_Mode_.--Mix very smoothly, and by degrees, the flour with the above proportion of water; stir in 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, which must be melted, but not oiled, and, just before it is to be used, add the whites of two well-whisked eggs. Should the batter be too thick, more water must be added. Pare down the cold beef into thin shreds, season with pepper and salt, and mix it with the batter. Drop a small quant.i.ty at a time into a pan of boiling lard, and fry from 7 to 10 minutes, according to the size. When done on one side, turn and brown them on the other. Let them dry for a minute or two before the fire, and serve on a folded napkin. A small quant.i.ty of finely-minced onions, mixed with the batter, is an improvement.
_Time_.--From 7 to 10 minutes.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the meat, 6d. _Seasonable_ at any time.
HASHED BEEF (Cold Meat Cookery).
I.
628. INGREDIENTS.--Gravy saved from the meat, 1 teaspoonful of tomato sauce, 1 teaspoonful of Harvey"s sauce, 1 teaspoonful of good mushroom ketchup, 1/2 gla.s.s of port wine or strong ale, pepper and salt to taste, a little flour to thicken, 1 onion finely minced, a few slices of cold roast beef.
_Mode_.--Put all the ingredients but the beef into a stewpan with whatever gravy may have been saved from the meat the day it was roasted; let these simmer gently for 10 minutes, then take the stewpan off the fire; let the gravy cool, and skim off the fat. Cut the beef into thin slices, dredge them with flour, and lay them in the gravy; let the whole simmer gently for 5 minutes, but not boil, or the meat will be tough and hard. Serve very hot, and garnish with sippets of toasted bread.
_Time_.--20 minutes. _Average cost_, exclusive of the cold meat, 4d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
II.
629. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of ribs or sirloin of beef, 2 onions, 1 carrot, 1 bunch of savoury herbs, pepper and salt to taste, 1/2 blade of pounded mace, thickening of flour, rather more than 1 pint of water.
_Mode_.--Take off all the meat from the bones of ribs or sirloin of beef; remove the outside brown and gristle; place the meat on one side, and well stew the bones and pieces, with the above ingredients, for about 2 hours, till it becomes a strong gravy, and is reduced to rather more than 1/2 pint; strain this, thicken with a teaspoonful of flour, and let the gravy cool; skim off all the fat; lay in the meat, let it get hot through, but do not allow it to boil, and garnish with sippets of toasted bread. The gravy may be flavoured as in the preceding recipe.
_Time_.--Rather more than 2 hours.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the cold meat, 2d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
_Note_.--Either of the above recipes may be served in walls of mashed potatoes browned; in which case the sippets should be omitted. Be careful that hashed meat does not boil, or it will become tough.
TO PREPARE HUNG BEEF.
630. This is preserved by salting and drying, either with or without smoke. Hang up the beef 3 or 4 days, till it becomes tender, but take care it does not begin to spoil; then salt it in the usual way, either by dry-salting or by brine, with bay-salt, brown sugar, saltpetre, and a little pepper and allspice; afterwards roll it tight in a cloth, and hang it up in a warm, but not hot place, for a fortnight or more, till it is sufficiently hard. If required to have a little of the smoky flavour, it may be hung for some time in a chimney-corner, or smoked in any other way: it will keep a long time.
HUNTER"S BEEF.
631. INGREDIENTS.--For a round of beef weighing 25 lbs. allow 3 oz. of saltpetre, 3 oz. of coa.r.s.e sugar, 1 oz. of cloves, 1 grated nutmeg, 1/2 oz. of allspice, 1 lb. of salt, 1/2 lb. bay-salt.
_Mode_.--Let the beef hang for 2 or 3 days, and remove the bone. Pound spices, salt, &c. in the above proportion, and let them be reduced to the finest powder. Put the beef into a pan, rub all the ingredients well into it, and turn and rub it every day for rather more than a fortnight.
When it has been sufficiently long in pickle, wash the meat, bind it up securely with tape, and put it into a pan with 1/2 pint of water at the bottom; mince some suet, cover the top of the meat with it, and over the pan put a common crust of flour and water; bake for 6 hours, and, when cold, remove the paste. Save the gravy that flows from it, as it adds greatly to the flavour of hashes, stews, &c. The beef may be glazed and garnished with meat jelly.
