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Jellied Corned Beef
Use the same recipe as for jellied tongue on page 6 and vary it by mincing enough corned beef to make two cupfuls and jellying it in individual molds. If the flavor of vinegar is liked add a third of a cup of vinegar and sugar to the jelly mixture.
This is a variation rather than a standalone recipe: the gelatin base comes from the jellied tongue on the book's page 6, and only the meat and an optional sour note change. A few things need pinning down before you start.
- You need the base recipe firstEverything structural — the amount of gelatin, the liquid, the seasoning — lives in the jellied tongue recipe on page 6. Read that through before beginning, and check whether its quantity of jelly suits two cups of minced meat.
- Gelatin ratio for a firm unmoldingIf the base recipe is vague, the working figure for a sliced aspic that must hold its shape out of a mold is one envelope (about 2 1/4 teaspoons) of powdered gelatin per two cups of liquid. Individual molds unmold more forgivingly than a large one, so there is no need to overset it into rubber.
- The vinegar addition is unmeasured on the sugar sideA third of a cup of vinegar is given; the sugar is not quantified at all. Start with a tablespoon or two and taste the liquid before it sets — warm jelly tastes noticeably sweeter and saltier than the chilled result, so aim slightly sharper than you want.
- Count the vinegar as part of the liquidA third of a cup added on top of the base recipe's liquid will thin the jelly and it may not set. Replace an equal volume of the stock or water rather than adding to it.
- The corned beefCooked corned beef, minced — not raw brisket and not canned corned beef hash. Two cupfuls minced is roughly 3/4 lb of cooked meat. Chop it by hand or pulse briefly; a food processor run too long turns it to paste, which sets into a solid block instead of suspended meat.
- SaltCorned beef is already heavily salted and will keep salting the jelly as it chills. Season the liquid lightly, or not at all, until the meat is stirred in.
- Setting and moldsIndividual molds of this size need about 3 to 4 hours in the refrigerator, or overnight. Let the jelly cool to the thickness of unbeaten egg white before folding in the meat, or the beef sinks and you get a clear layer on top.
- Yield and servingTwo cups of meat plus its jelly fills six small molds, or four generous ones. Unmold onto lettuce and serve with mustard or mayonnaise; this is a cold plate for a hot day, which is the whole premise of the book.
Jellied meats were the backbone of hot-weather cookery: a savory aspic is cooked once, in the cool of the morning, then does its remaining work in the cold box while the kitchen stays unlit. That is exactly the logic behind a book of menus called Cook and Be Cool. The pattern of this entry — a master recipe for jellied tongue followed by a one-line variation for corned beef — suggests how such books were built, with the housekeeper apparently holding a base technique in her head and swapping the meat according to what was in the icebox. Corned beef, cheap, already cooked and already seasoned, was the natural understudy to tongue, which was still an ordinary butcher's item then and is a special order now. The optional vinegar and sugar are often said to point back to an older tradition of sweet-sour jellied meats and pressed brawns, where acidity offset the richness and helped the dish read as a salad rather than a dinner.