MEAT.

Good meat should be firm to the touch, adhere closely to the bones, be

streaked with fat, and should have a slight but not unpleasant odour.

Meat becomes much more tender if it can be hung a day or two before it

is cooked.

To Bake Meat.

Baking closely resembles roasting. It is more economical, as the joint

loses less weight, and if carefully attended to cannot be distinguished

from roast meat. A double tin which holds hot water should be used, so

that the steam from the water may prevent the dripping from burning.

Place the meat on a trivet in the tin, flour the meat, sprinkle it with

salt, put it in the hottest part of the oven for the first few minutes,

then remove it to a cooler part, baste well, and turn it over

occasionally. (For time and gravy see Roast Meat.)

To Boil Meat.

Weigh the meat, allow twenty minutes to each pound, and twenty minutes

extra for dishing up. Put the meat into boiling water, boil five

minutes, then draw the saucepan to the side of the fire, and simmer;

keep the meat well covered with water; serve with a teacupful of its own

liquor. Never throw away the liquor in which meat has been boiled; it

makes excellent soup.

To Roast Meat.

Have a bright and clear fire; weigh the meat, allow twenty minutes to

each pound, and twenty minutes extra for dishing up; flour the joint

well, and sprinkle it with salt; let it roast quickly the first ten

minutes, then put it farther from the fire, and let it cook more slowly,

basting often; flour occasionally. When dishing up, pour the dripping

out of the pan, and set it aside. Add one pint or more of boiling water

to the brown lumps under the dripping, and put it in the hottest part of

the oven. Pour this gravy over the meat and serve.

Beef à la Mode. Time—5 hours.

3 lbs. lean brisket, 1 quart water, ½ gill vinegar, 4 Spanish onions, 2

oz. mustard seed, 1 oz. long pepper, ½ teaspoonful ground ginger; salt

to taste; a thickening of flour, sugar, and browning.

Put the beef on in cold water, bring it to the boil, then simmer for

three hours, reducing the water to one pint. Add the vinegar, onions,

and other ingredients. Stew in the oven (if possible) for two hours, but

if the saucepan is too large for the oven, let the meat continue to

simmer on the stove. Half an hour before serving, thicken the gravy with

flour, sugar, and browning (see page x.).

Smoked Beef.

Soak over-night in cold water; next morning place it in cold water, and

simmer till quite tender, reckoning ½ hour to the pound.

Beef Steak. Time—20 minutes.

Heat the gridiron, put in the steak, turn the gridiron four times at

intervals of 2 minutes, then eight times at intervals of 1 minute.

Sprinkle with pepper and salt, and serve on a hot plate.

_Chops_ are done in the same way, turning the gridiron twice at

intervals of 2 minutes, and six times at intervals of 1 minute.

To make steak tender: beat it well, and rub into it a small pinch of

carbonate of soda.

Beef Steak Pie. Time—2½ hours.

1½ lb. beef steak, ¾ lb. flour, ¼ lb. clarified dripping, 1 teaspoonful

salt, ½ teaspoonful pepper.

Beat the steak well, cut it up into neat pieces. Mix 1 tablespoonful

flour, salt, and pepper on a plate, and dip each piece of meat into the

mixture. Put the pieces in a stew-pan, cover with cold water, and simmer

gently about ½ hour, then turn the meat and gravy into a pie-dish.

Put the flour into a large basin with half a saltspoonful of salt, rub

the dripping into it, and add by degrees enough cold water to make a

stiff paste. Flour a board, roll the pastry out rather larger than the

pie-dish, about one-third of an inch thick, cut a strip off, wet the

edge of the dish, place the strip round it, wet the strip, and press the

rest of the pastry on to it, trimming off the rough edges with a sharp

knife. Make a hole in the top of the pie to allow the steam to escape

whilst baking; ornament the top and edges and brush over with beaten

egg. Bake for ¾ hour, putting it into the hottest part of the oven for a

few minutes, then remove it to a cooler part.

Beef Steak Pudding. Time—3½ hours.

1 lb. beef, 4 oz. suet, ¾ lb. flour, 1½ gill water, 1 teaspoonful

baking-powder; salt and pepper to taste.

Put on a large saucepan of water to boil. Mix on a plate 1

dessertspoonful of flour, some pepper and salt. Beat the steak well, cut

it into slices, dip each piece in the mixture, and roll it up. Put the

flour, baking-powder, salt, and suet chopped fine, into a basin, and mix

to a stiff paste with cold water. Cut off one-third for the top. Grease

a basin well, line it with the paste, put in the meat with a little

water or gravy, wet the edges, press the top on. Tie a pudding cloth,

dipped in boiling water and dredged with flour, over the basin, place it

in the saucepan of boiling water, and boil 2½ hours.

