Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Beef, Rump of (bouilli fashion). — Take the bone out of a rump of beef, wash the beef, and then pour a gill of vinegar over it. Dredge it well with flour, and put it into a pot large enough to turn conveniently; pour over it three pints of water ; then put the pot over the fire until it boils. Prepare and cut into small pieces cabbages, carrots, potatoes, and turnips, and add to the beef ; also two onions, sliced, and a sprig of sweet marjoram. Season all with two table-spoonfuls of salt, and nearly one of pepper. It should be kept stewing constantly, but slowly, at least five hours. As there will not be liquor enough to cover the beef, it should be frequently turned over in the pot. Pickled capers, or cucumbers cut into small pieces, are a great improvement to the sauce. Beefsteak. — A nice way of cooking beefsteak is to lay it on the bottom of the dripping-pan in the oven. Have ready in a large plate a lump of butter with boiling water poured over it. Beefsteak Beefsteak As soon as the steak warms up, pour this into the dish ; turn it over two or three times, pressing it down with the knife. The oven should not be too hot, and for a 3-lb. piece it will take about half an hour to cook. Baste it often, and at the last add salt and pepper to the water. You can make a thickened gravy, if you desire, of the water and butter in which you basted it. Steak cooked in this way is very tender and juicy. Beefsteak in Batter. — Have the butcher cut a couple of steaks not more than a quarter of an inch thick. The nicest are, of course, fillets mignons, or slices cut from the tenderloin, but ordinary porter-house or "short” or ‘ ‘ Delmonico ” steak may be used, if the meat is tender. Each should be about three or four inches square. Make a batter of a cupful of flour, a table-spoonful of cold water, a beaten egg, and a salt-spoonful of salt. Dip each slice of beef in this, drop into boiling, deep fat, cook to a golden brown, drain, and serve. ♦ Beefsteak, Hamburg. — Two pounds of lean beef cut from the round, and have your butcher chop it fine. Mix with it two teaspoonfuls of minced onion, salt and pepper to taste, and a teaspoonful of minced parsley. With the hands, form this mixture into cakes or balls. Fry brown in a little butter or clarified dripping. Arrange the cakes on a platter, and set them in the oven while you make a sauce as follows*: Cook in a saucepan a tablespoonful each of browned flour and butter. When they bubble, pour upon them a half-pint of beef stock, and stir to ja. smooth, brown sauce. Season with salt, pepper, and a little kitchen bouquet. Pour this sauce over and around the steaks. Beefsteak with Mushrooms. — Broil your steak over a clear fire. Before you put it on, open a can of mushrooms, take out half of them, and cut each mushroom in two. Saute them in a frying-pan with a little butter. unless you have a cupful of bouillon or clear beef soup or gravy at hand. Let them simmer in this for ten minutes, and when you dish your steak pour gravy and mushrooms over it. Leave it covered in the oven five minutes before sending to table.