The Rural cook book

Beef, Corned. — Here is an old home recipe for corning beef, which will be especially useful to those who kill their own beef cattle as well as pork. To every hundred pounds of beef take nine pounds of salt, four pounds of sugar or two quarts of good molasses, two ounces of soda, one ounce of saltpeter, and just enough water to cover the meat — about four or five galloas. Strew some salt over the bottom of a barrel ; mix about half the amount of salt given with half the given amount of sugar or molasses, and rub each piece of meat thoroughly with it before placing it in the barrel. Dissolve the saltpeter and soda together in hot water, add the remainder of the salt and sugar and about four or five gallons of cold water. Pour this over the meat. Place a board on top of the meat, with a weight heavy enough to keep it under the brine. It may be kept an indefinite time in the brine, but is salt enough to cook after five or six days' corning. Spiced corned beef is made as follows, the recipe being an old one, we think of German origin: Rub twelve pounds of a round of beef with half a pound of coarse sugar. Let it stand for two days, turning it two or three times. Take a large teaspoonful of mace, a teaspoonful of black pepper, two of cloves, half a teaspoonful of cayenne, one small grated nutmeg, two ounces of juniper berries and one-half ounce of saltpeter. Stir all these seasonings together, adding a teaspoonful of sugar and rub the mixture thoroughly into the meat and all over it. Then let it stand for three days longer. At the end of this time rub half a pound of fine salt into the meat. Finally, let it stand for twelve days, rubbing the meat and turning it daily. If it is to be cooked immediately and not dried, wash it, but do not soak it. Lay it in a pot that just fits it, and pour over it a quart and a half of water. When it comes to the boiling point skim it carefully, add a carrot, a small onion, a bay leaf and a tew sprigs of parsley. Let it simmer very gently for four and a half hours. Take it from the fire, put it under a heavy weight and let it cool in the liquid in which it was cooked. Serve in thin slices when perfectly cold. Corned Beef, Shaker Style. — This recipe is given under the name of "bacca," in Good Housekeeping; Pound down close in a barrel 100 pounds of the round of beef cut in 10-pound pieces, with a mixture of four pounds sugar, two ounces saltpeter, two ounces soda bicarbonate, and four quarts table salt sprinkled under, over and between. It will make brine without water. After one week, a piece of the top of the round, sliced and broiled, will be found tender and delicious. The bottom of the round, boiled till tender and sliced, thin when cold, resembles ham, but is more choice in flavor. Corned Beef, Savory Style. — Choose a piece of brisket of corned beef weighing four to five pounds and about three times as long as wide; wash, season with a small half teaspoonful of pepper, then roll it up and tie very tight. Put the beef in a kettle with cold water to cover, and let it slowly come to a boil, then pour it off and replace with more cold water to cover; add half a cupful of vinegar, a small onion, peeled, in which is inserted six cloves, half a red pepper, a blade of mace and a stalk of celery. Boil gently, allow half an hour to each pound. Serve hot. If the meat is preferred cold, it should be allowed to cool in the broth in which it was cooked. Curried Beef.— Melt in a saucepan two tablespoonfuls of butter, add two onions sliced, and fry until brown; then add two tablespoonfuls of curry powder. Cut cold roast beef in pieces about an inch square, put it in the saucepan and add half a cupful of sweet milk. Simmer for 30 minutes. Just before serving add the juice of a lemon. Send to the table on a platter bordered with boiled rice.