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Beef, Aitchbone of, Salted

Most persons roast this joint, but we think it far superior salted and boiled according to the following recipe:--Take a piece of beef, say ten pounds, and rub into it a mixture composed of three-quarters of a pound of salt, one ounce of dark moist sugar, and half an ounce of saltpetre. Turn the meat each day, and rub the pickle well in every time. Keep it in this condition four or five days, when it will be found salt enough for most people. When wanted for use, put it into a large saucepan with enough boiling water to cover, let it boil, then draw back, and simmer gently for two hours and a half. "If," says Dr. Kitchener, "it boils too quickly at first, no art can make it tender afterwards; the slower it boils the better." Carrots, turnips, and suet dumplings are the proper accompaniments to this dish. The soft, marrow-like fat at the back of the joint should be eaten when it is hot, the hard fat left until the joint is served cold. The liquor in which the beef is boiled should not be thrown away, it will make excellent pea soup. Probable cost, 7 1/2d. to 8 1/2d. per pound. Sufficient for eight or nine persons.