No. 1343

Rump of Beef, Jardiniere

Pointe de Culotte de Boeuf Jardiniere

Braise a rump aitchbone of beef, after it is done drain it to pare, decreasing the thickness of the layer of fat covering the meat and cut it away underneath so that the slices will not be too wide; now divide it into uniform slices not too thin; reshape the piece to its original form and lay it on a baking dish with a part of its stock strained, skimmed and mingled with a few spoonfuls of Madeira, then reduced to a half-glaze; stand it in a mild oven and glaze while basting frequently. Apart from this prepare a garnishing of braised lettuce, small braised carrots, small flowerets of cauliflower all of one size and cut up string beans, besides some thick slices of cucumbers lightly scooped out on one side: then blanched, stuffed and glazed. At the last moment remove the rump, stand it on a long dish arranging it in a half circle, then dress the garnishings symmetrically in the hollow of the half circle. Place the stuffed cucumbers the whole length on the outside of the meat, forming them into a chain; glaze the slices of beef with a brush, slip a few spoonfuls of the reduced stock in the bottom of the dish and serve the surplus well reduced separately.

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For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer assumes you already know how to braise a large cut — the braising itself is covered elsewhere in the book — so this entry is really about carving, glazing and presentation. Read it as an assembly plan and work backwards.

The cut"Rump aitchbone" is the upper hip with the pelvic bone in; no supermarket sells it under that name. Ask a butcher for bone-in beef rump, or use a 5-6 lb boneless rump or bottom round tied into an even block, which slices in neat rows as the recipe wants.
Braise first, low and longBrown the meat, then braise covered in stock and aromatics at 300-325F until a skewer slides in with no resistance — roughly 4 to 5 hours for a 5-6 lb piece. Rushing it at a higher temperature squeezes out juice and the slices will not hold their shape when reassembled.
"Mild oven" for the glazingRanhofer gives no number; a low oven, somewhere around 275-300F, suits the purpose. The reassembled sliced roast goes back in only to take up the reduced stock and gain a lacquer; anything hotter dries the cut faces.
Half-glazeRanhofer's demi-glace here is simply the strained, skimmed braising liquid with a few spoonfuls of Madeira, reduced until it coats a spoon and is visibly syrupy. Reduce it in a wide pan, not the braiser, and season only at the end — reduction concentrates salt fast.
Slice, then reassembleThis is the hinge of the dish. Carve the drained roast into even slices — Ranhofer says only "not too thin" — keep them in order, and press them back together as one loaf before glazing.
Trim the fat cap downThe instruction to reduce the fat layer and cut away underneath is about slice width, not richness — a wide slice will not sit tidily in the half circle. Leave a thin cap for gloss.
JardiniereThe garnish is cooked separately, each vegetable to its own doneness, and only brought together at the plate. Braised lettuce means whole blanched heads, halved and stewed in a little stock; the carrots and cauliflower should be trimmed to identical size, since the effect is entirely visual.
The stuffed cucumbersPeel, cut into thick rounds, hollow one face, blanch a minute or two in salted water, fill with a forcemeat or fine vegetable puree, then set them in stock in a low oven until glazed. They act as the border chain around the meat and need to be firm enough to stand up.
YieldA joint of this size with this quantity of garnish would serve roughly 10 to 12 as a formal main course; Ranhofer gives no quantities.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894) records the kitchen of Delmonico's in New York, and this entry shows the house style plainly: a large braised joint carved, put back together so it looks uncarved, glazed to a shine, and ringed with vegetables cut to matching size. Jardiniere — from jardin, garden — is the standard French garnish name for an assortment of fresh vegetables cooked apart and arranged rather than stewed with the meat, and the pointed instruction to make the cauliflower flowerets "all of one size" is in keeping with that. A joint sent whole to the table on a long platter belongs to a style of service in which the piece was portioned at table or sideboard rather than plated in the kitchen, with the surplus sauce following separately in a boat. Rump and aitchbone were then everyday butchery terms for cuts that suited long braising and that a professional kitchen could dress up to sit beside the fillets and saddles on the same menu.