The complete cook book

Secure a nice fat middle cut of rib or a pin- bone roast, weighing about ten pounds. Mix together two tablespoonfuls of olive oil and two of lemon juice. Moisten the meat all over with this mixture. Cut two onions into thin slices, add one tablespoonful of chopped parsley, and a saltspoonful of white pepper. Put part of this mixture on a large dish, place the meat on top of it, then the remainder over the meat, cover and stand aside over night. Next day bake the same as plain baked beef. This preparation certainly improves the flavor of the meat and makes it more tender. BEAISING BEEF. The word "braise" means to cook meats slowly, in a closely-covered pan in the oven, the pan containing sufficient water to keep up a goodly quantity of steam. The meat should be placed in the bottom of the pan, the pan partly filled with boiling water, a teaspoonful of salt added, a sliced onion, a carrot, a sprig of parsley, and a bay leaf, if liked. Now cover the pan closely, and place on the bottom of a moderately hot oven, and bake or cook fifteen minutes to every pound of meat, basting every half hour. Meat thus cooked should be of a delicate brown, juicy and tender. You cannot roast in a braising pan — meat is always dry and tasteless. A brown sauce should be made from browned butter and flour, and the liquor from the bottom of the braising pan. All kinds of meats and poultry are braised in precisely the same manner. TENDERLOIN PIQUE A LA FRANCAISE. Procure four pounds of tenderloin ; pare it well and lard it, using a fine needle. Line the bottom of a roast- The Complete Cook Book. 99 ing pan with some pork skin, one sliced onion, one sliced carrot and half a bunch of well-washed parsley roots. Place the tenderloin on top ; add a pinch of salt, and roast in a brisk oven for thirty-five minutes, basting it occasionally with its own juice. Dish it up, skim the fat off the gravy, then strain it over the fillet and pour half a pint of good Madeira sauce over, and garnish with potatoes. ROASTED BEEFSTEAKS. Tenderloin or porterhouse steaks are the best for broiling. Have a clear fire of coals to broil on ; rub the gridiron with a little fat of the meat ; lay on the steak without salting, let it broil gently until one side is done, then turn. Catch the blood as you turn it, to make the gravy rich. If the steak is a large firm one, take a quarter of a pound of butter and work into it pepper and salt. When the steak is done lay it on to this seasoned butter, keep it hot until the butter melts, turn the ^steak in it a few times, put the blood with the gravy, and serve hot, with tomato sauce or ketchup. TO ROAST BEEP IN A STOVE. A fine roasting piece of beef may, if properly managed, be baked in a stove so as to resemble beef roasted before a large, open fire. Prepare the meat as if for roasting, season it well with salt, pepper, and a little onion if liked. Set the meat on muffin ' rings, or a trivet in a dripping pan, and pour into the pan a pint or so of hot water to baste the meat with. Keep the oven hot and well closed on the meat ; when it begins to bake, baste it freely, using a long-handled spoon; it should be basted every fifteen minutes; add hot water to the pan as it wastes, that the gravy may not burn ; allow fifteen minutes to each pound of meat unless you wish it very rare. Half an hour before taking it up, dredge flour thickly over it, baste freely, and let it brown. Take the meat from the pan, dredge in some flour and seasoning if needed ; throw into the gravy a cup of water, let it boil up once, and strain into a sauce boat or gravy tureen. 100 The Complete Cook Book. GRAVY FOR ROAST BEEF. When the meat is done, put it on a plate, and keep it hot while making the gravy. Hold the corner of the dripping pan over a bowl; let the liquid in the pan settle ; then pour off all the fat and save it. FILLET OP BEEF.