated, and let it stand there eight hours; then set it away to use when wanted.
Beef cooked in this manner will keep good for a fortnight in moderate weather.
It is an excellent relish for breakfast, and may be eaten either warm or cold. When eaten warm, serve with slices of lemon.
STEWED BRISKET OF BEEF.
Put the part that has the hard fat into a stewpot with a small quantity of water; let it boil up and skim it thoroughly; then add carrots, turnips, onions, celery and a few pepper-corns. Stew till extremely tender; then take out all the flat bones and remove all the fat from the soup. Either serve that and the meat in tureen, or the soup alone, and the meat on a dish garnished with some vegetables. The following sauce is much admired served with the beef: Take half a pint of the soup and mix it with a spoonful of catsup, a teaspoonful of made mustard, a little flour, a bit of butter and salt; boil all together a few minutes, then pour it round the meat.
DRIED BEEF WITH CREAM.
Shave your beefvery fine. Put it into a suitable dish on the back of the stove; cover with cold water and give it time to soak out to its original size before being dried. When it is quite soft and the water has become hot (it must not boil) take it off, turn off the water, pour on a cup of cream; if you do not have it use milk and butter, a pinch of pepper; let it come to a boil, thicken with a tablespoonful of flour wet up in a little milk. Serve on dipped toast or not, just as one fancies. A nice breakfast dish.
BEEF CROQUETTES. No. 1.
Chop fine one cup of cold, cooked, lean beef, half a cup of fat, half a cup of cold boiled or fried ham; cold pork will do if you have not the ham. Also mince up a slice of onion. Season all with a teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, and a teaspoonful of powdered sage or parsley if liked. Heat together with half a cup of stock or milk; when cool add a beaten egg. Form the mixture into balls, slightly flattened, roll in egg and bread crumbs, or flour and egg. Fry in hot lard or beef drippings. Serve on a platter and garnish with sprigs of parsley. Almost any cold meats can be used instead of beef.
BEEF CROQUETTES. No. 2.
Take cold roast or corned beef. Put it into a wooden bowl and chop it fine. Mix with it about twice the quantity of hot mashed potatoes well seasoned with butter and salt. Beat up an egg and work it into the potato and meat, then form the mixture into little cakes the size of fish balls. Flatten them a little, roll in flour or egg and cracker crumbs, fry in butter and lard mixed, browning on both sides. Serve piping hot.
MEAT AND POTATO CROQUETTES.
Put in a stewpan an ounce of butter and a slice of onion minced fine; when this simmers add a level tablespoonful of sifted flour; stir the mixture until it becomes smooth and frothy; then add half of a cupful of milk, some seasoning of salt and pepper; let all boil, stirring it all the while. Now add a cupful of cold meat chopped fine, and a cupful of cold or hot mashed potato. Mix all thoroughly and spread on a plate to cool. When it is cool enough, shape it with your hands into balls or rolls. Dip them in beaten egg and roll in crackeror bread crumbs. Drop them into hot lard and fry about two minutes a delicate brown; take them out with a skimmer and drain them on a piece of brown paper. Serve immediately while hot. These are very nice.
Cold rice or hominy may be used in place of the potato; or a cupful of cold fish minced fine in place of the meat.
COLD ROAST, WARMED. No. 1.
Cut from the remains of a cold roast the lean meat from the bones into small, thin slices. Put over the fire a frying pan containing a spoonful of butter or drippings. Cut up a quarter of an onion and fry it brown, then remove the onion, add the meat gravy left from the day before, and if not thick enough add a little flour; salt and pepper. Turn the pieces of meat into this and let themsimmera few minutes. Serve hot.
COLD ROAST, WARMED. No. 2.
Cold rare roast beef may be made as good as when freshly cooked by slicing, seasoning with salt, pepper and bits of butter; put it in a plate or pan with a spoonful or two of water, covering closely, and set in the oven until hot, but no longer. Cold steak may be shaved very fine with a knife and used the same way.
Or, if the meat is in small pieces, cover them with buttered letter paper, twist each end tightly, and boil them on the gridiron, sprinkling them with finely chopped herbs.
