Harper's cook book encyclopædia

The next day turn out carefully on a round platter ; it should be in one solid piece, with the gravy transparent. To garnish with small tomatoes, put the latter in a saucepan with enough cold water to cover them, and boil slowly for ten minutes. Remove the skins and cool them. Cut a small, round piece from the stem end, empty the seeds, drain well, and sprinkle with a little salt. Put in each one table-spoonful of the gravy of the meat and two small carrots. Set on ice until ready to serve, then arrange them around the meat. If no bouillon is at hand, one good teaspoonful of meat extract diluted in the same quantity of warm water as that of bouillon may be substituted. Double the quantity of salt and pepper. Do not omit the wine, which makes the meat more tender and absorbs the fat. Beef Ox-tail with Puree of Lentils.— Cut in pieces two inches long two ox-tails ; wash well in cold water, and drain them. Put them in three quarts of cold water, boil for ten minutes ; drain and dry them with a clean towel. Put them in a saucepan with two table-spoonfuls of butter, Y2 lb. of bacon cut in small pieces, dicelike, one large carrot, two red onions cut in thin slices. Put over a brisk fire for twelve minutes, stirring so that every piece will brown; season with one teaspoonful of salt, one saltspoonful of black pepper, a bouquet of three sprigs of parsley, one branch of celery without leaves, two cloves, one small bay-leaf, and a tiny branch of thyme. Cook one hour and fifteen minutes ; remove the pieces and let them cool off. Keep the broth aside to be used later on as a soup, then dip each piece in two table-spoonfuls of melted butter, and then in white bread-crumbs ; do this twice, and afterwards pour a little butter over each. Broil them over a moderate fire for twenty minutes. Have this puree of lentils prepared beforehand : Wash well one quart of lentils. You should look them over carefully and put them in a saucepan with two quarts of cold water, two whole red onions, one teaspoonful of salt, one salt-spoonful of pepper, a bouquet of one small bay-leaf, three sprigs of parsley, one small branch of celery, and two cloves. After they have started boiling, remove to a slow fire and cook three hours. Add every hour a quarter of a glass of cold water ; this will make them taste Beef, Pressed Beef, Roast like fresh ones and swell them up. After they are done, pass them through a strainer, to make the puree very fine ; add a little of the broth from time to time to help the straining. Put the puree back in a clean saucepan long enough to warm ; add two table-spoonfuls of very fresh butter. Do not boil. Serve this around the ox -tail. Arrange over it the small slices of bacon from the broth. By adding the remaining broth of the lentils to the ox-tail broth, it will make a very wholesome soup. Put one table-spoonful of butter in the soup-tureen, and strain the broth over, crushing everything through the colander. A few dice of bread browned in butter will give it a nice finish. Dry beans cooked in the same way are very good.