Sauce
- INGREDIENTS.-1 small bunch of parsley, 2 cloves, 1/2 bay leaf, 1 small bunch of savoury herbs, salt to taste; 3 or 4 mushrooms, when obtainable; 2 pints of white stock, 1 pint of milk or cream, 1 tablespoonful of arrowroot. AVERAGE COST, 28. Putthe stock into a stewpan, with the parsley, cloves, bay leaf, herbs and mushrooms; add a seasoning of salt but no pepper, as that would give the sauce a dusty appearance, and should be avoided. When it has boiled long enough to extract the flavour of the herbs, &c., strain it and boil it up quickly again, until it is nearly half reduced. Now mix the arrowroot smoothly with the milk or cream, and let it simmer very gently for 5 minutes over a slow fire; pour to it the stock, and continue to simmer slowly for 10 minutes, if the sauce be thick; if, on the contrary, it be too thin, it must be stirred over a sharp fire till it thickens.
Always make it thick, as it can easily be thinned with cream, milk or white stock.
This sauce is excellent for pouring over boiled fowls and for made dishes.
TIME.-Altogether, 2 hours.
Beef. The manner in which a side of beef is cut up in London and most large towns is here shown.
The meat on those parts of the animal in which the muscles are least called into action is most tender and succulent; as, for instance, along the back, from the rump rump to the the hinder part of the shoulder; whilst the limbs, shoulder and neck are the toughest, driest and least-esteemed.
BEEF.
BEEF.
The names of the several joints in the 13. Brisket or breast-used for boiling, hind and fore quarters of a side of beef, and the purposes for which they are used, are as follows:- Hind Quarter :- 1. Sirloin the two sirloins, cut together in one joint form a baron; this, when roasted, is the famous national dish of Englishmen, at entertainments, on occasion of rejoicing. 2. Rump-the finest part for steaks. 3. Aitchbone-boiling piece. 4. Buttock-prime boiling piece. 5. Mouse-round-boiling or stewing. 6. Hock-stewing. 7. Thick flank, cut with the udder-fatprimest boiling piece. 8. Thin flank-boiling.
A D 3 20 12 2 E7 a 8 0 s ১ C 13 P 44 23 15 SIDE OF BEEF, SHOWING THE SEVERAL JOINTS.
Fore Quarter :- 9. Five ribs, called the fore-rib-this is considered the primest roasting piece. 10. Four ribs, called the middle rib-greatly esteemed by housekeepers as the most economical joint for roasting. 11. Two ribs, called the chuck rib-used for second quality of steaks. 12. Leg-of-Mutton piece the muscles of the shoulder dissected from the breast. after being salted. 14. Neck, clod and sticking-piece-used for soups, gravies, stocks, pies, and mincing for sausages. 15. Shin-stewing.
The following is a classification of the qualities of meat, according to the several joints of beef, when cut up in the London manner:- First class-Includes the sirloin, with the kidney suet (1), the rump-steak piece (2), the fore-rib (9).
Second class-The buttock (4), the thick flank (7), the middle-rib (10).
Third class - The aitchbone (3), the mouse-round (5), the thin flank (8), the chuck (11), the leg-of-mutton piece (12), the brisket (13).
Fourth class-The neck, clod and stickingpiece (14).
Fifth class-The hock (6), the shin (15).
Where the demand for the most esteemed and highest-priced joints is great the carcass is so divided as to obtain the greatest amount of meat upon these. In some places, however, where, from a greater equality in the social conditions and habits of the inhabitants, the demand for, and the prices of the different parts of the carcass are more equalised, there is not the same reason for the butcher to cut the best joints so large.
The sirloin, cut where the fillet is thickest, and the middle ribs are generally considered the prime joints for roasting, the silver side of the round (salted) for boiling, and the rump steak for broiling: but one excellent joint for roasting is often overlooked, that is the aitchbone. This, boned and rolled, and either baked or roasted, is both tender and full of flavour, and in spite of its being a bony joint, when it is reckoned that the bones yield an excellent soup, and that the price charged is little more than half what is demanded for a sirloin, it will be found to be a very economical joint for a large family.
The best beef is considered to be obtained from the shorthorns. Australian beef, though inferior in flavour and quality to the English, is yet exceedingly good, and can always be obtained at a lower price. At first when imported the best parts only were sent, but now it arrives (frozen) in quarters, and is cut up and sold as English meat, only at a lower rate, thus putting good meat within the reach of all.
BEEF, AITCHBONE OF.
Beef should never be hung till it is the least degree high. It will not keep so long as mutton, and in damp weather it soon spoils. It should always be kept in a dry and airy place.
Beef, Aitchbone of, Salted, Boiled. INGREDIENTS - Beef, AVERAGE COST, 6d. or 7d. per lb. water.
After this joint has been in salt 5 or 6 days it will be ready for use, and will not take so long boiling as a round, for it is not so solid. Wash the meat, and if too salt, soak it for a few hours, changing the water once or twice, till the required freshness is obtained. Put into a saucepan or boiling-pot sufficient water to cover the meat; set it over the fire, and when it boils, plunge in the joint, and let it boil up quickly. Now draw the AITCHBONE OF BEEF. pot to the side of the fire, and let the process be very gradual, as the water must only simmer, or the meat will be hard and tough. Carefully remove the scum from the surface of the water, and continue doing this for a few minutes after it first boils. Carrots and turnips are served with this dish, and sometimes suet dumplings, which may be boiled with the beef. Garnish with a few of the carrots and turnips, and serve the remainder in a vegetable-dish.
