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Braised Rib of Beef
Select a chuck-rib of beef, cut very short, cut off the chine bone, leaving only the rib, then tie with a string and place in a stewpan just large enough to contain it. Add a couple of pints of broth, a gill of brandy, a little salt, pepper and an onion, a clove, some sweet herbs and a carrot. Cover the pan and boil slowly for two hours. At the expiration of that time, if tender, place on a dish, and keep it warm while preparing the gravy, which is made as follows: Strain the stock in which the meat has been cooked, and take off all fat, reduce it one-half over the fire, and pour over the meat, garnishing with macaroni, noodles or vegetables, arranged around the dish in small heaps.
A straightforward pot-braise from the Waldorf's kitchen, written for cooks who knew their butchery. The main adjustments are vocabulary, vessel and heat.
- Never actually boil itDespite "boil slowly," the liquid should sit at a bare shiver — around 180-190F, with only occasional bubbles. A true boil at that duration squeezes the muscle fibres and leaves the rib stringy rather than yielding.
- What a chuck-rib isThe first ribs behind the shoulder, sold today as chuck short ribs or a bone-in chuck roast. Ask for a 4-5 lb piece, ribs cut short, chine (backbone) removed — the butcher will do this if asked.
- A gill of brandyHalf a cup. Ordinary VS cognac or any decent unflavoured brandy is fine; nothing needs ageing to be simmered for two hours.
- Broth quantityTwo pints is 4 cups, which will not cover a 5 lb roast in most pans. Use a heavy pot just wide enough for the meat, as directed, and turn the roast once at the halfway point so both sides braise evenly.
- "Sweet herbs"Period shorthand for the mild kitchen herbs — thyme, parsley stems, marjoram, a bay leaf. Tie them in a bundle so they come out with the strainer.
- Oven is easier than stovetopTwo hours in a covered pot at 325F holds a steadier temperature than a burner and needs no watching. Test with a fork rather than the clock; chuck can want two and a half hours or more.
- Defatting the sauceSkim while hot, or chill the strained stock briefly so the fat sets and lifts off cleanly. Reducing by half with fat still in it gives a greasy, broken sauce.
- YieldA 4-5 lb bone-in roast serves six. The garnish of macaroni or noodles in small heaps around the platter is the serving style of the period and is optional.
Oscar Tschirky ran the Waldorf's dining rooms from 1893 and his 1896 Cook Book is a vast compendium of the French-inflected hotel cooking that defined American luxury dining at the turn of the century. Braised beef of this kind is essentially boeuf braisé from the classical repertoire, adapted to an inexpensive American cut: the chuck rib was cheap precisely because it needed long moist heat, and a hotel kitchen with stockpots always at the ready could make it taste expensive. The finishing touch — straining, degreasing and reducing the cooking liquid by half rather than thickening it with flour — is in keeping with French professional practice of the period, and the garnish arranged "in small heaps" around the platter is characteristic of hotel platter presentation of the day.