The Jewish Manual Part 8

Cut thin slices off from any tender part, divide them into pieces of the size of a wine biscuit, flatten and flour them, and lightly fry in clarified fat, lay them in a stew-pan with good stock, season to taste, have pickled gherkins chopped small, and add to the gravy a few minutes before serving.

TO WARM COLD ROAST BEEF WHEN NOT SUFFICIENTLY DONE.

Cut it in slices, also slice some beetroot or cuc.u.mber and put them in a saucepan with a little gravy which need not be strong, two table-spoonsful of vinegar, one of oil, pepper, salt, a little chopped lettuce and a few peas, simmer till the vegetables and meat are sufficiently dressed.

TO HASH BEEF.

The meat should be put on the fire in a little broth or gravy, with a little fried onion, pepper, salt, and a spoonful of ketchup, or any other sauce at hand, let it simmer for about ten minutes, then mix in a cup a little flour with a little of the gravy, and pour it into the stewpan to thicken the rest; sippets of toast should be served with hashes, a little port wine, a pinch of saffron, or a piece _chorisa_ may be considered great improvements.

STEAKS WITH CHESNUTS.

Take a fine thick steak, half fry it, then flour and place it in a stewpan with a little good beef gravy, season with cayenne pepper and salt, when it has simmered for about ten minutes, add a quarter of a hundred good chesnuts, peeled and the inner skin sc.r.a.ped off, let them stew with the steak till well done, this is a very nice dish, a little Espagnole sauce heightens the flavor.

A SIMPLE STEWED STEAK.

Put a fine steak in a stewpan with a large piece of clarified suet or fat, and a couple of onions sliced, let the steak fry for a few minutes, turning it several times; then cover the steak with gravy, or even water will answer the purpose, with a tea-cup full of b.u.t.ton onions, or a Spanish onion sliced, a little lemon peel, pepper, salt, and a little allspice; simmer till the steak is done, when the steak must be removed and the gravy be carefully skimmed, then add to it a little browning and a spoonful of mushroom ketchup; the steak must be kept on a hot stove or returned to the stewpan to warm up. If the gravy is not thick enough, stir in a little flour.

BRISKET STEWED WITH ONIONS AND RAISINS.

Stew about five pounds of brisket of beef in sufficient water to cover, season with allspice, pepper, salt, and nutmeg, and when nearly done, add four large onions cut in pieces and half a pound of raisins stoned, let them remain simmering till well done; and just before serving, stir in a tea-spoonful of brown sugar and a table spoonful of flour.

BRISKET STEWED.

Take about six or seven pounds of brisket of beef, place it in a stewpan with only enough water to cover it, season with a little spice tied in a bag; when the meat is tender and the spices sufficiently extracted to make the gravy rich and strong, part of it must be removed to another saucepan; have ready a variety of vegetables cut into small shapes, such as turnips, carrots, mushrooms, cauliflowers, or whatever may be in season; stew them gently till tender in the gravy, the meat must then be glazed and the gravy poured in the dish, and the vegetables arranged round.

BEEF RAGOUT.

Take a small well cut piece of lean beef, lard it with the fat of smoked beef, and stew it with good gravy, highly seasoned with allspice, cloves, pepper and salt; when the meat is well done remove it from the gravy, which skim carefully and free from every particle of fat, and add to it a gla.s.s of port wine, the juice of a lemon, half a tea-spoonful of cayenne pepper, and a little mushroom ketchup; the beef should be glazed when required to have an elegant appearance.

A few very small forcemeat b.a.l.l.s must be poached in the gravy, which must be poured over the meat, and the b.a.l.l.s arranged round the dish; this is a very savoury and pretty dish.

TO SALT BEEF.

This may be done by mixing a pound of common salt, half an ounce of saltpetre and one ounce of coa.r.s.e brown sugar, and rubbing the meat well with it, daily for a fortnight or less, according to the weather, and the degree of salt that the meat is required to have. Or by boiling eight ounces of salt, eight ounces of sugar, and half an ounce of saltpetre in two quarts of water, and pouring it over the meat, and letting it stand in it for eight or ten days.

SPICED BEEF.

