The Cook's Decameron Part 14

No. 72. Manzo alla Certosina (Fillet of Beef)

Ingredients: Fillet of beef or rump steak, bacon, olive oil, salt, nutmeg, anchovies, herbs, stock, garlic.

Put a piece of very tender rump steak or fillet of beef into a stewpan with two slices of fat bacon and three teaspoonsful of the finest olive oil; season with salt and a tiny pinch of nutmeg; let it cook uncovered, and turn the meat over occasionally. When it is nicely browned add an anchovy minced and mixed with chopped herbs, and a small clove of garlic with one cut across it. Then cover the whole with good stock, put the cover on the stewpan, and when it is all sufficiently cooked, skim the grease off the sauce, pa.s.s it through a sieve, and pour it over the beef. Leave the garlic in for five minutes only.

No. 73. Stufato alla Florentina (Stewed Beef)

Ingredients: Beef, mutton, or veal, onions, rosemary, Burgundy, tomatoes, stock, potatoes, b.u.t.ter, garlic.

Cut up an onion and three leaves of rosemary, fry them slightly in an ounce of b.u.t.ter, then add meat (beef, mutton, or veal), cut into fair-sized pieces, salt it and fry it a little, then pour half a gla.s.s of Burgundy over it, and add two tablespoonsful of tomato conserve, or better still, fresh tomatoes in a puree. Cover up the stewpan and cook gently, stir occasionally, and add some stock if the stew gets too dry.

If you like to add potatoes, cut them up, put them in the stewpan an hour before serving, and cook them with the meat. A clove of garlic with one cut may be added for five minutes.

No. 74. Coscia di Manzo al Forno (Rump Steak)

Ingredients: Rump steak, ham, salt, pepper, spice, fat bacon, onion, stock, white wine.

Lard a bit of good rump steak with bits of lean ham, and season it with salt, pepper, and a little spice, slightly brown it in b.u.t.ter for a few minutes, then cover it with three or four slices of fat bacon and put it into a stewpan with an onion chopped up, a cup of good stock, and half a gla.s.s of white wine; cook with the cover on the stewpan for about an hour. You may add a clove of garlic for ten minutes.

No. 75. Polpettine alla Salsa Piccante (Beef Olives)

Ingredients: Beef steak, b.u.t.ter, onions, stock, sausage meat.

Cut some thin slices of beef steak, and on each place a little forcemeat of fowl or veal, to which add a little sausage meat: roll up the slices of beef and cook them with b.u.t.ter and onions, and when they are well browned pour some stock over them, and let them absorb it. Serve with a tomato sauce (No. 10), or sauce piquante made with a quarter of a pint of rich Espagnole (No. 1), and a dessert-spoonful of New Century sauce (see No. 71 note).

No. 76. Stufato alla Milanese (Stewed Beef)

Ingredients: Rump steak, bacon, ham, salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, b.u.t.ter, onions, Burgundy.

Beat a piece of rump steak to make it tender and lard it well, cut up some bits of fat bacon and dust them over with salt, pepper, and a tiny pinch of cinnamon, and put them on the steak. Stick three cloves into the steak, then put it into a stewpan, add a little of the fat of the beef chopped up, an ounce of b.u.t.ter, an onion cut up, and some bits of lean ham. Put in sufficient stock to cover the steak, add a gla.s.s of Burgundy, and stew gently until it is cooked.

No. 77. Manzo Marinato Arrosto (Marinated Beef)

Ingredients: Beef, salt, larding bacon, Burgundy, vinegar, spices, herbs, flour.

Beat a piece of rump steak, or fillet to make it tender; sprinkle it well with salt and some chopped herbs, and leave it for an hour; then lard it and marinate it as follows: Half a pint of red wine (Australian Harvest Burgundy is best), half a gla.s.s of vinegar, a pinch of spice, and a bouquet of herbs; leave it in this for twenty-four hours then take it out, drain it well sprinkle it with flour, and roast it for twenty minutes before a clear fire, braize it till quite tender, then press and glaze it. The thin end of a sirloin is excellent cooked this way. Serve cold.

No. 78. Manzo con sugo di Barbabietole (Fillet of Beef)

Ingredients: Beef, beetroot, salt.

Cut up three raw beetroots put them into an earthen ware pot and cover them with water. Keep them in some warm place, and allow them to ferment for five, six, or eight days according to the season; the froth at the top of the water will indicate the necessary fermentation. The take out the pieces of beetroot, skim off all the froth, and into the fermented liquor put a good piece of tender rump steak or fillet with some salt.

Braize for four hours and serve.

No. 79. Manzo in Insalata (Marinated Beef)

Ingredients: Beef, oil, salt, pepper, vinegar, parsley, capers, mushrooms, olives, vegetables.

Cook a fillet of beef (or the thin end of a sirloin), which has been previously marinated for two days in oil, salt, pepper, vinegar, and chopped parsley. When cold press and glaze it, garnish it with capers, mushrooms preserved in vinegar or gherkins, olives, and any kind of vegetables marinated like the beef. Serve cold.

No. 80. Filetto di Bue con Pistacchi (Fillets of Beef with Pistacchios)

Ingredients: Fillet of beef, oil, salt, flour, pistacchio nuts, gravy.

Cut a piece of tender beef into little fillets, and put a them in a stewpan with a tablespoonful of olive oil and salt. After they have cooked for a few minutes, powder them with flour, and strew over each fillet some chopped pistacchio nuts. Add a few spoonsful of very good boiling gravy, and cook for another half-hour.

No. 81. Scalopini di Riso (Beef with Risotto)

Ingredients: Rump steak, b.u.t.ter, rice, truffles, tongue, stock, mushrooms.

Slightly stew a bit of rump steak with bits of tongue and mushrooms; let it get cold, and cut it into scallops. b.u.t.ter a pie dish, and garnish the bottom of it with cooked tongue and slices of cooked truffle, then over this put a layer of well-cooked and seasoned risotto (No. 190), then a layer of the scallops of beef, and then another layer of risotto.

Heat in a bain-marie, and turn out of the pie dish, and serve with a very good sauce poured round it.

No. 82. Tenerumi alla Piemontese (Tendons of Veal)

Ingredients: Tendons of veal, fowl forcemeat, truffles, risotto (No.

190), a c.o.c.k's comb, tongue.

Tendons of veal are that part of the breast which lies near the ribs, and forms an opaque gristly substance. Partly braize a fine bit of this joint, and press it between two plates till cold. Cut it up into fillets, and on each spread a thin layer of fowl forcemeat, and decorate with slices of truffle. Put the fillets into a stewpan, cover them with very good stock, and boil till the forcemeat and truffles are quite cooked. Prepare a risotto all'Italiana (No. 190), put it on a dish and decorate it with bits of red tongue cut into shapes, and in the centre put a whole cooked truffle and a white c.o.c.k's comb, both on a silver skewer. Place the tendons of veal round the dish. Add a good Espagnole sauce (No. 1) and serve.