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Spiced Beef (or Beef a la Mode)
One piece of the round of beef (known as the "pot roast"), weighing from three to five pounds. Put two tablespoons of butter in a stewing kettle over a hot fire; when butter melts, brown the meat on both sides. Remove the meat temporarily and add flour to the butter; let it brown and thicken, then add three pints of boiling water, one bay leaf, one sprig of celery, some parsley, and one large onion with a clove stuck in it, two carrots, one turnip, one tablespoon of salt and one shake of pepper. Replace the meat in this liquid at once and let it simmer for at least six hours. Turn the meat over and stir it occasionally. The secret of the success with this dish is slow cooking. When finished it should be as tender as bread. Place the meat on a hot platter, strain the gravy over it and serve garnished with sliced boiled carrots and sprigs of parsley. The gravy should be thick and of a dark brown color.-Mrs William Hutton Blauvelt.
A plain braise with a long, slow simmer — the method is sound, and the only real adjustments are to modern beef and modern measurement.
- The hinge: never let it boilThe instruction to simmer slowly is the whole recipe. Hold the liquid at a bare shiver, around 190°F, so the collagen melts rather than the muscle fibres seizing. A rolling boil for six hours gives dry, stringy meat no matter how long you go.
- Six hours is a maximum, not a targetSix hours may be more than a modern roast needs — though note the recipe says "at least six hours." Beef of the period often came from older working animals; a modern 3–5 lb roast may be fork-tender in 3 to 4 hours, so start testing at three. "As tender as bread" is the only real doneness cue.
- The cutThe round sold today is very lean and tends to go dry and shreddy in a long braise. Chuck, brisket or a boneless short rib roast has the fat and connective tissue this method wants. If you use round, keep it in one solid piece and keep the heat low.
- Flour, unmeasuredThe amount is left out. Two tablespoons, matching the butter, makes a workable roux, but with three pints of liquid it will thicken only lightly at first; much of the body comes from six hours of reduction. Add more cautiously if you want it thicker.
- Three pintsSix cups of boiling water. Depending on the kettle this may come only partway up the meat rather than covering it; the recipe says simply to replace the meat in the liquid. Adding it boiling keeps the pan from dropping temperature as you stir it into the roux.
- Sprig of celery, shake of pepperA "sprig" of celery most likely means a stalk with its leaves. "One shake" is imprecise; season lightly and to taste. A tablespoon of salt for six cups of liquid is reasonable, but taste the strained gravy before serving, since it concentrates as it reduces.
- Oven instead of stovetopA covered Dutch oven at 300°F holds a steadier simmer than a burner and needs less watching. Turn the meat once or twice as directed so the exposed side does not dry.
- Finishing the gravyStrain out the spent vegetables — they will have given everything up — and boil the liquid down if it is thin. The recipe's "thick and of a dark brown color" depends on having browned the flour properly at the start; a pale roux gives a pale sauce.
- YieldServes six to eight, with leftovers that slice cleanly when cold. Boil the garnish carrots separately so they hold their shape and colour.
Beef à la mode is the English rendering of French bœuf à la mode, a braise of a large piece of beef with root vegetables and aromatics that had crossed the Channel by the eighteenth century and appears in English and American cookbooks steadily thereafter. "Spiced beef" as an alternative name is looser usage: in Britain and Ireland the term usually means a salt-and-spice cured joint, a Christmas dish. The single onion stuck with a clove is a direct inheritance from the French kitchen, where an oignon piqué flavours stocks and braises.