Still another nice way of using cold meats is to mince the lean portions very fine and add to a batter made of one pint of milk, one cup of flour and three eggs. Fry like fritters and serve with drawn butter or sauce.
COLD MEAT AND POTATO, BAKED.
Put in a frying pan a round tablespoonful of cold butter; when it becomes hot, stir into it a teaspoonful of chopped onion and a tablespoonful of flour, stirring it constantly until it is smooth and frothy; then add two-thirds of a cupful of cold milk or water. Season this with salt and pepper and allow it to come to a boil; then add a cupful of cold meat finely chopped and cleared from bone and skin; let this all heat thoroughly; then turn it into a shallow dish well buttered. Spread hot or cold mashed potatoes over the top, and cook for fifteen or twenty minutes in a moderate hot oven.
Cold hominy, or rice may be used in place of mashed potatoes, and is equally as good.
BEEF HASH. No. 1.
Chop rather finely cold roast beef or pieces of beefsteak, also chop twice as much cold boiled potatoes. Put over the fire a stewpan or frying pan, in which put a piece of butter as large as required to season it well, add pepper and salt, moisten with beef gravy if you have it, if not, with hot water; cover and let it steam and heat through thoroughly, stirring occasionally, so that the ingredients be evenly distributed, and to keep the hash from sticking to the bottom of the pan. When done it should not be at all watery, nor yet dry, but have sufficient adhesiveness to stand well on a dish or buttered toast. Many like the flavor of onion; if so, fry two or three slices in the butter before adding the hash. Corned beef makes excellent hash.
BEEF HASH. No. 2.
Chop cold roast beef, or pieces of beefsteak; fry half an onion in a piece of butter; when the onion is brown, add the chopped beef; season with a little salt and pepper; moisten with the beef gravy, if you have any, if not, with sufficient water and a little butter; cook long enough to be hot, but no longer, as much cooking toughens the meat. An excellent breakfast dish.
Prof. Blot.
Some prefer to let a crust form on the bottom and turn the hash brown side uppermost. Served with poached eggs on top.
HAMBURGER STEAK.
Take a pound of raw flank or round steak, without any fat, bone or stringy pieces. Chop it until a perfect mince, it cannot be chopped too fine. Also chop a small onion quite fine and mix well with the meat. Season with salt and pepper; make into cakes as large as a biscuit, but quite flat, or into one large flat cake a little less than half an inch thick. Have ready a frying pan with butter and lard mixed; when boiling hot put in the steak and fry brown. Garnish with celery top around the edge of the platter and two or three slices of lemon on the top of the meat.
A brown gravy made from the grease the steak was fried in and poured over the meat enriches it.
TO ROAST BEEF HEART.
Wash it carefully and open it sufficiently to remove the ventricles, then soak it in cold water until the blood is discharged; wipe it dry and stuff it nicely with dressing, as for turkey; roast it about an hour and a half. Serve it with the gravy, which should be thickened with some of the stuffing and a glass of wine. It is very nice hashed. Served with currant jelly.
Palmer House, Chicago.
STEWED BEEF KIDNEY.
Cut the kidney into slices, season highly with pepper and salt, fry it a light brown, take out the slices, then pour a little warm water into the pan, dredge in some flour, put in slices of kidney again; let them stew very gently; add some parsley if liked. Sheep's kidneys may be split open, broiled over a clear fire and served with a piece of butter placed on each half.
BEEFS HEART STEWED.
After washing the heart thoroughly cut it up into squares half an inch long; put them into a saucepan with water enough to cover them. If any scum rises skim it off. Now take out the meat, strain the liquor and put back the meat, also add a sliced onion, some parsley, a head of celery chopped fine, pepper and salt and a piece of butter. Stew until the meat is very tender. Stir up a tablespoonful of browned flour with a small quantity of water and thicken the whole. Boil up and serve.
BOILED BEEF TONGUE.
Wash a fresh tongue and just cover it with water in the pot; put in a pint of salt and a small red pepper; add more water as it evaporates, so as to keep the tongue nearly covered until done—when it can be easily pierced with a fork; take it out, and if wanted soon, take off the skin and set it away to cool. If wanted for future use, do not peel until it is required. A cupful of salt will do for three tongues, if you have that number to boil; but do not fail to keep water enough in the pot to keep them covered while boiling. If salt tongues are used, soak them over night, of course omitting the salt when boiling. Or, after peeling a tongue, place it in a saucepan with one cup of water, half a cup vinegar, four tablespoonfuls sugar, and cook until the liquor is evaporated.
