Soyer's standard cookery

Place a piece of lean beef in vinegar and let it soak for two days. After draining, lard freely with fat bacon, dust with pepper, salt, and mixed spices, and brown thoroughly in a frying-pan with melted butter. Next place the meat in a saucepan with a pint of boiling water, sliced carrots, an onion, the rind of a lemon, and any herbs that are preferred. Cover and let it simmer gently for three hours. After taking out the meat skim the gravy, thicken with flour, add a little vinegar, and pour over the meat. This dish is usually eaten with sauerkraut. Spiced Pressed Beef. Take the bones from four to five pounds of salt brisket of beef, wash the meat and spread it out on a board and scatter some spices and herbs (which should be mixed together) over the inside. Roll up the meat, tie it in the middle and at each end with narrow white tape and wrap it in a pudding cloth, which must also be tied securely. Put the meat into a large saucepan of warm water; let it boil up, remove the scum and add two onions, one carrot and a small turnip. Cover the saucepan and let the meat simmer very gently for four hours. At the end of the time take out the beef and after tightening the cloth place it between two flat dishes with weights on the top and leave it until the following day. Remove the cloth, wipe and trim the meat and proceed to glaze it, and as soon as one coat has set brush the meat over again with more glaze, and so on until it is thick enough to look well; great care must be taken to get a perfectly even surface. To make the glaze, dissolve eight sheets of French gelatine in about a quarter of a pint of boiling water, then add sufficient Paris- ian essence and carmine (only a few drops of the latter) to make it a rich reddish brown. Steak and Kidney Pudding. Cut some beefsteak into moderately thin slices, and cut half as many slices of bacon the same size as the beef, only very much thinner, and slice as many kidneys as are required. Spread out the slices of beef with a knife, sprinkle them with a little salt and some black pepper, and a very little chopped onion and parsley; place a slice of bacon on some of the pieces of meat, and a slice of kidney on the others, and roll them up tightly and dust them with flour. Line a buttered bowl with suet paste, pack the little rolls of meat into the bowl and pour over them a quarter of a pint of water; cover the pudding securely with paste, pressing the edges, which should be moistened, well together. Tie the bowl in a floured cloth, and boil the pudding steadily for four hours. For the crust, shred or grate six ounces of Hugon's suet and mix it well with a pound of flour; when it is entirely free from lumps, add half a teaspoonful of salt and a teaspoonful of baking-powder, and add sufficient cold water to make a fairly soft paste. Roll it out to about a third of an inch in thickness and use. Steak and Kidney Pie.