Manual for army cooks

Prepare the steak as directed for broiling in a frying pan. Have ready a bed of live coals ; wood coals are the best. Wipe the gridiron clean ; put it over the bed of coals. As soon as heated put the steak on it ; broil, turning often. If the fire smokes or blazes from the dripping fat withdraw the gridiron for a moment. It should cook in fifteen minutes. After it is dished, season with pepper and salt. If gravy is desired prepare it as directed in recipe for Broiled Beefsteak in a Frying Pan. Prepare and broil mutton chops, venison, and pork steaks as above. BEEFSTEAK SMOTHERED IN ONIONS. Cut one dozen onions into slices, fry a quarter pound salt pork or bacon until all the fat is tried out, then take out the crackling ; into this hot fat put the onions, fry and stir for twenty minutes over a good fire ; add a teaspoonful of salt, a dash of black pepper, and one cup of boiling water ; place over a moderate fire to simmer for half an hour ; by this time the water should have entirely evaporated and the onions should be a nice brown. Have ready a broiled steak, place it in the pan with the onions, cover it over the top with some of them, and stand in the oven for five minutes. Then place the steak on a hot dish, heap the onions over and around, and serve. The Welsh method is as follows : Broil the steak over a quick fire and butter it well. Then slice onions over it ; after which chop them up fine on the meat. The onions impart their flavor to the beef, but are not eaten with it. It is important to chop them on the steak;, otherwise the flavor is lost. BOILED FRESH BEEF. Time, fifteen minutes to the pound, or longer, depending upon the shape and quality of the piece. Cleanse the meat. Put it into a pot of boiling water, rather more than enough to cover it. Cover, bring the pot to a boil quickly, and let it boil for ten or fifteen minutes ; then set it back on the stove to simmer until the meat is cooked. Remove the scum as it rises. The scum commences to rise just before boiling, and if it is not carefully taken off it will fall back, adhere to the meat, and injure and disfigure it. While boiling turn the beef several times. If the water needs replenishing use boiling water. A short time before the meat is done put into the pot one teaspoonful of salt for every five pounds of meat ; one bay leaf to every pound of meat may be put into the pot of water with the meat. If carrots, turnips, or potatoes are to be cooked with the meat, prepare them as directed under Rules for Cooking Vegetables. Put carrots and turnips, sliced, in the pot one to one and a half hours, potatoes twenty to thirty minutes, before the meat is cooked. When cooked take up the meat and vegetables, drain, and serve them separately or in the same dish, the vegetables around the meat. Carrots alone are an excellent accompaniment to boiled beef. The vegetables may be boiled separately from the meat, but will not be as well flavored. The liquor may be served with the meat and vegetables, or used for making stock or soup, or for hashes, stews, gravies, etc., instead of water; if boiled in an iron pot and to be kept for any of the above uses, it must be poured into a tin or earthen vessel and kept in a cool place.