FoodNetArchive

Cooking for profit

1886

Page 35

Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
SAN FRANCISCO HOTEL GAZETTE'S HOTEL BREAKFAST DISHES. 84— ^'Old-Fashioned" Broiled Beef- steak and Gravy. Take a whole sirloin or other steak as cut by the butcher, notch the edges to prevent curling up on the gridiron and beat it out on the block more or less ac- cording to its thickness or the greater or less tenderness of the meat, for the ex- perienced cook is ble to imnrove a poor steak considerably. Put a shovelful of charcoal in the ash pan of the range and some live coals from the fire on that, cover with a pan or oth- er means of making a draft over the coals. Rub the bars of the gridiron with a piece of bacon rind, lay the whole Bteak upon it and cook medium well done over the charcoal when it has burned clear. Have a piece of butter ready in a tin pan with a heaping tea- spoon of good black pepper and two cf salt, put in the hot steak and press it into the butter, making the gravy run out, add half a cup of liot water, set the pan and contents over the coals and when it begins to simmer the gravy and pepper will have thickened the water and made a good gravy. Dish up on a large hot platter, carve in pieces about the size of two or three fingers and serve a spoonful of the gravy with each cut. The next thing to broihngfor that kind of beefsteak is frying over the fire, but a little piece in a pan does not come out natural-looking, but burns around the edges — it must be a full pan or nothing. Good broiling can be done in a hinged wire broiier set over the open hole of a stove, but forethought is required to let the fire bum down to a bed of glowing coals in time for it, and to turn the dam- per so that the draft will be strong enouah to carry the smoke up the chim- ney. Some families and others are made miserable by having their so-called broiled meats always tasting of smoke and coal smoke at that. This is some- thing that calls for the exercise of com- mon sense. Cost of family beefsteak and gravy — 2 pounds steak at 12c loses one-fourth bone, fiit and cooking, 24 ounces costs 24 cents. — batter and seasoninf'- 8 — 3 ounces of meat to each order, 32 cents for 8 orders or 4c each person. 85— Individual Beefsteaks. This method practiced by a domestic cook has been known to give extreme satisfaction to a large houseful of people when a so-called first-class cook had ut- terly failed to fill the requirements of the jjlace. Order the steak from the butcher cue thin, and divide it in pieces weighing 2 ounces — about the size of 4 fingers. Lay your steak on a board of hard wood and pound it down thin with tlie hack edge of a heavy knife. Fry the steaks as wanted in frying pans slightly greased and let cook only 2 or 3 minutes and send in hot without gravy. All the merit of this plan is in the sort of blunt chopping with the knife-back, that spreads out the meat, gristle and all as thin as the edge of a dinner plate. 86— Minced Beefsteak. 4^ cups lean beef minced IJ cnps beef fat minced. ■J cup cold water. 1 heapiiag teaspoon salt. Same of black pepper. Or, 3 pounds meat, one fourth of it tat, chopped and seasoned like sausage and a little water added.