SPICED BEEF TONGUE.
Rub into each tongue a mixture made of half a pound of brown sugar, a piece of saltpetre the size of a pea and a tablespoonful of ground cloves, put it in a brine made of three-quarters of a pound of salt to two quarts of water and keep covered. Pickle two weeks, then wash well and dry with a cloth; roll out a thin paste made of flour and water, smear it all over the tongue and place in a pan to bake slowly; baste well with lard and hot water; when done scrape off the paste and skim.
TO BOIL TRIPE.
Wash it well in warm water, and trim it nicely, taking off all the fat. Cut into small pieces, and put it on to boil five hours before dinner in water enough to cover it very well. After it has boiled four hours, pour off the water, season the tripe with pepper and salt, and put it into a pot with milk and water mixed in equal quantities. Boil it an hour in the milk and water.
Boil in a saucepan ten or a dozen onions. When they are quite soft, drain them in a colander and mash them. Wipe out your saucepan and put them on again, with a bit of butter rolled in flour and a wine-glass of cream or milk. Let them boil up, and add them to the tripe just before you send it to table. Eat it with pepper, vinegar and mustard.
It is best to give tripe its first and longest boiling the day before it is wanted.
TO FRY TRIPE.
Boil the tripe the day before till it is quite tender, which it will not be in less than four or five hours. Then cover it and set it away. Next day cut it into long slips, and dip each piece into beaten yolk of egg, and afterwards roll them in grated bread crumbs. Have ready in a frying pan over the fire some good beef drippings. When it is boiling hot put in the tripe, and fry it about ten minutes, till of a light brown.
You may serve it with onion sauce.
Boiled tripe that has been left from the dinner of the preceding day may be fried in this manner.
FRICASSEED TRIPE.
Cut a pound of tripe in narrow strips, put a small cup of water or milk to it, add a bit of butter the size of an egg, dredge in a large teaspoonful of flour, or work it with the butter; season with pepper and salt, let it simmer gently for half an hour, serve hot. A bunch of parsley cut small and put with it is an improvement.
Some put in oysters five minutes before dishing up.
TRIPE LYONNAISE.
Cut up half a pound of cold boiled tripe into neat squares. Put two ounces of butter and a tablespoonful of chopped onion in a frying pan and fry to a delicate brown; add to the tripe a teaspoonful of chopped parsley and a little strong vinegar, salt and cayenne; stir the pan to prevent burning. Cover the bottom of a platter with tomato sauce, add the contents of the pan and serve.
TO CLARIFY BEEF DRIPPINGS.
Drippings accumulated from different cooked meats of beef or veal can be clarified by putting it into a basin and slicing into it a raw potato, allowing it to boil long enough for the potato to brown, which causes all impurities to disappear. Remove from the fire, and when cool drain it off from the sediment that settles at the bottom. Turn it into basins or small jars and set it in a cool place for future use. When mixed with an equal amount of butter it answers the same purpose as clear butter for frying and basting any meats except game and poultry.
Mutton drippings impart an unpleasant flavor to anything cooked outside of its kind.
ROAST LOIN OF VEAL.
Prepare it the same as any roast, leaving in the kidney, around which put considerable salt. Make a dressing the same as for fowls; unroll the loin, put the stuffing well around the kidney, fold and secure with several coils of white cotton twine wound around in all directions; place in a dripping-pan with the thick side down, and put in a rather hot oven, graduated after it commences to roast to moderate; in half an hour add a little hot water to the pan, and baste often; in another half hour turn over the roast, and when about done dredge lightly with flour and baste with melted butter. Before serving carefully remove the twine. A roast of four to five pounds will bake in about two hours. For a gravy, skim off some of the fat if there is too much in the drippings; dredge in some flour, stir until brown, add some hot water if necessary; boil a few minutes, stir in such sweet herbs as fancied, and put in a gravy boat. Serve with green peas and lemon jelly. Is very nice sliced cold for lunch, and Worcestershire or Chili sauce forms a fine relish.
