The round of beef is the best piece to alamode—the shoulder clod is good, and comes lower; it is also good stewed, without any spices. For five pounds of beef, soak about a pound of bread in cold water till soft, then drain off the water, mash the bread fine, put in a piece of butter, of the size of a hen’s egg, half a tea spoonful of salt, the same quantity of ground cloves, allspice, and pepper, half a nutmeg, a couple of eggs, and a table spoonful of flour—mix the whole well together; then cut gashes in the beef, and fill them with about half of the dressing, put the meat in a bake-pan, with lukewarm water enough to cover it; set it where it will stew gently for a couple of hours, cover it with a heated bake pan lid. When it has stewed a couple of hours, turn the reserved dressing on top of the meat, heat the bake pan lid hot enough to brown the dressing, stew it an hour and a half longer. After the meat is taken up, if the gravy is not thick enough, mix a tea spoonful or two of flour with a little water, and stir it into the gravy; put in a little butter, a wine glass of wine, and turn it over the meat.
Liver is very good fried, but the best way to cook it, is to broil it ten minutes, with four or five slices of salt pork. Then take it, cut it into small strips together with the pork, put it in a stew pan, with a little water, butter, and pepper. Stew it four or five minutes.
To every gallon of cold water, put a quart of rock salt, an ounce of salt-petre, quarter of a pound of brown sugar—(some people use molasses, but it is not as good)—no boiling is necessary. Put the beef in the brine. As long as any salt remains at the bottom of the cask it is strong enough. Whenever any scum rises, the brine should be scalded, skimmed, and more sugar, salt and salt-petre added. When a piece of beef is put in the brine, rub a little salt over it. If the weather is hot, cut a gash to the bone of the meat, and fill it with salt. Put a heavy weight on the beef in order to keep it under the brine. In very hot weather, it is difficult to corn beef in cold brine before it spoils. On this account it is good to corn it in the pot when boiled. It is done in the following manner; to six or eight pounds of beef, put a tea cup of salt, sprinkle flour on the side that is to go up on the table, and put it down in the pot, turn the water into the pot after the beef is put in, boil it a couple of hours, then turn in more cold water, and boil it an hour and a half longer.
The saddle is the best part to roast—the shoulder and leg are good roasted; but the best mode to cook the latter, is to boil it with a piece of salt pork. A little rice boiled with it, improves the looks of it. Mutton for roasting, should have a little butter rubbed on it, and a little salt and pepper sprinkled on it—some people like cloves and allspice. Put a small piece of butter in the dripping pan, and baste it frequently. The bony side should be turned towards the fire first, and roasted. For boiling or roasting mutton, allow a quarter of an hour to each pound of meat. The leg is good cut in gashes, and filled with a dressing, and baked. The dressing is made of soaked bread, a little butter, salt, and pepper, and a couple of eggs. A pint of water with a little butter should be put in the pan. The leg is also good, cut into slices and broiled. It is good corned a few days, and then boiled. The rack is good for broiling—it should be divided, each bone by itself, broiled quick, and buttered, salted and peppered. The breast of mutton is nice baked. The joints of the brisket should be separated, the sharp ends of the ribs sawed off, the outside rubbed over with a little piece of butter—salt it, and put it in a bake pan, with a pint of water. When done, take it up, and thicken the gravy with a little flour and water, and put in a small piece of butter. A table spoonful of catsup, cloves and allspice, improve it, but are not essential. The neck of mutton makes a good soup. Parsely or celery-heads are a pretty garnish for mutton.
The loin of veal is the best piece for roasting. The breast and rack are good roasted. The breast also is good made into a pot pie, and the rack cut into small pieces and broiled. The leg is nice for frying, and when several slices have been cut off for cutlets, the remainder is nice boiled with a small piece of salt pork. Veal for roasting should be salted, peppered, and a little butter rubbed on it, and basted frequently. Put a little water in the dripping pan, and unless the meat is quite fat, a little butter should be put in. The fillet is good baked, the bone should be cut out, and the place filled with a dressing, made of bread soaked soft in cold water, a little salt, pepper, a couple of eggs, and a table spoonful of melted butter put in—then sew it up, put it in your bake pan, with about a pint of water, cover the top of the meat with some of the dressing. When baked sufficiently, take it up, thicken the gravy with a little flour and water well mixed, put in a small piece of butter, and a little wine and catsup, if you like the gravy rich.