Home › Beef Olives › Beef Olives
Beef Olives
537. Cut slices half an inch thick, and four inches square; lay on them a forcemeat of crumbs of bread, shalot, a little suet or fat, pepper and salt. Roll them, and fasten with a small skewer; put them into a stewpan with some gravy made of the beef bones, or the gravy of the meat, and a spoonful or two of water, and stew them till tender. Fresh meat will do.
BEEF CAKES, FOR A SIDE DISH OF DRESSED MEAT. 538. Pound some beef that is under-done with a little fat bacon or ham; season with pepper, salt, and a little shalot or garlic; mix them well, and make into small cakes three inches long and half as wide and thick; fry them a light brown, and serve them in a good thick gravy.
A straightforward braise of stuffed beef rolls, of the kind English cooks made from cold roast or from a cheap cut. The instructions assume you know how to flatten meat and reduce a gravy, so the useful detail is in the cut, the thickness and the time.
- The cut, and the hingeHalf-inch slices four inches square suggest topside, round or thin flank rather than anything tender. The recipe does not call for flattening the slices, though beating them a little before stuffing makes them easier to roll.
- Forcemeat proportionsNo quantities are given. For four rolls, about 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs, 1 finely chopped shallot, 2 oz shredded beef suet or chopped fat, and salt and pepper will bind and season adequately; an egg yolk helps it hold together when rolled.
- "Shalot"The period spelling of shallot. One shallot per two rolls is enough for the mild sweetness intended, whereas the garlic offered in the companion beef cakes is much more assertive.
- SkewersSmall metal skewers or cocktail sticks work, but butcher's twine tied in two places is easier to remove and less likely to tear the meat as it shrinks.
- Liquid and vesselA stewpan is a wide, lidded, heavy pan used on the hob. The rolls should sit in gravy roughly to their shoulders, not be submerged; too much liquid gives you soup rather than a glazed braise.
- Time and heat"Till tender" means about 1.5 to 2 hours at a bare simmer for round or flank. Brown the rolls in a little dripping first, which the recipe omits but which is what makes the sauce taste of beef.
- "Fresh meat will do"The concession implies the dish was often made from leftover roast. Raw beef is fine and in fact braises better; cold cooked slices need only 40 to 50 minutes, just long enough to heat through and set the forcemeat.
- YieldFour slices of this size make one modest main course serving each with potatoes, or eight rolls for a supper dish. Skim the fat and reduce the gravy hard before serving.