Part 54

Ox Cheek.--(_a_) One of the nicest dishes that comes to table is an ox cheek. It will require to be well washed, not soaked, and to be put on the fire in a large boiler full of cold water, and when it boils it must continue to do so for 4 hours. 1½-2 pints peas should be in soak all the night before, and put in with the cheek at first. Onions, carrots, turnips, and celery are also added, and require 2 or 3 hours’ boiling. This makes delicious soup for the following days, and the cheek itself a savoury and tender dish for a family. What is left can either be made into a shape for the breakfast or luncheon table, or cut into dice about 1 in. square and sent to table in the soup. Hard-boiled eggs, pepper, salt, and nutmeg must be added to the shape.

(_b_) It has long been in the north a favourite dish for breakfasts, or lunch when made into a pie; it is a most economical, excellent, and appetising dish, gentlemen like it for breakfast before a hard day’s shooting or hunting. Wash the ox cheek in several waters, let it soak 1 hour, then stew gently until the meat is cooked; remove it from the stew pot, take out all the bones, which return to the stew pot--use a digester for this purpose; put the meat on one side until quite cold, boil 2 eggs hard and leave until cold; any remnants of bacon or ham you have should be cut into pieces about ½ in. in size. Take 1½ pint of the stock from which you took the meat, reduce it one-third by boiling, flavour it with a teaspoonful of Yorkshire relish or Worcester sauce, pepper, and for those who like it, a little tarragon vinegar. Trim the meat, that is, take off the white skin, cut the rest into pieces, about 1 in. in size, lay them in your dish with the egg cut in slices, bacon or ham, till full, then pour in your gravy, cover with the paste, taking care to make an incision in the centre, and bake until the crust is sufficiently cooked. The pie should be eaten cold. If you have any other bones from meat they should be added to the stock and boiled for some hours; we always boil them for 3-4 days, removing the stock occasionally and filling up again with water, for the longer they are boiled, the more the stock is likely to jelly, you then have the foundation of many good soups. The ox cheek may be made into a galantine instead of pie. (M. E. S.)

Ox-head.--People who have to study economy are often puzzled as to what is the cheapest and most profitable dish for a Saturday early hot dinner when the boys and girls of the family are generally in from school. To those who are not already aware of the many excellencies and useful purposes to which half an ox head can be applied, this dish can be safely recommended. At a butcher’s in an unfashionable locality half a head can be bought uncooked for 5_d._ a lb. with the bones out, or 4_d._ with the bones in. The wary housekeeper will prefer having the bones left in as so much more stock is obtained in this case. The head must be soaked 12 hours in cold water. Then place it in a large saucepan, after dividing it into 2 portions, with about 4 gals. cold water, 2 onions stuck with cloves, 4 carrots, 3 turnips, ½ a burnt onion, a bay leaf, some mixed herbs in a muslin bag, salt and pepper to taste. Stew slowly for 4-5 hours. The liquor will gradually become reduced in quantity, and consequently, another gallon of water must be added. When quite tender, take it out of the saucepan and cut off sufficient slices to fill a dish: if the appearance of the head on the table is objected to, serve the meat with some of the gravy, and a fresh lot of vegetables. The slices do very well indeed for the dining room, and the servants can have a good dinner from what remains. Some nice pieces should be left, which can be made into a mould of collared head for Sunday night’s supper, in the following way: Cut the meat into little squares and also a small quantity of fat bacon. Put this into rather more than 1 pint stock with a teaspoonful of mixed herbs, 3 cloves in muslin, ½ teaspoonful of parsley, a dash of cayenne pepper, and some salt. Stew all these ingredients together for about 1 hour. When it has become tepid, wet a plain mould, pour in the mixture, and set it aside to get cool; serve garnished with aspic jelly made of gelatine and flavoured with tarragon vinegar. The first lot of stock makes splendid soup after all the fat has been carefully removed, and into which anything that is liked can be put, such as some pieces of ox tail from a tin containing tails only, because, the stock being so good, it is not necessary to add ox tail soup to it. A small quantity of French sago and the well beaten yolks of 2 eggs are a very good addition. The second stock, which is extracted from the bones, is naturally poorer; but it can be utilised very successfully for soup, thickened with tinned tomatoes, prepared tapioca, chestnuts, cold boiled potatoes, leeks, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, &c.; in fact, it can be employed in any way most handy. Such a large quantity of stock can be made from this very inexpensive dish, that, with the addition of 6_d._ worth of fresh bones, enough soup and gravy for a moderate-sized family can be obtained to last about a week. (C.)

Ox-tails.--Thoroughly wash and divide into 4 in. pieces 1 or 2 ox tails, put them into a stewpan, with a bunch of sweet herbs, a little salt and cayenne pepper, and rather more than 1½ pint stock. Simmer very gently for 2½ hours, then take out, and let them drain on a sieve. Brush them thickly over with the yolk of a well-beaten egg, and cover with breadcrumbs. Broil a fine brown on both sides very quickly, serve with a good gravy or sauce tartare.

