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Beef Stewed A-La-Mode
372. Choose a piece of thick flank of a fine heifer or ox. Cut into long slices some fat bacon, but quite free from rancidity; let each bit be near an inch thick; dip them into vinegar, and then into a seasoning ready prepared of salt, black pepper, allspice, and a clove, all in fine powder, with parsley, chives, thyme, savoury, and knotted marjoram, shred as small as possible, and well mixed. With a sharp knife make holes deep enough to let in the larding; then rub the beef over with a seasoning, and bind it up tight with tape. Set it in a well-tinned pot over a fire or rather stove; three or four onions must be fried brown and put to the beef, with two or three carrots, one turnip, a head or two of celery, and a small quantity of water; let it simmer gently ten or twelve hours, or till extremely tender, turning the meat
A Victorian larded pot roast, cooked so long the beef collapses. The instructions assume a hearth pot and an all-day fire; a heavy Dutch oven in a low oven does the same work with far less attention.
- The cut"Thick flank" is the top of the hind leg, sold today as top rump, thick flank or (in the US) sirloin tip or knuckle. It is lean and sinewy, which is precisely why the recipe demands hours of moist heat. A 3-4 lb piece serves six to eight.
- Larding, and whether to botherThe seasoned bacon strips pushed into holes bored through the joint are there to baste a very lean cut from the inside. A larding needle makes the job easy; failing that, a long thin knife and the handle of a wooden spoon will open a channel. If you skip it, lay bacon over and under the joint instead, but expect drier meat.
- Bacon that is "free from rancidity"The warning matters less now, but choose unsmoked streaky bacon or fresh pork fatback rather than heavily smoked bacon, which will dominate the whole pot. Dry-cured is better than water-added, which will weep into the braise.
- The seasoning mixSalt, black pepper, allspice and a single clove, all finely ground, with parsley, chives, thyme, savory and marjoram chopped fine. The savory is most likely summer savory, the usual garden kind. One clove for a whole joint is restraint worth keeping; cloves take over quickly.
- Binding"Tape" is the narrow linen or cotton tape cooks and butchers used for tying joints; butcher's twine at 1-inch intervals does the same job. Bind firmly enough to hold the shape through ten hours of simmering, since the larded joint will otherwise fall apart in the pot.
- Heat and time"Simmer gently" means barely trembling, never a rolling boil, or the lean flank turns to string. Ten to twelve hours over a stove is easier managed in a covered pot at 275-300F, where four to five hours will usually bring it to falling-tender. Check at four hours rather than trusting the clock.
- The small quantity of waterThis is a braise, not a boil: an inch of liquid in the pot, no more. The vegetables and the meat will release plenty of their own, and the concentrated liquor is the point of the dish.
- ServingRest the joint, remove the tape, and slice thickly across the grain. Skim the fat from the pot liquor and reduce it hard for a few minutes to make the sauce; the vegetables will have surrendered most of their character and are usually discarded in favour of fresh ones.