To begin with, the meat must be carefully pre-
pared, first cut from the bone and then trimmed in
order to free it from all skin, gristle, burnt pieces,
or in fact any parts that arc not eatable. The
amount of fat that may be left depends very much
on the kind of meat and the manner in which it
is to be treated. The meat should either be cut
in thin slices, in tiny cubes or dice, or minced by
putting it through the mincing machine.
Then some good sauce or stock will nearly always
be required in the re-heating, and, if this is not
already at hand, the bones and trimmings should be
utilised for the purpose. The bones should be broken
small and put with the trimmings into a saucepan
with cold water to cover them. Seasoning and
small pieces of flavouring vegetable should then be
added and the whole allowed to simmer by the
side of the fire until all the flavour is extracted.
Then strain and use the liquor thus obtained for
making a gravy or sauce for the meat.
As a rule it will be found an improvement to
use a little ham, tongue, or other salted meat along
with fresh meat, as it will help to give flavour;
2 oz. salted to \ lb. fresh meat being a very good
proportion. The seasoning to be added will de-
pend very much on the kind of meat used. For
white meats a little white or light-coloured sauce
is always suitable, also cream, lemon, white wine,
yolks of eggs, &c. For the darker meats and game
a more tasty sauce may be used, such as piquante,
tomato, or brown, and a little rfed wine and red
currant or other sharp jelly may be added where
suitable.
One very important point to remember in the
re-heating of meat is that it must not be allowed
to over-cook, as this will only make it woolly and
tasteless. This applies specially to meat that is
re-heated in a sauce of any kind, as for instance a
hash. The sauce should be made and thoroughly
cooked to begin with, then the meat, properly
prepared, put into it and simply allowed to heat
through. The best way to do this is au bain marie,
that is, by placing the saucepan containing the meat
and sauce in a larger saucepan with hot water
round it. By this means the heating process can
be carried on without any danger of the meat
boiling in the sauce.
To Fry In Boiling Fat (Wet Frying)
As this method of cooking is so much employed
in cold meat cookery, it may be as well to insert
it here.
French or wet frying means cooking in a large
quantity of fat, sufficient to cover the article to be
fried. Clarified fat, oil, or lard may be used for
the purpose, but butter must never be taken, as
it is apt to burn. Clarified beef fat is about the
best medium to use, and it is much less expensive
than oil. The quantity of fat required will depend
on the number and size of the articles to be fried,
there must always be sufficient to well cover them.
It should be put into a plain iron stewpan, neither
tinned nor enamelled, as the great heat of the fat
would destroy both these linings.
Page 396
Presented as published in 1914. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
To begin with, the meat must be carefully prepared, first cut from the bone and then trimmed in order to free it from all skin, gristle, burnt pieces, or in fact any parts that arc not eatable. The amount of fat that may be left depends very much on the kind of meat and the manner in which it is to be treated. The meat should either be cut in thin slices, in tiny cubes or dice, or minced by putting it through the mincing machine.
Then some good sauce or stock will nearly always be required in the re-heating, and, if this is not already at hand, the bones and trimmings should be utilised for the purpose. The bones should be broken small and put with the trimmings into a saucepan with cold water to cover them. Seasoning and small pieces of flavouring vegetable should then be added and the whole allowed to simmer by the side of the fire until all the flavour is extracted. Then strain and use the liquor thus obtained for making a gravy or sauce for the meat.
As a rule it will be found an improvement to use a little ham, tongue, or other salted meat along with fresh meat, as it will help to give flavour; 2 oz. salted to \ lb. fresh meat being a very good proportion. The seasoning to be added will depend very much on the kind of meat used. For white meats a little white or light-coloured sauce is always suitable, also cream, lemon, white wine, yolks of eggs, &c. For the darker meats and game a more tasty sauce may be used, such as piquante, tomato, or brown, and a little rfed wine and red currant or other sharp jelly may be added where suitable.
One very important point to remember in the re-heating of meat is that it must not be allowed to over-cook, as this will only make it woolly and tasteless. This applies specially to meat that is re-heated in a sauce of any kind, as for instance a hash. The sauce should be made and thoroughly cooked to begin with, then the meat, properly prepared, put into it and simply allowed to heat
through. The best way to do this is au bain marie, that is, by placing the saucepan containing the meat and sauce in a larger saucepan with hot water round it. By this means the heating process can be carried on without any danger of the meat boiling in the sauce.
To Fry In Boiling Fat (Wet Frying)
As this method of cooking is so much employed in cold meat cookery, it may be as well to insert it here.
French or wet frying means cooking in a large quantity of fat, sufficient to cover the article to be fried. Clarified fat, oil, or lard may be used for the purpose, but butter must never be taken, as it is apt to burn. Clarified beef fat is about the best medium to use, and it is much less expensive than oil. The quantity of fat required will depend on the number and size of the articles to be fried, there must always be sufficient to well cover them. It should be put into a plain iron stewpan, neither tinned nor enamelled, as the great heat of the fat would destroy both these linings.