The Myrtle Reed Cook Book

by Myrtle Reed

BEEF À LA NEWPORT

Cut fine one cupful of dried beef and heat thoroughly with one cupful of canned tomatoes. Season with pepper, grated nutmeg, and chopped onion. Add half a cupful of grated cheese and three well-beaten eggs. Stir constantly until thick and smooth and serve on buttered toast.

DUTCH BEEF LOAF

Run twice through the meat-chopper a pound and a half of the round of beef and a quarter of a pound of fresh pork. Add half a cupful of stale bread crumbs soaked in stock or milk, half a cupful of canned tomatoes, and celery salt, minced parsley, salt, red pepper, and grated onion to season. Mix thoroughly, shape into a loaf, brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with crumbs, and bake, basting with melted butter and stock. Serve with [Tomato Sauce].

SPICED BEEF LOAF

Chop fine three pounds of beef and half a pound of suet. Add two eggs well-beaten, four tablespoonfuls of cream, a tablespoonful of butter, two tablespoonfuls of summer savory, a teaspoonful of salt, and a little red pepper. Add enough bread crumbs to make a stiff mixture. Shape into a loaf, rub with butter, dredge with flour, and bake, basting frequently. Cook for two hours or less and serve either hot or cold.

CANNELON OF BEEF

Chop very fine two pounds of the round of beef. Season with grated onion, lemon-peel, nutmeg, minced parsley, salt, pepper, melted butter, and a pinch of powdered sweet herbs. Mix with a beaten egg and shape into a loaf. Dredge with flour, roll in buttered paper, and bake for half an hour, basting with melted butter and the drippings. Remove the paper and serve with [Tomato Sauce].

FRICADELLES

Chop fine a pound of beef and a pound of sausage meat. Add a cupful of bread crumbs, two eggs well-beaten, two onions, finely chopped, and salt, pepper, and thyme to season. Mix thoroughly, shape into small flat cakes, sauté in hot fat, and serve with [Tomato Sauce].

SPICED ROUND OF BEEF

Put into a buttered saucepan six pounds of the round of beef, two cupfuls of canned tomatoes, three sliced onions, half a dozen cloves, a stick of cinnamon, and a pod of red pepper. Cover the meat with thin slices of salt pork and pour over half a cupful of vinegar and one cupful of water. Cover and cook in a moderate oven for five hours, seasoning with salt when half done. Take up the meat, strain and skim the cooking liquid, and thicken with flour browned in a little of the fat.

BEEF À LA MODE

Have four pounds of the round of beef thickly larded. Brown in butter and season with pepper. Add two bay-leaves, two cloves of garlic, two shallots, three onions, and a calf’s foot, split and cut into four pieces. Cover and cook slowly for two hours. Add two or three carrots cut into small pieces, and cook for an hour and a half longer. Ten minutes before serving, add two tablespoonfuls of claret. Arrange on a platter with the carrots around it and serve the gravy with it.

CREOLE HOT POT

Put two pounds of beef ribs into a saucepan with a tablespoonful of drippings or butter. Add two chopped onions, a chopped clove of garlic, half a dozen seeded and shredded green peppers, pepper and salt to season, a pinch of thyme, a tablespoonful of vinegar, a dozen raisins, a dozen olives, and a can of tomatoes. Cover and cook until the meat falls from the bones. Take out the bones, thicken with flour browned in butter, and serve on buttered toast.

BEEF PIE

Cut cold cooked beef into dice and reheat in gravy or in [Brown Sauce]. Season with grated onion, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire and add a few diced carrots. Line a buttered baking-dish with biscuit crust, put in the meat, cover with crust, gash, brush with beaten egg, and bake until thoroughly done. Serve very hot in the same dish.

CREAMED BEEF PIE

Reheat cold cooked chopped beef in a [Cream Sauce], seasoning with chopped onion and minced parsley. Put into a baking-dish, cover with boiled rice or mashed potato, and bake. Serve very hot in the same dish.

GERMAN BEEF BALLS

Chop very fine cold cooked beef. Season with salt, cayenne, minced parsley, and grated onion. Add one-fourth the quantity of bread crumbs and enough beaten egg to bind. Shape into balls or small flat cakes, dredge with flour, and fry brown.

TURKISH BEEF STEW

Cut cold cooked beef into dice. Brown it in butter, take from the fire, add four tablespoonfuls of tomato catsup, a chopped onion, fried, a shredded green pepper, also fried, salt and black pepper to season, and enough stock or gravy to moisten. Heat thoroughly and serve in a border of boiled rice.

MUTTON AND LAMB

BROILED LAMB CHOPS

Trim the chops, put on a hot gridiron, and broil carefully. Serve with a border of green peas, or around a mound of mashed potatoes.

LAMB CHOPS IN CASSEROLE

Chop fine an onion, a small carrot, and a turnip. Fry brown in butter and put into a casserole. Cover with six or eight chops browned in butter, add a little stock or water, season to taste, cover tightly, and cook until tender. Thicken the gravy with browned flour and serve from the casserole.