TIME. An aitchbone of 10 lbs., 3 hours after the water boils; one of 20 lbs., 4 hours.
SEASONABLE all the year, but best from September to March.
Note. The liquor in which the meat has been boiled may be easily converted into a very excellent pea-soup. It will require very few vegetables, as it will be impregnated with the flavour of those boiled with the meat.
BEEF A LA MODE. salt to taste, 1 bunch of savoury herbs, including parsley, all finely minced and well mixed; 3 onions, 2 large carrots, 1 turnip, 1 head of celery, 1½ pint of water, 1 glass of port wine. AVERAGE COST, 5s.
Slice and fry the onions of a pale brown, cut up the other vegetables in small pieces, and prepare the beef for stewing in the following manner: -Choose a fine piece of beef, cut the bacon into long slices, about an inch in thickness, dip them into vinegar, and then into a little of the above seasoning of spice, &c., mixed with the same quantity of minced herbs. With a sharp knife make holes deep enough to let in the bacon; then rub the beef over with ne remainder of the seasoning and herbs, and bind it up in a nice shape with tape. Have ready a well-tinned stew-pan (it should not be much larger than the piece of meat you are cooking), into which put the beef, with the vegetables, vinegar and water. Let it simmer very gently for 5 hours, or rather longer, should the meat not be extremely tender, and turn it once or twice. When ready to serve, take out the beef, remove the tape, and put it on a hot dish. Skim off every particle of fat from the gravy, add the port wine, just let it boil, pour it over the beef, and it is ready to serve.
Great care must be taken that this does not boil fast, or the meat will be tough and tasteless-it should only just bubble.
When convenient, all kinds of stews, &c., should be cooked on a hot plate, as the process is so much more gradual than on an open fire.
TIME.-5 hours or rather more.
SEASONABLE all the year, but more suitable for a winter dish. Beef à la Mode (Economical). - INGREDIENTS for dish for 6 persons. About 3 lbs. of clod or sticking piece, 2 oz. of clarified dripping, 1 large onion, flour, 2 quarts of water, 12 berries of allspice, 2 bayleaves, ½ teaspoonful of whole black pepper, salt to taste. AVERAGE COST, 1s. 8d.
Cut the beef into small pieces and roll them in flour; put the dripping into a stewpan with the onion, which should be sliced thin. Let it get quite hot; lay in the pieces of beef, and stir them well about. When nicely browned all over, add by degrees boiling water in the above proportion, and, as the water is added, keep the whole well stirred. Put in the spice, bay-leaves and seasoning, cover the stewpan closely, and set it by the side of the fire to stew very gently, till the meat be- Beef à la Mode. - INGREDIENTS for dish for 8 persons.-6 or 7 lbs. of the thick flank of beef, a few slices of fat bacon, 1 teacupful of vinegar, black pepper, allspice, 2 cloves well mixed and finely pounded, making altogether 1 heaped teaspoonful; comes quite tender, which will be in about BEEF, BAKED. 3 hours, when it will be ready to serve.
Remove the bay-leaves before it is sent to table.
TIME.-3 hours.
SEASONABLE at any time.
Beef, Baked. I. (Cold Meat Cookery.) - INGREDIENTS for large pie. -about 2 lbs of cold roast beef, 2 small onions, 1 large carrot or two small ones, 1 turnip, a small bunch of savoury herbs, salt and pepper to taste, quite a pint of gravy, 3 tablespoonfuls of ale, dripping crust or mashed potatoes. AVERAGE COST, exclusive of the beef, 8d.
Cut the beef in slices, allowing a small amount of fat to each slice; place a layer of this in the bottom of a pie-dish, with a portion of the onions, carrots and turnips, which must be sliced; mince the herbs, strew them over the meat, and season with pepper and salt. Then put another layer of meat, vegetables and seasoning; and proceed in this manner until all the ingredients are used. Pour in the gravy and ale (water may be substituted for the former, but it is not so nice), cover with a crust or mashed potatoes, and bake for 1/2 hour, or rather longer.
TIME. Rather more than hour.
SEASONABLE at any time.
Note. It is as well to parboil the carrots and turnips before adding them to the meat, and to ❘ use some of the liquor in which they were boiled as a substitute for gravy; that is to say, when there is no gravy at hand. Be particular to cut the onions in very thin slices.
Beef, Baked. II. (Cold Meat Cookery.)-INGREDIENTS.--- Slices of cold roast beef, salt and pepper to taste, 1 sliced onion, 1 teaspoonful of minced savoury herbs, 12 tablespoonfuls of gravy or sauce of any kind, mashed potatoes. AVERAGE COST, for large pie dish, 1s. 3d.
Butter the sides of a deep dish, and spread mashed potatoes over the bottom of it; on this place layers of beef in thin slices (this may be minced, if there is not sufficient beef to cut into slices), well seasoned with pepper and salt, and a very little onion and herbs, which should be previously fried of a nice brown; then put another layer of mashed potatoes, and beef, and other ingredients, as before; pour in the gravy or sauce, cover the whole with another layer of potatoes, and bake for 1/2 hour. This may be served in the dish, or turned out.
TIME. hour.
SEASONABLE at any time.
BEEF, BOILED.