Take a fine thick piece of brisket of beef not fat, let it lay three days in a pickle, as above, take it out and rub in a mixture of spices consisting of equal quant.i.ties of ground all-spice, black pepper, cloves, ginger and nutmegs, and a little brown sugar, repeat this daily for a week, then cover it with pounded dried sweet herbs, roll or tie it tightly, put it into a pan with very little water, and bake slowly for eight hours, then take it out, untie it and put a heavy weight upon it; this it a fine relish when eaten cold.

SMOKED BEEF.

As there are seldom conveniences in private kitchens for smoking meats, it will generally be the best and cheapest plan to have them ready prepared for cooking. All kinds of meats smoked and salted, are to be met with in great perfection at all the Hebrew butchers.

_Chorisa_, that most refined and savoury of all sausages, is to be also procured at the same places. It is not only excellent fried in slices with poached eggs or stewed with rice, but imparts a delicious flavor to stews, soups, and sauces, and is one of the most useful resources of the Jewish kitchen.

A WHITE FRICANDEAU OF VEAL.

Take four or five pounds of breast of veal, or fillet from the shoulder; stuff it with a finely flavoured veal stuffing and put it into a stewpan with water sufficient to cover it, a calf's-foot cut in pieces is sometimes added, season with one onion, a blade of mace, white pepper and salt, and a sprig of parsley, stew the whole gently until the meat is quite tender, then skim and strain the gravy and stir in the beaten yolks of four eggs, and the juice of two lemons previously mixed smoothly with a portion of the gravy, b.u.t.ton mushrooms, or pieces of celery stewed with the veal are sometimes added by way of varying the flavor, egg and forcemeat b.a.l.l.s garnish the dish. When required to look elegant it should be pique.

A BROWN FRICa.s.sEE.

Cut a breast of veal in pieces, fry them lightly and put them into a stewpan with a good beef gravy, seasoned with white pepper, salt, a couple of sliced onions (previously browned in a little oil), and a piece of whole ginger, let it simmer very slowly for two hours taking care to remove the sc.u.m or fat, have ready some rich forcemeat and spread it about an inch thick over three cold hard boiled eggs, fry these for a few moments and put them in the saucepan with the veal; before serving, these b.a.l.l.s should be cut in quarters, and the gravy rendered more savory by the addition of lemon juice and half a gla.s.s of white wine, or a table-spoonful of walnut liquor, if the gravy is not sufficiently thick by long stewing, a little browned flour may be stirred in.

CALF'S HEAD STEWED.

Clean and soak the head till the cheek-bone can be easily removed, then parboil it and cut it into pieces of moderate size, and place them in about a quart of stock made from shin of beef, the gravy must be seasoned highly with eschalots, a small head of celery, a small bunch of sweet herbs, an onion, a carrot, a little mace, a dozen cloves, a piece of lemon peel, and a sprig of parsley, salt and pepper; it must be strained before the head is added, fine forcemeat b.a.l.l.s rolled in egg and fried are served in the dish, as well as small fritters made with the brains; when ready for serving, a gla.s.s and half of white wine and the juice of a lemon are added to the gravy.

CALVES-FEET WITH SPANISH SAUCE.

Having cleaned, boiled and split two fine feet, dip them into egg and bread crumbs mixed with chopped parsley and chalot, a few ground cloves, a little nutmeg, pepper and salt, fry them a fine brown, arrange them in the dish and pour the sauce over. Make the sauce in the following manner: slice two fine Spanish onions, put them in a saucepan, with some chopped truffles or mushrooms, a little suet, cayenne and white pepper, salt, one or two small lumps of white sugar, and let all simmer in some good strong stock till the gravy has nearly boiled away, then stir in a wine gla.s.s of Madeira wine, and a little lemon juice; it should then be returned to the saucepan, to be made thoroughly hot before serving.

CALF'S FEET AU FRITUR.

Simmer them for four hours in water till the meat can be taken easily from the bone, then cut them in handsome pieces, season with pepper and salt, dip them in egg, and sprinkle thickly with grated bread crumbs, and fry of a fine even brown; they may be served dry or with any sauce that may be approved.

The liquor should continue to stew with the bones, and can be used for jelly.