No. 985. Ribs of Beef à la George the Fourth.
Beef, as for entrées, offers but very little variation for second course dishes, the ribs, fillets, and tongue being the only parts to be recommended; and even these are more fit for luncheons or suppers.
Take a piece of ribs of beef with five bones, well covered, but not too fat nor too large, bone it and lard the thick part with long pieces of fat bacon and lean ham or tongue, well seasoned with pepper, salt, and chopped parsley, then lay the beef on a dish, with a little pepper, salt, fifty peppercorns, six blades of mace, ten eschalots in slices, half a pint of Madeira, and a little thyme and bay-leaves, let remain thus five days in winter, and but three in summer, turn and rub it every day; when ready to dress clear away the ingredients, roll and tie it up, then put two pounds of lean ham cut in dice in a large stewpan, with two ounces of butter and six large Portugal onions, pass gently over a slow fire, keeping stirred, put in the beef, let it braise gently until becoming a good colour, add water sufficient to reach half way up the beef, with half a pint of Madeira, two calves’ feet, a good bunch of parsley, and twenty pieces of carrots, turned the size and shape of young carrots, let it remain over a slow fire and place some live charcoal upon the lid, let stew gently four or five hours, or until tender, which try with a trussing-needle, but take out the carrots and onions as soon as done; when done take out the feet and skim off all the fat, leave it in the stock till three parts cold, then take it up, place it in a deep dish-cover, take off the string, and strain the stock through a sieve over it, then lay another dish upon the beef, upon which place a twenty-eight pounds weight, and leave it till quite cold, warm the stock and pass it through a napkin, season a little more if required, and place it in a mould upon ice, dress the beef on a dish, glaze it nicely, dress the onions at each end and the carrots in pyramid at each side, cut the stock when firm in croutons, with which garnish the beef tastefully and serve; should the stock be thick clarify it as directed for consommé (No. 134); it is not, however, required to be very clear. To carve it must be cut in slices crosswise.
No. 986. Ribs of Beef à la Bolingbroke.
Proceed with the beef just as in the last, but put a roll of veal stuffing (No. 127) in the centre, the carrots and onions only being required for flavour are cut in small slices; press your beef as in the last, but thicken the stock with a little roux to form a thin brown sauce, with which make a good sauce piquante (No. 27), which flavour slightly with a little scraped garlic, place the beef in your dish, and the sauce upon ice, when nearly cold and ready to set pour it over, sprinkling the top with grated crust of bread, with which you have mixed some chopped gherkins, it is then ready to serve.
No. 987. Filet de Bœuf froid à la Bohémienne.
Prepare and lard a fillet of beef as directed for the Removes (No. 417), then put it in a basin in which you have put the following marinade: four onions in slices, one carrot, a head of celery, ten sprigs of thyme, eight bay-leaves, two cloves of garlic, and a little parsley, which pass in half a pound of butter in a stewpan over a sharp fire five minutes, then add one quart of vinegar, one of water, two ounces of salt, and half a pound of brown sugar, with twenty peppercorns, ten cloves, and two blades of mace, boil half an hour, but do not put in the fillet till the marinade is cold, let remain a week, and when wanted put it in a braising-pan with one quart of the marinade and two of veal stock or consommé (No. 134), place it over a slow fire, and stew gently for two or three hours, depending upon the size, take it out and place it in a dish to cool, with a little stock over it, skim the remainder and pass it through a napkin into a stewpan, place it upon the fire, reduce it to half, skim it well, add a little clarified isinglass (No. 1372) sufficient to set it as a delicate aspic, six spoonfuls of tomata sauce, and a little red currant jelly; having trimmed and dished the fillet, sauce over, when quite cold garnish with a border of plovers’ eggs, and decorate three silver atelettes, by placing a fine dressed cockscomb at the top, a fine truffle beneath, and a plover’s egg, ornamented with truffles at the bottom, stick them in the fillet, one slanting at each end, and the other upright in the centre, it is then ready to serve.
No. 988. Filets de Bœuf farcis à la Dr. Johnson.
Trim a nice small fillet about fifteen inches long, and cut off the thickest part of the thin end, then with a long knife cut a deep incision down the thin side, lengthwise, which fill with a pound of veal forcemeat (No. 120), with which you have mixed some ox-tongue, truffles, and hard-boiled whites of eggs, cut into good-sized fillets, season with a little chopped eschalots, then cover the fillet with leaves of celery as large as you can get them, over which also lay slices of cooked ham, and envelope the whole in thin slices of fat bacon, tie it up with string, then place it in a braising-pan with two calves’ feet, and half cover it with good stock, place it on a slow fire and stew it two hours and a half, or until tender, which try with a trussing-needle, take it up and leave it on a dish to get cold; then pass the stock through a sieve into a stewpan, and place it upon the ice to set, when firm take off all the fat, wash the top with hot water to take off all the grease, then clarify it as directed for aspic (No. 1360), and pass it through a napkin, trim the fillet at each end lightly, leaving the top untouched, when quite cold have ready a long mould and pour a little of the clarified stock into it half an inch in depth, place it on the ice, and when set ornament it with fillets of truffles, tongue, and whites of hard-boiled eggs, which cover carefully with more of the clarified stock half an inch thick; when quite set lay in the fillet of beef, the top downwards, and fill the mould with the remainder of the jelly; when set turn it out of the mould upon a dish by dipping the mould in warm water, garnish round with stoned olives and the remainder of the clarified stock; you may also stick atelettes on the top, ornamented tastefully. If you cannot procure a mould place the fillet upon a dish, and garnish it tastefully with croutons of aspic.