_Time_.--6 hours.
_Seasonable_ all the year.
_Note_.--In salting or pickling beef or pork for family consumption, it not being generally required to be kept for a great length of time, a less quant.i.ty of salt and a larger quant.i.ty of other matters more adapted to retain mellowness in meat, may be employed, which could not be adopted by the curer of the immense quant.i.ties of meat required to be preserved for victualling the shipping of this maritime country. Sugar, which is well known to possess the preserving principle in a very great degree, without the pungency and astringency of salt, may be, and is, very generally used in the preserving of meat for family consumption.
Although it acts without corrugating or contracting the fibres of meat, as is the case in the action of salt, and, therefore, does not impair its mellowness, yet its use in sufficient quant.i.ties for preservative effect, without the addition of other antiseptics, would impart a flavour not agreeable to the taste of many persons. It may be used, however, together with salt, with the greatest advantage in imparting mildness and mellowness to cured meat, in a proportion of about one part by weight to four of the mixture; and, perhaps, now that sugar is so much lower in price than it was in former years, one of the obstructions to its more frequent use is removed.
TO DRESS BEEF KIDNEY.
I.
632. INGREDIENTS.--1 kidney, clarified b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt to taste, a small quant.i.ty of highly-seasoned gravy, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1/4 teaspoonful of powdered sugar.
_Mode_.--Cut the kidneys into neat slices, put them into warm water to soak for 2 hours, and change the water 2 or 3 times; then put them on a clean cloth to dry the water from them, and lay them in a frying-pan with some clarified b.u.t.ter, and fry them of a nice brown; season each side with pepper and salt, put them round the dish, and the gravy in the middle. Before pouring the gravy in the dish, add the lemon-juice and sugar.
_Time_.--From 5 to 10 minutes. _Average cost_, 9d. each.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
II.
633. INGREDIENTS.--1 kidney, 1 dessertspoonful of minced parsley, 1 teaspoonful of minced shalot, salt and pepper to taste, 1/4 pint of gravy, No. 438, 3 tablespoonfuls of sherry.
_Mode_.--Take off a little of the kidney fat, mince it very fine, and put it in a frying-pan; slice the kidney, sprinkle over it parsley and shalots in the above proportion, add a seasoning of pepper and salt, and fry it of a nice brown. When it is done enough, dredge over a little flour, and pour in the gravy and sherry. Let it just simmer, but not boil any more, or the kidney would harden; serve very hot, and garnish with crotons. Where the flavour of the shalot is disliked, it may be omitted, and a small quant.i.ty of savoury herbs subst.i.tuted for it.
_Time_.--From 5 to 10 minutes, according to the thickness of the slices.
_Average cost_, 9d. each. _Sufficient_ for 3 persons.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
III.
_A more Simple Method_.
634. Cut the kidney into thin slices, flour them, and fry of a nice brown. When done, make a gravy in the pan by pouring away the fat, putting in a small piece of b.u.t.ter, 1/4 pint of boiling water, pepper and salt, and a tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup. Let the gravy just boil up, pour over the kidney, and serve.
BOILED MARROW-BONES.
635. INGREDIENTS.--Bones, a small piece of common paste, a floured cloth.
_Mode_.--Have the bones neatly sawed into convenient sizes, and cover the ends with a small piece of common crust, made with flour and water.
Over this tie a floured cloth, and place them upright in a saucepan of boiling water, taking care there is sufficient to cover the bones. Boil them for 2 hours, remove the cloth and paste, and serve them upright on a napkin with dry toast. Many persons clear the marrow from the bones after they are cooked, spread it over a slice of toast and add a seasoning of pepper; when served in this manner, it must be very expeditiously sent to table, as it so soon gets cold.
_Time_.--2 hours.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
_Note_.--Marrow-bones may be baked after preparing them as in the preceding recipe; they should be laid in a deep dish, and baked for 2 hours.