Potted.--Take 1 lb. cold roast beef, free from skin and sinews, mince and then pound in a mortar to a paste. In pounding, add by degrees a large saltspoonful of salt, scarcely that quantity of black pepper, a pinch of cayenne, a little finely powdered mace, and 2 oz. clarified butter. Press into small jars, and cover with a slight coating of warm clarified butter; tie down tightly with bladder or paper. The clarified butter, after being used for covering, need not be wasted, but will do nicely for basting poultry or game.

Pressed.--(_a_) Take a piece of the brisket, or of the thick flank, trim it, and rub it well for 3 days with salt and saltpetre. Pound 3 oz. allspice, 1 oz. cloves, 1 oz. black pepper, 2 lb. salt, and ½ lb. brown sugar in a mortar. Tie up the beef, and put in a pan, rub it with the above ingredients every 12 hours for a week, drain it from the pickle, pour over it the juice of 2 or 3 lemons, and 1 glass brandy. Chop up 2-3 lb. beef suet, put a layer at the bottom of the dish, under the beef, and the rest on the top, cover it with a paste of flour and water, and bake for 6-7 hours. When done remove the crust (drain off the juice), and put the beef to press under heavy weights. Glaze it, and garnish with aspic jelly.

(_b_) To glaze.--The easiest way is to cut a thick slice from a piece of glaze, which may be bought at no great expense; remove the surrounding skin, and place it in a small-sized jam-pot to melt in the oven. When it has become quite liquid, and while it is still hot, apply it with a paste brush over the upper surface of the beef, which should be already trimmed and placed on the dish on which it is to be served, before the application of the glaze. It will soon get cold, and will then be ready for serving.

Pot au feu.--Take a piece of fresh silverside of beef weighing 6 lb., and about ½ lb. bones, tie up the meat neatly with string, and put both into a 6 qt. saucepan; fill it up with sufficient water to come well over the meat and bones, and set it on the fire; remove carefully with a skimmer the scum that will rise as the water gets warm but do not allow it to boil. Add at intervals during the process about 1 pint cold water in small quantities; this will have the effect of checking the ebullition, and will help the scum to rise. When the scum is all removed, put in about 1 oz. salt, a small handful of whole pepper and allspice, 1 onion stuck with 12 cloves, 1 onion toasted almost black before the fire or on the hob, 1 leek, 3 carrots of average size cut in 2 in. lengths, 2 turnips of average size each cut in 4, and a _bouquet garni_--i.e., 2 bay leaves, 2 or 3 sprigs each of thyme and marjoram, a clove of garlic, and a small handful of parsley, all tied together into a small faggot. The above vegetables should not be put in all at once, but gradually, so as not to check the gentle simmering of the _pot au feu_, which should be now skimmed for the last time, and placed by the side of the fire to simmer gently for at least 4 hours. According to the season, all or some of the following vegetables may be added: A head of celery cut in 2 in. lengths, 2 tomatoes, 2 parsnips, a handful of chervil. At the time of serving, strain the broth and skim off all the fat, add the least bit of sugar (not burnt sugar) and more salt if necessary; make the broth boiling hot, and pour it into the soup tureen over small slices of toasted bread, adding according to taste, a portion of the vegetables cut in thin slices.

Roast.--(_a_) Cut off most of the flap of the sirloin and trim the joint neatly. Have a clear, brisk fire well built up. Place the joint close to it for the first half-hour, then move it further off. Baste frequently. When nearly done sprinkle the joint well over with salt. Put a small quantity of water in the dripping pan, then pour off the gravy, free it effectually from fat, and pour it over the joint in the dish. Time of roasting about 3 hours for a 10-12 lb. sirloin. Garnish with scraped horseradish and Yorkshire pudding. Serve horseradish sauce in a tureen.

(_b_) Take a piece of the undercut of sirloin of beef, trim off the fat neatly, and the thin skin next to it; lard (not too finely) that side of it with fat bacon, and lay it for a whole day in a pie dish, with plenty of olive oil, pepper, salt, parsley, slices of onion, and laurel leaves. Tie it on the spit, cover the larded side with a piece of buttered paper, roast it at a brisk fire, and do not let it be overdone. Baste it frequently with its own gravy, and a short time before serving remove the piece of paper to let the larding take colour. Serve with its own gravy.

Salt.--Wash the piece of beef thoroughly, then proceed as in boiling fresh beef, omitting the salt. Serve garnished with carrots.