LAMB PIE

Arrange tender lamb chops in a deep baking-dish with chopped mushrooms, half a cupful of canned tomatoes, half a dozen small onions fried brown in butter, and a can of peas. Thicken a sufficient quantity of stock with browned flour, pour in, cover with a rich crust, gash the top, cover, bake for half an hour or more.

BROILED MUTTON CUTLETS WITH CARROTS

Peel new carrots, cut into small pieces, and boil until tender in salted water. Drain and fry brown in butter, sprinkling with pepper and sugar. Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, reheat, and serve with a border of broiled mutton cutlets.

ROAST LAMB WITH GARLIC

Trim a leg of lamb and remove the parchment-like skin. Separate the beans from a whole clove of garlic, peel and cut each one into four pieces. Make incisions in the surface of the meat with a sharp knife, stick the bits of garlic in, season highly with pepper and salt, and put into a hot oven until brown. Cover and roast slowly until done. Make a gravy of the drippings, skimming off the fat, thickening with browned flour, and adding stock or water if necessary to make the required quantity.

BRAISED LAMB WITH CELERY

Roast a leg of lamb in a quick oven until brown. Put into a saucepan with celery and carrots cut fine, a chopped onion, a bunch of sweet herbs, and enough chicken stock to cover. Add a little butter, cover, and cook slowly until done. Serve the vegetables with the meat. Cucumbers may be used instead of the carrots and celery.

BRAISED SHOULDER OF LAMB

Take the bone from a shoulder of lamb, lard it with small strips of bacon, tie in shape, and brown in butter. Add a dozen small peeled onions, a tablespoonful of minced parsley, and stock to cover. Simmer until the onions are tender. Take up the meat, remove the skin, thicken the cooking liquor with browned flour, pour over the meat, and serve with the onions as a garnish. The breast of lamb may be used.

STEWED BREAST OF LAMB

Cut a breast of lamb into convenient pieces for serving. Season with pepper and salt, and stew until tender in stock to cover. Thicken the sauce with flour browned in butter, add a wineglassful of vinegar. This may be cooked in a casserole.

FRICASSEE OF LAMB

Cut the breast of lamb into square pieces, sprinkle with salt, dredge with flour, and brown in butter. Cover with stock or water, add a sliced onion, and simmer until the bones can easily be removed. Take the lamb out, remove the bones, strain the liquid again, reheat, add one quart of shelled green peas, and simmer for fifteen minutes.

CURRIED LAMB

Cut the meat from two boiled breasts of lamb and brown in butter with a chopped onion. Add a tablespoonful of flour and two teaspoonfuls of curry powder. Mix thoroughly and add enough white stock or water to make the required quantity of sauce. Season with salt, pepper, minced parsley, and grated lemon-peel. Cover and simmer until done. Skim off the fat. Fill a well-buttered border mould with plain boiled rice, press firmly into shape, turn out on a hot platter, pour the lamb into the centre, and serve.

INDIAN MUTTON CURRY

Fry four chopped onions in butter, add a teaspoonful of curry powder, a teaspoonful of salt, and one cupful of chopped cooked apples. Add one cupful of cream or more and a tablespoonful of flour blended smooth with a little cold water. Simmer until thick, stirring constantly. Add two pounds of the breast of mutton cut in squares and browned in butter. Simmer until the meat is done, adding more cream if required. Serve very hot.

BLANQUETTE OF MUTTON

Divide a breast of mutton between the ribs. Put into a saucepan with a head of celery cut fine, a small onion, and a bay-leaf. Cover with boiling water or stock, bring to the boiling point, and boil rapidly for five minutes. Skim and simmer slowly for an hour. Take up the meat and reduce the liquid by rapid boiling to a pint. Strain, thicken while stirring with flour browned in butter, take from the fire, add the yolks of two eggs beaten smooth with a little cold water, season with salt and pepper, and pour over the meat. Sprinkle with minced parsley and serve with a border of mashed potatoes or boiled rice.

RAGOUT OF MUTTON

Have three pounds of the breast of mutton cut into squares. Brown in butter, dredge with flour, and add four cupfuls of water. Stir until the liquid thickens, then add a sliced onion and a diced turnip which have been browned in butter, pepper and salt to season, a bay-leaf, and a tablespoonful of minced parsley. Simmer for an hour and a half, take out the bay-leaf, and serve in a casserole.

BROILED LAMB’S KIDNEYS

Split and skin the kidneys, dip in olive-oil, season with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg, fasten open with skewers, dip in crumbs, broil, and serve with any preferred sauce.

MUTTON KIDNEYS IN CASSEROLE

Brown the kidneys in butter and put into the casserole. Add a sliced onion fried, a slice of bacon, two potatoes, sliced, and two carrots finely minced. Add enough stock or water to cover, put on the lid, and bake slowly for three hours. Serve in the casserole.