The home cook book

Put six or seven pounds of the rump of beef into a flatbottomed porcelain or granite kettle. Set on top of the stove. Pour over this just enough water to cover it. Let it slowly come to boil. Skim well. Scrape two large or four small carrots and split them down the centre. Add these and two large onions cut in half, and one red pepper. Tie up, in a small square piece of cloth, allspice, a few cloves, sweet marjoram and thyme, and throw into the water. Boil very slowly four hours until tender. The second hour add salt to taste. When done, take out some of the liquor and make a gravy as thick as cream. Thicken with two teaspoons of flour dissolved in cold water. If the flour lumps, strain through a wire strainer. Pour the liquor off into a stone crock, and set in a cold place. Next day skim off the grease. The liquor will have jellied. Take some of this, put into a saucepan set in another of hot water, and heat, and you have a delightful clear soup. Worcestershire sauce can be added. Serve with salt crackers, slightly heated. DAUBE Have three pounds of round of beef cut short and thick. Lard it with long thin pieces of fat pork, slipping in a thin sliver of garlic clove with each piece of pork. Peel and slice thin two white turnips, two white onions, and scrape and slice four carrots. Mix one tablespoon of salt with half a teaspoon of cayenne and two tablespoons of sugar. Rub the meat thoroughly with this. Place in a large yellow bowl a layer each of the sliced vegetables until half are used. Next place in the meat. Lay over this the remainder of the vegetables. Pour over this half a pint of cider vinegar and the remaining salt, pepper, and sugar. Cover with a cloth and plate, placing a weight on the plate. Let stand over night in a cold place. In the morning remove the meat from the liquor which has formed during the night, roll it in flour, brown it in a deep pot (a stone casserole is best) in which you have two tablespoons of boiling drippings. Add your vegetables, which you have strained and chopped fine, also half a pint of strained canned tomatoes. Add the juice of the meat from the bowl for gravy. If not enough to cover the meat add sufficient water to make it. Season with thyme, one pod of red pepper, one large bay leaf, the juice of half a lemon, a couple of allspice, and one or two cloves. Let come to boil, and then allow to simmer about six hours. Slow cooking is the secret of the success of this dish. If any be left over, put the meat in the centre of a mold, add some melted gelatine to the gravy, boil it up once or twice, pour over the meat, and set aside to jelly. You have a delicious mousse which is used with crisp white lettuce and mayonnaise dressing. Boiled rice is usually served with hot daube. Daube is a dish much used among Spanish Creoles in Louisiana and considered an economical one. ROPA VIEJA A SPANISH DISH COOKED IN LOUISIANA