Science in the Kitchen / A Scientific Treatise On Food Substances and Their Dietetic Properties, Together with a Practical Explanation of the Principles of Healthful Cookery, and a Large Number of Original, Palatable, and Wholesome Recipes

by E. E. Kellogg

RECIPES.

Broiled Beef.—Beef for broiling should be juicy and have a tender fiber. Steaks cut from three parts of the beef are in request for this purpose,—tenderloin, porterhouse, and round steak. The last-named is the more common and economical, yet it is inferior in juice and tenderness to the other two. Steak should be cut three fourths of an inch or more in thickness. If it is of the right quality, do not pound it; if very tough, beat with a steak-mallet or cut across it several times on both sides with a sharp knife. Wipe, and remove any bone and superfluous fat. Have the fire in readiness, the plates heating, then proceed as directed on [page 398].

Cold-Meat Stew.—Cut pieces of cold roast beef into thick slices and put into a stewpan with six or eight potatoes, a good-sized bunch of celery cut into small pieces; and a small carrot cut in dice may be added if the flavor is liked. Cover with hot water, and simmer for three fourths of an hour. Thicken with a little browned flour.

Pan-broiled Steak.—In the absence of the necessary appliances for broiling over coals, the following method may be employed. Heat a clean skillet to blue heat, rub it with a bit of suet, just enough to keep the meat from sticking, but leave no fat in the pan. Lay in the steak, pressing it down to the pan, and sear quickly on one side; turn, and without cutting into the meat, sear upon the other. Keep the skillet hot but do not scorch; cook from five to ten minutes, turning frequently, so as not to allow the juices to escape. Add no salt until done. Serve on hot plates. This method is not frying, and requires the addition of no water, butter, or stock.

Pan-broiled Steak No.2.—Take a smooth pancake-griddle, or in lieu of anything better, a clean stove-griddle may be used; heat very hot and sear each side of the steak upon it. When well seared, lift the steak into a hot granite-ware or sheet-iron pan, cover, and put into a hot oven for two or three minutes, or until sufficiently cooked.

Roast Beef.—The sirloin and rib and rump pieces are the best cuts for roasting. Wipe, trim, and skewer into shape. Sear the cut surfaces and proceed as directed on [page 397], cooking twenty minutes to the pound if it is to be rare, less half an hour deducted on account of soaring. The application of salt and water has a tendency to toughen the meat and draw out its juices; so if it is desired to have the meat juicy and tender, it is better to cook without basting. Unless the heat of the oven is allowed to become too great, when meat is cooked after this manner there will be a quantity of rich, jelly-like material in the pan, which with the addition of a little water and flour may be made into a gravy.

Smothered Beef.—Portions from the round, middle, or face of the rump are generally considered best for preparing this dish. Wipe with a clean wet cloth, put into a smoking-hot skillet, and carefully sear all cut surfaces. Put into a kettle, adding for a piece of beef weighing about six pounds, one cup of hot water. Cover closely and cook at a temperature just below boiling, until the meat is tender but not broken. As the water boils away, enough more boiling water may be added to keep the meat from burning. Another method of securing the same results is to cut the beef into small pieces and put into a moderate oven inside a tightly covered jar for an hour. Afterward increase the heat and cook closely covered until the meat is tender. Thicken and season the juice, and serve as a gravy.

Vegetables with Stewed Beef.—Prepare the beef as directed for Stewed Beef, and when nearly tender, add six or eight potatoes. Just before serving, thicken the gravy with a little browned flour braided in cold water, and add a cup of strained, stewed tomato and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley.

Stewed Beef.—The aitch-bone and pieces from the shin, the upper part of the chuck-rib and neck of beef, are the parts most commonly used for stewing. All meat for stews should be carefully dressed and free from blood. Those portions which have bone and fat, as well as lean beef, make much better-flavored stews than pieces which are wholly lean. The bones, however, should not be crushed or splintered, but carefully sawed or broken, and any small pieces removed before cooking. It is generally considered that beef which has been previously browned makes a much more savory stew, and it is quite customary first to brown the meat by frying in hot fat. A much more wholesome method, and one which will have the same effect as to flavor, is to add to the stew the remnants of roasts or steak. It is well when selecting meat for a stew to procure a portion, which, like the aitch-bone, has enough juicy meat upon it to serve the first day as a roast for a small family. Cut the meat for a stew into small pieces suitable for serving, add boiling water, and cook as directed on [page 396]. Remove all pieces of bone and the fat before serving. If the stew is made of part cooked and part uncooked meat, the cooked meat should not be added until the stew is nearly done. The liquor, if not of the proper consistency when the meat is tender, may be thickened by adding a little flour braided in cold water, cooking these after four or five minutes.