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Stuffed Beefsteak
Pound a slice of round steak and spread on it a seasoned stuffing of soaked bread crumbs, with or without onion. Roll and tie tightly to hold shape. Bake 1 hour, basting and turning often to make it come out juicy.
To be sliced and eaten either hot or cold.
And by the way, in trimming or cooking beefsteak outdoors never throw away any excess suet. Fasten it on branches where the birds will go for it sometime between summer and Christmas.
A rolled and tied stuffed steak — what a butcher would now call a beef roulade or braciole. The original gives no temperature and no quantities, so the numbers below fill the gaps.
- Oven heatNo temperature is given. For a one-hour bake in a home oven, 350F is a reasonable working figure.
- The cutRound steak means a single slice off the round, about 3/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 to 2 lb. Ask for it butterflied or pound it between sheets of plastic to a roughly even 1/3 inch so it rolls without splitting.
- Pounding is the hingeRound is lean and full of connective tissue. If it is not pounded thin, an hour of dry heat leaves it tough rather than juicy — the mechanical tenderising does the work that a long braise would otherwise do.
- The stuffingFor a steak this size, about 3 cups soft bread crumbs soaked in 1/2 cup stock or milk and squeezed out, with a small chopped onion softened in butter, salt, pepper and sage or parsley. Spread it to within an inch of the edges or it will push out as you roll.
- TyingRoll with the grain running the length of the roll, then tie with butcher's twine at 1 1/2-inch intervals. Kitchen string, not synthetic thread, which melts.
- Basting and moistureTurning and basting is essential in a dry oven; the alternative is to add a cup of stock to the pan, cover for the first 45 minutes, then uncover to brown. An hour at 350F should bring a lean rolled round of this size to roughly medium, but check it rather than trusting the clock — overcooked, it dries out regardless of basting.
- Serving coldSlicing is much cleaner once the roll has cooled and firmed, so if you want neat rounds of stuffing and beef, chill it and slice with a sharp knife before reheating. Serves 4 to 6.
- The suet noteThat closing aside is a genuine practice and still sound: raw beef suet hung out is good bird food. Best put out in cold weather, since raw suet goes rancid quickly in summer heat.