Take the bone out of a round of fresh beef, and beat the meat well all
over to make it tender. Chop and mix together equal quantities of sweet
marjoram and sweet basil, the leaves picked from the stalks and rubbed
fine. Chop also some small onions or shalots, and some parsley; the
marrow from the bone of the beef; and a quarter of a pound, or more of
suet. Add two penny rolls of stale bread grated; and pepper, mace, and
nutmeg to your taste. Mix all these ingredients well, and bind them
together with the beaten yolks of four eggs. Fill with this seasoning
the place from whence you took out the bone; and rub what is left of it
all over the outside of the meat. You must, of course, proportion the
quantity of stuffing to the size of the round of beef. Fasten it well
with skewers, and tie it round firmly with a piece of tape, so as to
keep it compact and in good shape. It is best to prepare the meat the
day before it is to be cooked.
Cover the bottom of a stew-pan with slices of ham. Lay the beef upon
them, and cover the top of the meat with more slices of ham. Place
round it four large onions, four carrots, and four turnips, all cut
in thick slices. Pour in from half a pint to a pint of water, and if
convenient, add two calves' feet cut in half. Cover the pan closely,
set it in an oven and let it bake for at least six hours; or seven or
eight, according to the size.
When it is thoroughly done, take out the beef and lay it on a dish with
the vegetables round it. Remove the bacon and calves' feet, and (having
skimmed the fat from the gravy carefully) strain it into a small
sauce-pan; set it on hot coals, and stir into it a teacup-full of port
wine, and the same quantity of pickled mushrooms. Let it just come to a
boil, and then send it to table in a sauce-tureen.
If the beef is to be eaten cold, you may ornament it as follows:--Glaze
it all over with beaten white of egg. Then cover it with a coat of
boiled potato grated finely. Have ready some slices of cold boiled
carrot, and also of beet-root. Cut them into the form of stars or
flowers, and arrange them handsomely over the top of the meat by
sticking them on the grated potato. In the centre place a large bunch
of double parsley, interspersed with flowers cut out of raw turnips,
beets, and carrots, somewhat in imitation of white and red roses, and
marygolds. Fix the flowers on wooden skewers concealed with parsley.
Cold à-la-mode beef prepared in this manner will at a little distance
look like a large iced cake decorated with sugar flowers.
You may dress a fillet of veal according to this receipt. Of course it
will require less time to stew.