BEEF, to Pickle part of a Round, for Hanging.
Ingredients.—For 14 lbs. of a round of beef allow 1½ lb. of salt, ½ oz. of powdered saltpetre; or, 1 lb. of salt, ½ lb. of sugar, ½ oz. of powdered saltpetre. Mode.—Rub in, and sprinkle either of the above mixtures on 14 lbs. of meat. Keep it in an earthenware pan, or a deep wooden tray, and turn twice a week during 3 weeks; then bind up the beef tightly with coarse linen tape, and hang it in a kitchen in which a fire is constantly kept, for 3 weeks. Pork, hams, and bacon may be cured in a similar way, but will require double the quantity of the salting mixture; and, if not smoke-dried, they should be taken down from hanging after 3 or 4 weeks, and afterwards kept in boxes or tubs, amongst dry oat-husks. Time.—2 or 3 weeks to remain in the brine, to be hung 3 weeks. Seasonable at any time.
Note.—The meat may be boiled fresh from this pickle, instead of smoking it.
BEEF SAUSAGES.
Ingredients.—To every lb. of suet allow 2 lbs. of lean beef; seasoning to taste of salt, pepper, and mixed spices. Mode.—Clear the suet from skin, and chop that and the beef as finely as possible; season with pepper, salt, and spices, and mix the whole well together. Make it into flat cakes, and fry of a nice brown. Many persons pound the meat in a mortar after it is chopped, but this is not necessary when the meat is minced finely. Time.—10 minutes. Average cost, for this quantity, 1s. 6d. Seasonable at any time.
BEEF, Roast Sirloin of.
ROAST SIRLOIN OF BEEF.
Ingredients.—Beef, a little salt. Mode.—As a joint cannot be well roasted without a good fire, see that it is well made up about ¾ hour before it is required, so that when the joint is put down, it is clear and bright. Choose a nice sirloin, the weight of which should not exceed 16 lbs., as the outside would be too much done, whilst the inside would not be done enough. Spit it or hook it on to the jack firmly, dredge it slightly with flour, and place it near the fire at first. Then draw it to a distance, and keep continually basting until the meat is done. Dish the meat, sprinkle a small quantity of salt over it, empty the dripping-pan of all the dripping, pour in some boiling water, stir it about, and strain over the meat. Garnish with tufts of horseradish, and send horseradish sauce and Yorkshire pudding to table with it. Time.—A sirloin of 10 lbs., 2½ hours; 14 to 16 lbs., about 4 or 4½ hours. Average cost, 8½d. per lb. Sufficient.—A joint of 10 lbs. for 8 or 9 persons. Seasonable at any time. The rump, round, and other pieces of beef are roasted in the same manner, allowing for solid joints ¼ hour to every lb.
Note.—The above is the usual method of roasting meat; but to have it in perfection and the juices kept in, the meat should at first be laid close to the fire, and when the outside is set and firm, drawn away to a good distance, and then left to roast very slowly. Where economy is studied, this plan would not answer, as the meat requires to be at the fire double the time of the ordinary way of cooking; consequently, double the quantity of fuel would be consumed.