Stewed Shin of Beef (with Dumplings). Time—2½ hours.

1 lb. shin of beef, 2 onions, 2 carrots, 2 turnips, 2 tablespoonfuls

flour, 2 oz. dripping or suet; pepper and salt to taste.

Prepare the carrots and turnips and boil them quickly 20 minutes in 1

quart of water. Cut the meat into pieces, fry a light brown in the

dripping, then place the pieces in a saucepan. Peel and slice the

onions, fry them in the same dripping, then stir in carefully 2

tablespoonfuls of flour to brown. Add the carrots and turnips to the

meat, pour the water in which they were boiled into the frying-pan to

brown; then add it with the onions, pepper and salt to the meat, etc,

and stew slowly 1½ hour.

_Dumplings._—½ lb. flour, 2 oz. dripping, 1 teaspoonful baking-powder, 1

teaspoonful salt.

Shred the fat fine and rub it into the flour with the baking-powder and

salt. Mix with lukewarm water to a stiff paste. Cut into eight pieces,

and roll lightly into dumplings on a floured board. Throw them into a

saucepan of boiling water, and boil till they rise to the surface (20

minutes). Add them to the stew 10 minutes before serving.

Beef Stewed with French Beans. Time—3 hours.

5 lbs. lean brisket, 2 lbs. French beans, 4 good-sized onions, 1 pint

water, 1 gill vinegar, 1 tablespoonful flour, 2 tablespoonfuls dark

moist sugar; pepper and salt to taste.

Stew the beef 3 hours in the water. String the beans, cut them in

halves, peel and cut up the onions, and add all to the beef at the end

of the first hour. About 10 minutes before serving skim off all the fat;

mix smoothly in a separate basin the flour, sugar, vinegar, pepper and

salt, and add the mixture to the stew.

Beef Stewed with Haricot Beans. Time—5 hours.

3 lbs. lean brisket, 1 onion, 1 tablespoonful moist sugar, 1 oz.

dripping, ¾ pint haricot beans, ¾ pint cold water, 1 tablespoonful

flour; pepper, salt and ground ginger to taste.

The beans must be put in soak over-night.

Chop the onion fine, fry in the dripping, add the flour, seasoning,

sugar, beans and water. Stew the meat and vegetables, etc., very gently

4 or 5 hours.

Brain Fritters. Time—½ hour.

1 set brains, 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoonfuls

bread-crumbs; pepper and salt.

Wash the brains in vinegar and water, then put them into boiling water

and boil for 10 minutes. Drain them, chop them, and put them into a

basin with 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley, pepper, salt and 1 egg. Add

sufficient bread-crumbs to make them into a stiff paste (not exceeding

two tablespoonfuls). Form into flat, round cakes, dip into egg and

bread-crumbs and fry.

Brazilian Stew. Time—3 hours.

1 lb. beef, 1 carrot, 1 turnip, herbs, pepper and salt to taste, ½ gill

vinegar.

Cut the meat into neat pieces, dip each piece in the vinegar, and pack

closely in a saucepan. Sprinkle with pepper and salt. Cut the vegetables

into slices, and put them with the herbs into the saucepan. Close the

lid, and steam 2½ hours, stirring occasionally.

Braised Beef. Time—3 hours.

5 lbs. topside, ½ lb. smoked beef, 3 oz. dripping, 1 medium-sized onion,

1 small carrot, 1 turnip, 3 to 4 sticks celery, 1 pint water, a few

whole peppers and allspice, 1 tablespoonful vinegar, 1 tablespoonful

flour; salt to taste.

Melt the dripping, cut up the smoked beef into thin wedge-like strips

and insert them into the meat with a knife. Brown both sides of the meat

in the dripping, add the vegetables, seasoning and water, and let all

stew _very_ slowly for 2½ hours. ¼ hour before serving, take out the

meat, keep it hot; mix the flour, vinegar and 1 tablespoonful water to a

paste, pour it into the stew-pan and thicken it, strain gravy over meat

and serve.

To Clarify Dripping.

Pour the dripping from the pan into a basin of cold water. When cool

lift off the cake of clarified dripping, scrape away the sediment from

the bottom, and wipe dry.

To Clarify Fat.

Cut up any scraps of cooked or uncooked fat into small pieces, place in

a saucepan, add just sufficient cold water to cover them, stir often,

and simmer with the lid off till nothing is left of the pieces of fat

but brownish scraps. Strain into a basin, and when cold, a hard white

cake will be formed, which will keep good some time. This fat makes

excellent pastry, and can be used for frying.

