Divide them at the joints. Scald or parboil, then brown them in a stew-pan, with a little piece of butter, to keep from burning. Stew them slowly till tender, in broth or water, enough to make sufficient gravy, seasoned with salt, pepper, cayenne, chopped parsley, and a spoonful of made mustard. Thicken the gravy with brown flour. If you approve, put into the stew three onions (one brown), two carrots, and a bay leaf; or you may boil some cut carrots and turnips, stew them in melted butter, and serve round the pieces of meat in the gravy.
Irish Stew.
This excellent dish is made of mutton or beef. Chops cut from a loin or neck of mutton, trimmed of most of the fat, and well seasoned with salt, pepper, and spices. Parboil and skin as many potatoes as you think enough, the proportion is 4 lbs. weight to 2 lbs. of meat. Peel 8 or 10 onions (for 4 lbs. meat), lay some sliced suet at the bottom of the stew-pan, or a tea-cupful of melted butter, put in a layer of potatoes sliced, a layer of chops, slice a layer of onions over, then potatoes and mutton, and so on, the top layer potato; pour in half a pint of broth or water. A shank or small piece of ham is an improvement. This should stew very slowly; when the meat is tender the potatoes may be boiled to a mash, therefore have some boiled whole, by themselves. Beef steaks, and any of the coarser parts, make a better stew than mutton.
Rump Steaks to Stew.
The steaks should be of one thickness, about ¾ of an inch. Put about 1 oz. of butter into a stew-pan, and 2 onions sliced, lay in the steaks, and let them brown nicely on one side, then turn them to brown on the other side. Boil a large tea-cupful of button onions three quarters of an hour, strain, and pour the liquor over the steaks; if not enough to cover them, put a little more water or broth, add salt, and 10 peppercorns. Stew them very gently half an hour, then strain off as much of the liquor as you want for sauce; put it into a saucepan, thicken with brown flour, or roux, add catsup, a little cayenne, also a glass of red wine. Lay the steaks in a dish, and pour the sauce over. The boiled onions may be laid over the steaks. Mushrooms stewed with steaks are an improvement; 2 or 3 tomatas, also, will help to enrich the stew, and about 4 pickled walnuts may be put in. Harvey's and Reading sauces may be used to flavour, also chili or eschalot vinegar. With Cucumbers, or Potatoes.—Having your steak either broiled or fried, pour over it the following:—3 large cucumbers and 3 onions, pared, sliced, browned in the frying-pan, and then stewed till tender in ½ pint of gravy or water.—Or: cut the under side of the sirloin into steaks, broil them three parts, rub a piece of butter over each, and finish in the Dutch oven: serve them on potatoes, parboiled, cut in slices and browned.—Italian Steak: have a large tender one, season it with salt, pepper, and onion, or eschalot: put it, without any water, into an iron stew-pan, with a close-fitting lid, and set it by the side of a strong fire, but do not let it burn: in 2 hours, or a little more, it will be tender: serve, in its own gravy.
Rolled Beef Steaks.
Prepare a forcemeat of the breast of a fowl, ½ lb. veal, ¼ lb. ham, fat and lean, the kidney of a loin of veal, and a sweetbread, all cut very small, also a few truffles and morells stewed, an eschalot, a little parsley, thyme and grated lemon peel, the yolks of 2 eggs, ½ a nutmeg and ¼ pint of cream, stir this mixture over the fire ten minutes, then spread it on very tender steaks, roll them up and skewer them; fry them of a fine brown, then take them from the fat, and stew them a quarter of an hour with a pint of beef gravy, a spoonful of catsup, a wine-glassful of Port wine, and, if you can, a few mushrooms. Cut the steaks in two, serve them the cut side uppermost, and the gravy round. Garnish with lemon or pickled mushrooms.—The forcemeat may be less rich, according to what you have.
A fillet of beef, namely, the under cut of the rump, makes very nice steaks; cut in pieces ¼ inch in thickness, put them on the gridiron over a sharp fire, season them whilst broiling with pepper and salt, and turn them often, to keep the gravy in. Make a sauce of the yolks of 4 eggs, ½ lb. butter, in slices, salt, pepper, the juice of ½ a lemon, and a little chopped parsley; keep stirring it over the fire in every direction, till rather thick, then take it off and keep stirring until the butter is melted; if too thick, add milk or cream, and pour round the steak.
Beef Olives.
Cut slices, of ½ an inch thick, about 5 long, and 3 inches broad. Beat, dip them in egg, then in a seasoning of chopped herbs, bread-crumbs, salt, mixed spices, and a little finely shred suet. Roll up and fasten them with thread. These may be roasted in a Dutch oven, or stewed in clear gravy, after being browned in the frying pan. Thicken the gravy, and add catsup and walnut pickle; dish the olives, skim, and pour the gravy hot over them. They may be made of slices of cold roast beef, forcemeat spread over them, and when neatly tied up, stewed in gravy, or boiling water, with brown flour rubbed in butter, to thicken it.—Or: spread on the slices of beef this mixture; mashed potatoes worked to a paste, with cream, the yolks of 2 eggs, and 1 spoonful of flour, seasoned with salt and pepper; when this is spread on the slices, strew over each a very little finely chopped onion, parsley, and mushrooms; roll the olives up, fry in butter, or bake in a Dutch oven.