Scalloped.--Melt together 2 oz. Parmesan cheese and 2 oz. butter, finely mince ½ lb. tender and rather underdone cold roast beef; mix this with the cheese and butter, seasoning it with a little pepper and salt; have ready some tin or plated scallop shells, buttered and sprinkled over with breadcrumbs finely grated; pour in the mixture, sprinkle over it some more breadcrumbs, and then grate Parmesan cheese over the top; they may be baked either in the oven or in a Dutch oven before the fire. Serve very hot.

Spiced.--(_a_) Take the bones from a piece of thin flank, and put it for 10 days into the following pickle--it should be covered. Boil for 20 minutes 2 gal. water, 5 lb. salt, 2 lb. coarse sugar, 2 oz. saltpetre, 2 oz. black pepper and of mixed spice, bruised and tied in muslin, and bay leaves. Clear the scum as it rises, and let it stand till cold. To boil the meat, put it in cold water, to cover, with a wineglassful of vinegar and a few vegetables. Let it come very slowly to boiling point, simmer it very slowly, and leave it in the pickle till it is cold. If it is hard, it is cooked too fast. Vinegar helps to make it tender, and it (as well as all boiled meat) is much less dry if it is left till cold in the liquor. Before boiling, the thin flank should be sprinkled with chopped parsley, herbs, and allspice, rolled, and tied with tape. (E. A. B.)

(_b_) ½ lb. black pepper, ½ lb. white ditto, 3 oz. allspice, 3 oz. cloves, 2 oz. saltpetre, 1 lb. salt, 1 lb. coarse brown sugar. Grind all the spice, and pound the saltpetre fine; mix all the ingredients well together. Get a round of about 26 lb. small beef, with 2 lb. extra fat, to replace the marrow bone, which must be cut out of the centre; let the meat be as fresh as possible, remove any kernels, then thoroughly hand-rub every inch of the round, put it with all the ingredients into a stone crock, or pan, where it will make its own pickle, rub it well, and turn it in the pan every second day for 2-3 weeks. To cook it: Bind it into good shape with tape; put 1 qt. cold water, and a plate of suet or good dripping into a large pot; put in the beef, and completely cover it with suet or dripping; place another plate above all, and put the cover on the pot. Bake for 6 hours in an oven, turning the beef at the end of the third hour.

Steak (_a_). À la Bordelaise.--Take a rib of beef, remove the bone, and cut the meat into 2 steaks, trimming them neatly. Take a marrow bone, break it, remove the marrow in one piece, blanch it for a minute in hot water, and put it into the oven to keep it warm. Broil the steaks, and serve them over some Bordelaise sauce, placing on each the marrow, cut in slices and brushed over with a little thin glaze. _Bordelaise Sauce._--Mince finely 2 or 3 shallots, blanch them for a few minutes, press out the water from them, and put them into a saucepan with a cupful of white wine; let them boil 20 minutes, then add 2 cupfuls Spanish sauce, a dust of pepper, and some parsley finely minced; let the sauce give a boil or two, and it is ready. Well-flavoured gravy, thickened with browned flour and butter, may be used instead of Spanish sauce.

(_b_) The great secret in cooking a steak lies in having a perfectly clear red fire-no black or smoking coal. It should also be quite even, so as to be at an equal distance all over (nearly 1 ft.) below the gridiron. Before putting on the gridiron throw a handful of salt on the top of the fire; then place the gridiron on to get quite hot. Before putting on the steak rub the gridiron well over with a piece of suet or fat. See that the steak is cut of an equal thickness-¾ in., certainly not less. It should on no account be beaten. Place it on the gridiron, and turn frequently with steak tongs. If these are not at hand, use a fork; but put it into the edge of the fat, on no account into the lean, as that would let out the gravy and spoil the steak. The time for cooking must depend on the thickness of the steak and on the fire--10 minutes is the rule. Serve on a very hot dish, on which should be ready, sliced very thin, a shallot. For gravy, use Cock’s Reading Sauce and a very little boiling water. After the steak is dished pepper and salt well, and rub it over with a piece of butter.

(_c_) Stewed.--Season and lay them in a stewpan, put in ½ pint water, a blade of mace, an anchovy, and small bunch of herbs, a piece of butter rolled in flour, a glass of white wine, and an onion, cover close, and let it stew till the steaks are tender, then take them out, strew some flour over them, fry them in butter till they are of a nice brown and pour off the fat; strain the sauce they were stewed in, pour it into the pan, and toss it up together till the sauce is quite hot and thick, then lay your steaks in the dish, pour the sauce over them, and serve with horseradish and pickles. (S. S.)

(_d_) Pie.--Have your steak cut up and placed in its dish (nearly covered with water) in the oven for 1½ hour, with a cover over the dish. The oven should be about the heat for rice pudding. Open the door if likely to dry the gravy. When cooked take it up, and after properly flavouring it, and adding a hard-boiled egg cut up, lay on the crust, and replace the pie in the oven until the paste is properly cooked.

