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Pressed Beef

Take any number of pounds of the brisket of beef, as lean as can be obtained, and nicely salted. The beef may be bought salted of the butcher, or it may be salted at home. To do this, dissolve a quarter of an ounce of saltpetre in a little water, and mix with it two pounds of common salt and half a pound of moist sugar. Rub this pickle into the meat every morning for eight days, and turn it over each day. Take it from the pan, drain, and bone it. The butcher will do this if desired. Put it into a saucepan with as much lukewarm water as will quite cover it, and put with it an onion stuck with two cloves, a large carrot, and a bay-leaf. Let the water boil up once, skim carefully, then draw the saucepan quite to the side of the fire, and simmer the meat as gently as possible till it is done enough. Lift the saucepan quite away from the fire, and leave the meat in the liquor for half an hour. Take it out carefully, drain it, place it between two flat dishes, and put a heavy weight on the top. Let it remain until the next day. Take off the weight, and glaze the beef. The easiest way of doing this is to buy a quarter of a pound of glaze of the grocer. This is sold in skins like sausages, and may be bought for 8d. or 9d. Peel the skin from an inch of this glaze, and put it into a jar with a table-spoonful of cold water. Place the jar in a saucepan with about two inches of boiling water, and let it steam until the glaze is dissolved. The water in the saucepan must not be allowed to flow over into the jar. Take an ordinary gum brush which has been soaked in hot water to make it soft, and with it cover the surface of the meat entirely with the dissolved glaze. It ought to be laid lightly on rather than brushed on, so as not to show the marks of the brush. When one coating of glaze is quite stiff, give the beef a second one, and, if liked, a third. Place the joint on a dish, garnish with parsley, and it is ready for serving. Time to simmer, half an hour per pound from the time the water boils after the meat is put in. Probable cost, 9d. or 10d. per pound.