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Fricandeau of Beef
Lard about 3 pounds of the rump or fillet of sirloin. Pound 3 or 4 cloves, 6 whole allspice, and 2 blades of mace. Mix a little pepper and salt with these ingredients, and sprinkle it over the meat. Put it into a stewpan with a pint of medium stock, a glass of white wine, a bunch of savory herbs tied together, 2 shallots, and a little more pepper and salt. Stew the meat very slowly for two hours, when it will be done. Remove it from the stewpan and cover to keep hot. Skim all the fat from the gravy, strain, and set it over the fire to boil till it is reduced to a glaze. Then put it over the top, and send it to table.
A classic larded-and-glazed braise, written for cooks who kept stock and larding needles on hand. The hinge is the finish: the cooking liquid must be reduced to a syrupy glaze and poured over the meat, or the dish is just pot roast.
- LardingLarding means threading strips of firm pork back fat through the lean meat with a larding needle, which bastes it from within. Barding — tying sheets of fatback or thin-cut unsmoked bacon over the surface — is the workaround without the tool, though it protects the outside rather than basting from inside.
- The cut"Rump or fillet of sirloin" is a lean, whole-muscle roasting cut, not stew meat. Three pounds of top rump/silverside or a piece of sirloin tip is the closest modern equivalent.
- Blades of maceA blade is one piece of the lacy aril from a nutmeg. Ground mace can stand in; equivalents vary, but roughly 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon for the two blades. The recipe pounds the spices and rubs them on before stewing.
- Medium stockPeriod cookbooks graded stock as strong (first, gelatinous), medium and weak. Use a good unsalted beef stock here — it has to reduce to a glaze at the end, so anything salted heavily will be inedible by then.
- Two hours is a minimumA lean 3 lb rump held at a bare simmer will usually want 2 1/2 to 3 hours to become tender, and it should be turned once or twice since a pint of liquid will not cover it. Cook by feel: a skewer should meet no resistance.
- Temperature"Very slowly" means the liquid barely trembles. The recipe works on the stovetop; if you prefer, a covered pan in a low oven — around 300F — holds a bare simmer with less minding.
- The glazeAfter skimming and straining, a pint of liquid reduces to perhaps three or four tablespoons of glossy, sticky glaze — it takes 20 to 30 minutes and burns in the last minute or two. Watch it from the point it starts to foam thickly.
- YieldThree pounds of boneless beef serves six to eight. Rest the meat 15 minutes under foil before carving it across the grain in thin slices, then spoon the glaze over.