ROAST FILLET OF VEAL.
Select a nice fillet, take out the bone, fill up the space with stuffing, and also put a good layer under the fat. Truss it of a good shape by drawing the fat round and tie it up with tape. Cook it rather moderately at first, and baste with butter. It should have careful attention and frequent basting, that the fat may not burn. Roast from three to four hours, according to the size. After it is dished pour melted butter over it; serve with ham or bacon, and fresh cucumbers if in season. Veal, like all other meat, should be well washed in cold water before cooking and wiped thoroughly dry with a clean cloth. Cold fillet of veal is very good stewed with tomatoes and an onion or two.
In roasting veal, care must be taken that it is not at first placed in too hot an oven; the fat of a loin, one of the most delicate joints of veal, should be covered with greased paper; a fillet, also, should have on the caul until nearly done enough.
BOILED FILLET OF VEAL.
Choose a small, delicate fillet; prepare as for roasting, or stuff it with an oyster force meat; after having washed it thoroughly, cover it with water and let it boil very gently three and a half or four hours, keeping it well skimmed. Send it to the table with a rich white sauce, or, if stuffed with oysters, a tureen of oyster sauce. Garnish with stewed celery and slices of bacon. A boiled tongue should be served with it.
VEAL PUDDING.
Cut about two pounds of lean veal into small collops a quarter of an inch in thickness; put a piece of butter the size of an egg into a very clean frying pan to melt; then lay in the veal and a few slices of bacon, a small sprig of thyme and a seasoning of pepper and salt; placethe pan over a slow fire for about ten minutes, then add two or three spoonfuls of warm water. Just boil it up and then let it stand to cool. Line a pudding-dish with a good suet crust, lay in the veal and bacon, pour the gravy over it; roll out a piece of paste to form a lid, place it over, press it close with the thumb, tie the basin in a pudding cloth and put it into a saucepan of boiling water, keeping continually boiling until done, or about one hour.
FRIED VEAL CUTLETS.
Put into a frying pan two or three tablespoonfuls of lard or beef drippings. When boiling hot lay in the cutlets, well seasoned with salt and pepper and dredged with flour. Brown nicely on both sides, then remove the meat, and if you have more grease than is necessary for the gravy put it aside for further use. Reserve a tablespoonful or more and rub into it a tablespoonful of flour, with the back of the spoon, until it is a smooth, rich brown color; then add gradually a cup ofcold waterand season with pepper and salt. When the gravy is boiled up well return the meat to the pan and gravy. Cover it closely and allow it to stew gently on the back of the range for fifteen minutes. This softens the meat, and with this gravy it makes a nice breakfast dish.
Another mode is to simply fry the cutlets, and afterwards turning off some of the grease they were fried in and then adding to that left in the pan a few drops of hot water, turning the whole over the fried chops.
FRIED VEAL CHOPS. (Plain.)
Sprinkle over them salt and pepper, then dip them in beaten egg and cracker crumbs, and fry in drippings, or hot lard and butter mixed. If you wish a gravy with them, add a tablespoonful of flour to the gravy they were fried in and turn in cream or milk; season to taste with salt and pepper. Boil up and serve hot with the gravy in separate dish. This dish is very fine accompanied with a few sound fresh tomatoes, sliced and fried in the same grease the cutlets were, and all dished on the same platter.
VEAL COLLOPS.
Cut veal from the leg or other lean part into pieces the size of an oyster. Season with pepper, salt and a little mace; rub some overeach piece; dip in egg, then into cracker crumbs and fry. They both look and taste like oysters.
VEAL OLIVES.
Cut up a slice of a fillet of veal, about half an inch thick, into squares of three inches. Mix up a little salt pork, chopped with bread crumbs, one onion, a little pepper, salt, sweet marjoram, and one egg well beaten; put this mixture upon the pieces of veal, fastening the four corners together with little bird skewers; lay them in a pan with sufficient veal gravy or light stock to cover the bottom of the pan, dredge with flour and set in a hot oven. When browned on top, put a small bit of butter on each, and let them remain until quite tender, which will take twenty minutes. Serve with horse-radish.