Mock Terrapin

A late-nineteenth-century imitation of a luxury dish, built from cheap beef and a sharply seasoned milk-and-wine sauce. The original assumes you know how a terrapin stew is supposed to look, so a few details need filling in.

• The hinge: keep it below a boilThe original says boil, but milk, wine and mustard can curdle if held at a rolling boil. A bare simmer for the fifteen to twenty minutes given is safer; the sauce should thicken, not break.
• "Made mustard"This means prepared mustard from the jar, not dry powder. Two tablespoons of a plain English or Dijon-style prepared mustard is the intent; two tablespoons of mustard powder would be overwhelming and gritty.
• The wineA cupful, unspecified. Terrapin dishes of this period were commonly finished with sherry or Madeira, so a dry sherry is a reasonable reading, giving the nutty edge the dish is imitating.
• Cooling in the liquorNot a throwaway instruction. Beef left to cool in its own broth stays moist and chops without shredding dry. The recipe says only 'until tender', which for a braising cut may mean a couple of hours, plus cooling time, so plan on a two-stage dish.
• The butter and flourRubbing two tablespoons butter with one of flour makes a beurre manie; break it into small pinches so it disperses rather than lumping. The recipe puts it in before the pan goes on the fire; adding it to warm liquid off the heat and whisking smooth before returning the pan is the safer route.
• Cut of beefTwo pounds of lean beef here means a braising cut -- shin, chuck or bottom round -- not a quick-cooking steak. A lean tender cut will go stringy over a long boil.
• Yield and servingServes four to six. Traditionally spooned over toast points or into small shells or ramekins, with lemon on the side; hard-cooked egg yolk featured in period terrapin, often worked into the sauce, and sieved over the top it suits this too.