No. 2432

Ribs of Beef in Bellevue

Cotes de Boeuf en Bellevue

After the ribs of beef are prepared, cook them the same as for a la Bristed (No. 1329), adding several calves' feet. When the meat is well cooked, remove it from the fire, strain the gravy, and clarify it. Pare the meat well, and glaze. Have a jelly-coated mold sufficiently large to contain this, put it in and fill the entire mold with jelly, leaving it on the ice till ready to serve. Unmold it on a large dish, garnish around with chopped jelly, and form an outside border of oblongs or triangles of jelly.

← No. 2431 Ribs of Beef a la Bourgeoise The Cold Service No. 2433 Rump of Beef a la Mode →

For the Modern Kitchen

This is a cross-referenced entry in a professional book: the cooking is done elsewhere (No. 1329, ribs of beef à la Bristed) and what appears here is the cold finishing in aspic. The whole dish stands or falls on the strength and clarity of the jelly.

The hinge: jelly strengthEverything depends on the braising liquid setting firm enough to unmold cleanly but not turning rubbery. Test it by chilling a spoonful on a cold saucer for a few minutes; it should hold a thumbprint without cracking. Adjust by reducing further or by adding softened gelatin before clarifying, not after.
Calves' feetThese are the gelatin source, split and blanched, added to the braise for collagen; the recipe specifies only "several." They can still be found at halal, Latin American and Chinese butchers. Powdered gelatin will substitute, roughly 1 oz (about four envelopes) per quart of finished stock for a firm mold, but the feet also give the liquid body and mouthfeel that plain gelatin does not.
ClarifyingChill the strained gravy, lift the fat, then clear it with a raft of lightly beaten egg whites and a little minced lean beef: whisk into the cold liquid, bring slowly to a bare tremble without stirring, hold twenty minutes, and ladle off through a moistened cloth. Any fat left behind will cloud the jelly permanently.
"Pare the meat well, and glaze"Pare means trim the cooked ribs square and remove gristle and loose fat so the block sits neatly in the mold. Glaze means brush with reduced stock or half-set aspic for gloss; here it also seals the surface so the meat does not weep into the clear jelly.
Coating the moldA jelly-coated mold is lined by pouring in a little cool, syrupy aspic and rolling it over the chilled interior until an even film sets, repeating once. Work with the mold sitting in ice water and the aspic at the point where it thickens but still flows.
"On the ice"An icebox or ice tub; a refrigerator is the modern equivalent, though icebox temperatures ran higher and less steadily. Allow at least six hours, and overnight for a large mold; a partly set center will collapse when turned out.
UnmoldingDip the mold in warm water for five to ten seconds only, dry it, and invert onto a chilled platter. Chopped jelly is made by setting spare aspic in a shallow pan and cutting it across with a knife; the border shapes are cut from a firmer sheet, so keep that portion of the aspic slightly stronger.
Yield and servingThe recipe gives no yield or joint size; a mold of this scale is a cold buffet centerpiece for a dozen or so. Carve in thin slices straight down through the jelly with a long knife wiped between cuts, and keep the dish cold on the table.

A Little History

En bellevue, literally "in beautiful view," is the nineteenth-century kitchen term for food set in clear aspic so that it can be seen through the jelly, and it belonged to the same cold buffet repertoire as chaud-froid and galantine. Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's, published The Epicurean in 1894 with a long Cold Service section because the grand American dinner and ball supper of the period leaned heavily on dishes that could be built a day ahead, held on ice, and set out whole for display. The reliance on calves' feet rather than packaged gelatin is characteristic: sheet and powdered gelatin were available commercially by then, but a professional kitchen already had feet, knuckles and trimmings on hand. Serving a braised joint cold in its own clarified cooking liquor is a much older domestic habit -- jellied beef and brawn long predate any restaurant -- dressed up here with glazing, a lined mold and cut jelly garnishes.