Mrs. Lincoln's Boston cook book

Four to six pounds of beef from the lower part of the round or face of the rump. Trim, and rub well with salt, pepper, and flour. Cut two small onions into dice, and fry them until light brown in salt pork fat or drippings. Skim them out into a braising-pan or large granite pan ; then brown the meat all over, adding more fat if needed. Put the meat into the pan on skewers, to keep it from sticking, with the onions around, not under, the meat. Add one quart of boiling water and one tablespoonful of mixed herbs, which should be tied in a small piece of strainer cloth. Cover closely, putting a brick on the cover to keep it down, and cook in a moderate oven four hours, basting every twenty minutes. Turn over after two hours ; add more water as it evaporates, so as to have one pint left for grav}^ When tender, take up the meat, remove the fat and bag of herbs from the gravy ; add more salt and pepper, and if desired add lemon juice, tomato,, or mushrooms; thicken with two tablespoonfuls of flour ^ wet in a little cold water. Cook ten minutes, and pour the gravy over the meat. Garnish with potato balls, boiled onions, or with vegetables \ la Jardiniere, Horseradish sauce may be served with the meat. This is a very nutritious, palatable, and convenient way of cooking the cheaper parts of beef, a cushion of veal, tongues, fowls, liver, and some other kinds of meat. The meat is equally good cold or hot ; there is no waste if care be taken not to let it become hard and dry The Boston Cook Book. by being exposed to the air. This method of cooking commends itself especially to those who " are tired of roasted, boiled, or fried meat." Beef a la Mode. Four to six pounds from the under part of the round of beef^ cut thick. Wipe, and trim off the rough edges. Put it in a deep earthen dish, and pour over it spiced vinegar, made b}^ boiling for five minutes one cup of vinegar, one onion, chopped fine ^ three teaspoonfuls of salt^ and half a teaspoonful each of mustard^ pepper^ cloves, and allspice. Let the meat stand several hours, turning it often. Then daub it with ten or twelve strips of salt pork, cut one third of an inch wide, and as long as the meat is thick, inserting them with a iarding-needle or carving-steel. Or make large incisions and stuff with bread crumbs, highlj^ seasoned with salt, pepper, onions, thyme, marjoram, etc., moistened with hot water; one tablespoonful of butter, and one well-beaten egg. Tie it into good shape with a narrow strip of cotton cloth, to keep in the stuffing. Dredge with flour. Cut two onions, half a carrot, and half a turnip fine, and fry them in fat or drippings until brown. Put them in the stewpan. Then brown the meat all over in the fat ; put it on a trivet in the pan, and half cover with boiling water. Add one tablespoonful of mixed herbs, tied in a small strainer cloth. Cover closely, and simmer four hours, or until tender. Take it up carefully, remove the strings, and put it on a large platter. Kemove the fat from the gravy, add more seasoning, and thicken with flour wet in a little cold water I boil eight minutes, and strain it over the meat. Garnish with potato balls and small onions, - Beef Stew with Dumplings.