(_e_) Ditto.--Cut up 1½ lb. fillet steak or rump steak, with 2 kidneys, previously boiled, 2 eggs boiled hard and cut lengthways in 4 pieces, pepper and salt lightly, flour the steak and kidneys, place some of the meat and some of the egg in the dish, and a piece of butter the size of a walnut; add a teacupful of good gravy, seasoned with a teaspoonful of Worcester and 1 dessertspoonful Harvey sauce; fill the dish with the remaining portions of meat and eggs. Cover with the paste, and bake slowly for 2½ hours.

(_f_) Pudding.--Line your basin with thin suet crust. For a small pudding take ¾ lb. rump steak, cut in thin slices, without fat or gristle; make a powder of pepper and salt, dip each slice into it, and lay it round in layers in the basin until nearly full. Fill up the centre with oysters or mushrooms, tie it tight, and boil for 3 hours; add water in the saucepan as required, but it must not reach the top of the pudding basin. Fill up the basin with good stock.

Tea.--(_a_) Use Gard’s patent meat juice extractor. Its principal virtue consists in the beef tea being cooked just enough to render it most digestible. Put about ¼ pint water to ½ lb. beef, the roll of the shoulder.

(_b_) Put the beef, cut in pieces or slashed, into a jar with a cover, and tie it over with paper; stand the jar in a saucepan with plenty of water, but not enough to make the jar float. Setting the jar in the oven dries the meat. It should be well boiled gently, and the lid kept on the saucepan to keep the steam in.

(_c_) Mince 8 oz. gravy beef very finely, pour over 8 oz. cold water, and let it stand 1 hour; pour off the liquor, and it is ready.

(_d_) Dr. Stutzer has exposed the common superstition about the nourishing powers of beef tea. He extracted all the extractible matter from 100 gr. of beef with 100 gr. water, and a good proportion of salt, at a gentle heat for 4 hours, but could only succeed in obtaining in solution 1/12th the nourishing matter of the beef, the other 11/12th remaining behind in the _bouilli_. In other words, we should have to take ½ gal. beef tea made with beef to each pint of water before we got as much nourishment as is contained in ¼ lb. of steak. We might, it is true, evaporate our beef tea down to, say ½ pint, but we doubt if it would be palatable to the least squeamish invalid.

Tongue.--(_a_) Never boil a tongue, only simmer, and allow 3 hours for a large one. Never cure small ones. ¼ hour to every lb. is the usual time given when meat is simmered, for meat should not boil, as it hardens it; but you may know when the tongue is done, by its peeling readily. The skin should peel off as a glove, when drawn, does from the hand; and if the tongue is to be eaten cold, it can be glazed; or if warm, a few well-browned and sifted breadcrumbs put over it, and a paper frill should encircle its root. Many garnish warm tongue with flowers in the old-fashioned way; but these adornments interfere with the carver; serve browned or glazed, with simply a frill.

(_b_) A dried tongue should be put to soak all night in cold water; if it is only pickled, 2-3 hours will suffice. Put the tongue in a saucepan sufficiently large, and with as much cold water as will cover it well; put it on the fire until it comes to boil, then remove it to the side, let it simmer but not boil. A bunch of herbs in the water when boiling is a great improvement; while cooking the water should be skimmed.

(_c_) Put the tongue into an earthen pan, and lay on the top of it a few slices of butter; then cover the pan with a flour-and-water crust, and bake, according to size, in a moderately hot oven. When done, take off the skin, and straighten the tongue on a board, by means of skewers at the tip and root. When cold, glaze it, ornament it with a frill of paper, vegetables cut into shapes, and curled parsley.

Tournedos.--Cut some rump steak or fillet of beef in slices about ½ in. thick, trim them all to the shape of cutlets (pear shape), lay them in a marinade composed as follows: Olive oil and tarragon vinegar in equal parts, an onion and a carrot sliced; pepper, salt, and bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, parsley, and a few cloves. There should be enough marinade to cover the fillets, and they should lie in it for 12 hours. When wanted, take them out of the marinade, fry them in butter quickly on both sides, and arrange them in a circle on a dish alternately with slices of bread cut to the same shape as the fillets, and fried a golden colour also in butter. Pour in the centre of the dish some well made sharp sauce (sauce piquante, or sauce poivrade), and serve.

Vinaigrette.--Cut in thin slices the cold beef of the _pot au feu_. Mix in a small basin 1 teaspoonful mustard with some water and the yolk of an egg; stir it continually, and at the same time drop in some olive oil, drop by drop, until the sauce becomes pretty thick; then add a little vinegar, and continue stirring and dropping in the oil until you have as much sauce as you require. Add a hard egg chopped up in small pieces some chopped-up parsley and chervil, a little salt, and 3 tablespoonfuls good cream. Arrange the slices of beef round the dish, and pour the sauce over them.