Vienna Steaks

A hand-chopped veal-and-beef patty of the Austrian Wiener type, seasoned mildly and rested overnight before cooking. The overnight rest is the part that needs modern handling.

• The overnight restThe mixture must sit covered in the refrigerator, not in a larder or on a counter, and should be cooked within 24 hours. The rest lets the salt dissolve and firm the mixture so the steaks hold their shape; it is not a curing step and does nothing to preserve the meat.
• Seasoning amountsRead the fractions as a quarter teaspoon each of paprika and mixed sweet herbs against a half teaspoon of salt, and one teaspoon each of parsley and onion. That is a deliberately restrained seasoning by current tastes; a full teaspoon of paprika and a pinch of black pepper are within the spirit of the dish.
• Mixed sweet herbsA period pantry blend of dried marjoram, thyme, savory and sometimes basil and parsley. Any mild dried mixture without sage or rosemary dominating will do.
• PaprikaIn a book of this period paprika would almost certainly have meant sweet Hungarian rather than smoked or hot. Smoked paprika will pull the dish away from its Viennese character.
• Chopping the meatChopped very fine by hand gives a coarser, less compacted texture than a grinder. If you use a food processor, pulse in short bursts and stop while the meat still shows distinct grain, or the steaks turn pasty.
• Cooking temperatureSauté in a heavy pan over medium-high heat, roughly three to four minutes a side for patties about three-quarters of an inch thick. Because this is ground beef and veal it should reach 160F internally; butter alone will brown too fast at that heat, so add a little neutral oil or use clarified butter.
• YieldOne pound of meat makes four modest steaks or three generous ones — two to three servings with the potatoes.
• The gravyNo gravy recipe is given. Deglaze the sauté pan with stock, thicken with a small roux made from the pan butter and a spoonful of flour, and strain it into the sauceboat.