A guide to modern cookery

Select a very square or oval piece of beef, and bear in mind, in selecting it, that it will have to be fashioned to the shape of a case when it has been cooked. String it, and braise it after the manner described under No. 247, almost entirely covering it with moistening liquor. Set it to cook gently; withdraw the piece when the meat is still somewhat firm, and let it cool under slight pressure. This done, cut out the meat from the inside; leave a thickness of about half-inch round the sides and on the bottom, and the piece thus emptied should constitute a square or oval case, in accordance with the shape originally adopted. Coat the outside of the whole piece with a mixture of beaten eggs and fine bread-crumbs, combined with Parmesan; sprinkle melted butter over it with a brush, and put the case into a sufficiently hot oven to allow of a crust forming round it. Meanwhile chop up the meat extracted from the inside of the piece; add thereto a little salted tongue, some braised slices of sweet-bread, and mushrooms; put the whole into a sautépan with an Italian or a half-glaze sauce, according to the requirements, and heat this garnish. N.B.—This preparation was quite common in old-fashioned cookery, but though it is still served occasionally, it is now looked upon more as a curiosity than anything else. As a curiosity, therefore, I chose to include it among these recipes; but it does not follow from this that I in any way recommend it. 1148—PIECE DE BCEUF A LA FLAMANDE Lard the piece of beef, and braise it as explained under No. 247. Meanwhile prepare the following garnish :—(1) Cut a nice firm cabbage into four, remove the heart, and parboil it for seven or eight minutes. Drain it; cool it; divide up the quarters, leaf by leaf, so as to remove the hard ribs, and season with salt and pepper. Mould them to the shape of balls by pressing them in the corner of a towel into balls weighing about three oz. each, or simply put them into a saucepan with a quartered carrot, an onion stuck with a clove, a faggot, six oz. of blanched breast of pork, and a little raw sausage with garlic, which latter must be withdrawn after cooking has gone on for one and one-half hours. Moisten the cabbage with just sufficient consommé to cover it; add a few tablespoonfuls of good stock-fat; set to boil, and cook gently in the oven for one and one-half hours. (2) Cut the required quantity of carrots and turnips to the shape of olives; cook them in consommé, and reduce the latter for the purpose of glazing. (3) Prepare some potatoes 4 l’anglaise. Set the piece of beef on a dish large enough to allow of the former being surrounded with the moulded or plainly-heaped cabbages, the glazed carrots and turnips, and the potatoes a l’anglaise. The last two vegetables should be set in alternate heaps with the cabbages and the bacon (cut into small rectangles) and the sausage (cut into roundels) should be distributed all round. Serve separately the gravy of the piece of beef, cleared of all grease, reduced to a half-glaze and strained. 1149—PIECE DE BCEUF A LA MODE CHAUDE Lard the piece of beef, which should not, if possible, weigh more than from four to five Ibs. The strips of bacon used for larding ought to have been prepared fifteen or twenty minutes in advance, marinaded in a few tablespoonfuls of brandy, and sprinkled with parsley just before being used. Rub the piece with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and put it into a basin with one bottle of red wine and one-fifth pint of brandy, and set it to marinade for four or five hours, taking care to turn it over from time to time. Then set it to braise after the manner described under No. 247; add its marinade to the moistening, and surround it with three small, boned, blanched, and strung calf’s feet.