Take a round of fresh beef (or the half of one if it is very large) and
remove the bone. The day before you cook it, lay it in a pickle made of
equal proportions of water and vinegar with salt to your taste. Next
morning take it out of the pickle, put it into a large pot or stew-pan,
and just cover it with water. Put in with it two or three large onions,
a few cloves, a little whole black pepper, and a large glass of port
or claret. If it is a whole round of beef allow two glasses of wine.
Stew it slowly for at least four hours or more, in proportion to its
size. It must be thoroughly done, and tender all through. An hour
before you send it to table take the meat out of the pot, and pour the
gravy into a pan. Put a large lump of butter into the pot, dredge the
beef with flour, and return it to the pot to brown, turning it often to
prevent its burning. Or it will be better to put it into a Dutch oven.
Cover the lid with hot coals, renewing them as they go out. Take the
gravy that you poured from the meat, and skim off all the fat. Put it
into a sauce-pan, and mix with it a little butter rolled in flour, and
add some more cloves and wine. Give it a boil up. If it is not well
browned, burn some sugar on a hot shovel, and stir it in.
If you like it stuffed, have ready when you take the meat out of the
pickle, a force-meat of grated bread crumbs, sweet herbs, butter,
spice, pepper and salt, and minced parsley, mixed with beaten yolk of
egg. Fill with this the opening from whence you took the bone, and bind
a tape firmly round the meat.