BEEF OLIVES.
Ingredients.—2 lbs. of rump-steak, 1 egg, 1 tablespoonful of minced savoury herbs, pepper and salt to taste, 1 pint of stock, 2 or 3 slices of bacon, 2 tablespoonfuls of any kind of store sauce, a slight thickening of butter and flour. Mode.—Have the steaks cut rather thin, beat them to make them level, cut them into 6 or 7 pieces, brush over with egg, and sprinkle with herbs, which should be very finely minced; season with pepper and salt, roll up the pieces tightly, and fasten with a small skewer. Put the stock in a stewpan that will exactly hold the ingredients, for, by being pressed together, they will keep their shape better; lay in the rolls of meat, cover them with the bacon, cut in thin slices, and over that put a piece of paper. Stew them very gently for full 2 hours; for the slower they are done the better. Take them out, remove the skewers, thicken the gravy with butter and flour, and flavour with any store sauce that may be preferred. Give one boil, pour over the meat, and serve. Time.—2 hours. Average cost, 1s. per pound. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons. Seasonable at any time.
BEEF OLIVES (Economical).
[Cold Meat Cookery.] Ingredients.—The remains of underdone cold roast beef, bread-crumbs, 1 shalot finely minced, pepper and salt to taste, gravy made from the beef bones, thickening of butter and flour, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup. Mode.—Cut some slices of underdone roast beef about half an inch thick; sprinkle over them some bread-crumbs, minced shalot, and a little of the fat and seasoning; roll them, and fasten with a small skewer. Have ready some gravy made from the beef bones; put in the pieces of meat, and stew them till tender, which will be in about 1¼ hour, or rather longer. Arrange the meat in a dish, thicken and flavour the gravy, and pour it over the meat, when it is ready to serve. Time.—1½ hour. Average cost, exclusive of the beef, 2d. Seasonable at any time.
BEEF PALATES, to Dress (an Entrée).
Ingredients.—4 palates, sufficient gravy to cover them, cayenne to taste, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, 1 tablespoonful of pickled-onion liquor, thickening of butter and flour. Mode.—Wash the palates, and put them into a stewpan, with sufficient water to cover them, and let them boil until perfectly tender, or until the upper skin may be easily peeled off. Have ready sufficient gravy to cover them; add a good seasoning of cayenne, and thicken with a little butter kneaded with flour; let it boil up, and skim. Cut the palates into square pieces, put them in the gravy, and let them simmer gently for ½ hour; add ketchup and onion-liquor, give one boil, and serve. Time.—From 3 to 5 hours to boil the palates. Sufficient for 4 persons. Seasonable at any time.
Note.—Palates may be dressed in various ways with good onion sauce, tomato sauce, &c., &c., and may also be served in a vol-au-vent; but the above will be found a more simple method of dressing them.
BEEF PICKLE. (This may also be used for any kind of Meat, Tongues, or Hams.)
Ingredients.—6 lbs. of salt, 2 lbs. of fine sugar, 3 oz. of powdered saltpetre, 3 gallons of spring water. Mode.—Boil all the ingredients gently together, so long as any scum or impurity arises, which carefully remove; when quite cold, pour it over the meat, every part of which must be covered with the brine. This may be used for pickling any kind of meat, and may be kept for some time, if boiled up occasionally with an addition of the ingredients. Time.—A ham should be kept in pickle for a fortnight; a piece of beef weighing 14 lbs., 12 or 15 days; a tongue, 10 days or a fortnight.
Note.—For salting and pickling meat, it is a good plan to rub in only half the quantity of salt directed, and to let it remain for a day or two to disgorge and effectually to get rid of the blood and slime; then rub in the remainder of the salt and other ingredients, and proceed as above. This rule may be applied to all recipes for salting and pickling meat.