Irish Stew. Time—2 hours.

1½ lb. breast or scrag of mutton, 2 lbs. of potatoes, 1 pint water, 3

onions, 1 tablespoonful flour, 1 teaspoonful salt, ½ teaspoonful pepper.

Cut the meat into neat pieces, removing some of the fat, peel and slice

the potatoes and onions. Mix the flour, pepper and salt on a plate, and

dip each piece of meat into this mixture. Put a layer of potatoes at the

bottom of the saucepan, then one of meat, then one of onion, covering

with a layer of potatoes. Pour the water over the whole and stew slowly,

or bake in the oven 1½ hour, stirring occasionally.

Liver. Time—½ hour.

½ lb. liver, 1 gill water, 2 tablespoonfuls flour, 2 oz. dripping;

pepper and salt to taste.

Cut the liver into slices about one-third of an inch thick. Dip each

piece into one tablespoonful flour mixed with pepper and salt, and fry

in hot fat. Take out the liver, put it on a hot dish. Mix one

tablespoonful flour carefully with the water in a separate basin. Add

this gradually to the contents of the frying-pan; let it boil and

thicken. Pour it over the liver and serve.

Liver Fritters. Time—½ hour.

½ lb. liver, 1 shalot, sage, bread-crumbs, 1 slice cold smoked beef (if

liked), 1 oz. suet; pepper and salt to taste.

Scrape the liver, chop the suet and shalot and mix all well together

with the bread-crumbs and seasoning till the mixture is firm enough to

roll into balls. Flatten into cakes, dip in egg and bread-crumbs and fry

a golden brown in hot fat or oil.

_Sausage meat_ can also be made into fritters, but should be dipped in

batter (page 43) instead of egg and bread-crumbs.

Braised Leg of Mutton. Time—4 hours.

5 lbs. leg of mutton, ¼ lb. smoked beef, 1½ pint stock or water, 1 lb.

Brussels sprouts, 3 carrots, 1 turnip, 1 onion, 3 sticks celery, a

little thyme and parsley; pepper and salt to taste.

Place the mutton in a stew-pan on a layer of slices of smoked beef, add

some pepper and salt, the stock or water, and simmer gently 3½ hours (in

the oven, if possible). Prepare and cut up the vegetables, and add all

the ingredients, except the sprouts, to the meat 1 hour before serving.

Boil the sprouts separately and add them when serving. Thicken and brown

the gravy if liked.

Mutton Cutlets. Time—½ hour.

4 lbs. best end of a neck of mutton, 1 egg, bread-crumbs; pepper and

salt to taste.

Saw off the upper rib bones, leaving the bones which will form the

cutlets about three inches long. Cut off each cutlet, trim neatly,

scraping off the fat. Dip each one in the egg, which has been well

beaten, sprinkle with bread-crumbs, and fry a golden brown in hot fat or

oil. Arrange on a hot dish round mashed potatoes or other vegetables.

The pieces cut off in preparing the cutlets should be used for Irish

stew, toad-in-the hole, or any other small dish.

Haricot Mutton. Time—2½ hours.

1 lb. scrag of mutton, ¾ pint water or stock, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1

turnip, 1 oz. dripping, ½ oz. flour; pepper and salt to taste.

Cut the mutton into neat pieces, fry them brown in the dripping, then

take them out and brown the flour carefully. Stir in the water or stock,

and put back the meat. Cut the vegetables into dice, and add them with

the seasoning. Skim well and simmer 2 hours.

Pillau. Time—2½ hours.

1 lb. mutton, 3 tomatoes, 1 teacupful rice, 1 quart water; salt to

taste.

Cut up some pieces of raw fat mutton, add a little water, cover the

stew-pan, and place on a slow fire. The meat must consume the water and

stew till it becomes a light brown colour. Wash the tomatoes, put them

into a stew-pan without water, and stew them soft over a slow fire.

Strain the pulp through a sieve and add sufficient water to make 1½ pint

of liquor. This must be thrown into the stew-pan over the mutton; add

salt and boil it up. Wash and dry the rice well, throw it into the

stew-pan, let it boil 5 minutes, and then simmer ½ hour.

Poor Man’s Goose. Time—1½ hour.

4 lbs. bola. _Stuffing._—1 onion, 1 teaspoonful sage, a small piece of

soaked bread, 1 oz. suet; pepper and salt to taste.

Make holes in the meat with a skewer, and fill them up with the

stuffing, made as follows: Chop the suet and onion fine, squeeze the

bread dry, and mix all together with the sage, pepper and salt. Flour

the meat and roast it (see p. 19). Serve with baked potatoes.

Sausage Rolls. Time—1 hour.