BEEF A LA MODE

The Book of Household Management · Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) · 1861

Source: The Book of Household Management
Time: Cook: 300 min Total: 300 min
Yield: 7.0 – 8.0 persons
Status: success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe: No

Ingredients (15)

For the beef

6 or 7 lbs. of the thick flank of beef ↝ Beef, flank, steak, boneless, choice, raw [Beef Products]
a few slices of fat bacon

For the seasoning and herbs

1 teacupful of vinegar ↝ Vinegar [Mustard and other condiments]
black pepper, allspice, 2 cloves well mixed and finely pounded, making altogether 1 heaped teaspoonful ↝ Spices, pepper, black [Spices and Herbs]
black pepper, allspice, 2 cloves well mixed and finely pounded, making altogether 1 heaped teaspoonful ↝ Spices, allspice, ground [Spices and Herbs]
black pepper, allspice, 2 cloves well mixed and finely pounded, making altogether 1 heaped teaspoonful ↝ Garlic, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
salt to taste ↝ Salt, table, iodized [Spices and Herbs]
1 bunch of savoury herbs, including parsley, all finely minced and well mixed
1 bunch of savoury herbs, including parsley, all finely minced and well mixed ↝ Parsley, raw [Not included in a food category]

For the vegetables

3 onions ↝ Onions, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
2 large carrots ↝ Carrots, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
1 turnip ↝ Turnips, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
1 head of celery ↝ Celery, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]

For the liquid

1-1/2 pint of water ↝ Water, tap [Tap water]
1 glass of port wine

Instructions (21)

Slice and fry the onions of a pale brown.
Cut up the other vegetables in small pieces.
Choose a fine piece of beef.
Cut the bacon into long slices, about an inch in thickness.
Dip the bacon slices into vinegar.
Dip the bacon slices into a little of the spice and herb mixture.
With a sharp knife make holes deep enough to let in the bacon.
Rub the beef over with the remainder of the seasoning and herbs.
Bind the beef up in a nice shape with tape.
Have ready a well-tinned stewpan (it should not be much larger than the piece of meat you are cooking).
Put the beef, with the vegetables, vinegar, and water into the stewpan.
Let it simmer very gently for 5 hours, or rather longer, should the meat not be extremely tender.
Turn the beef once or twice during cooking.
When ready to serve, take out the beef and remove the tape.
Put the beef on a hot dish.
Skim off every particle of fat from the gravy.
Add the port wine to the gravy.
Just let the gravy boil.
Pour the gravy over the beef.
Great care must be taken that this does not boil fast, or the meat will be tough and tasteless; it should only just bubble.
When convenient, all kinds of stews, &c., should be cooked on a hot-plate, as the process is so much more gradual than on an open fire.

Original Text

BEEF A LA MODE.

602. INGREDIENTS.—6 or 7 lbs. of the thick flank of beef, a few slices of fat bacon, 1 teacupful of vinegar, black pepper, allspice, 2 cloves well mixed and finely pounded, making altogether 1 heaped teaspoonful; salt to taste, 1 bunch of savoury herbs, including parsley, all finely minced and well mixed; 3 onions, 2 large carrots, 1 turnip, 1 head of celery, 1-1/2 pint of water, 1 glass of port wine.

Mode.—Slice and fry the onions of a pale brown, and cut up the other vegetables in small pieces, and prepare the beef for stewing in the following manner:—Choose a fine piece of beef, cut the bacon into long slices, about an inch in thickness, dip them into vinegar, and then into a little of the above seasoning of spice, &c., mixed with the same quantity of minced herbs. With a sharp knife make holes deep enough to let in the bacon; then rub the beef over with the remainder of the seasoning and herbs, and bind it up in a nice shape with tape. Have ready a well-tinned stewpan (it should not be much larger than the piece of meat you are cooking), into which put the beef, with the vegetables, vinegar, and water. Let it simmer very gently for 5 hours, or rather longer, should the meat not be extremely tender, and turn it once or twice. When ready to serve, take out the beef, remove the tape, and put it on a hot dish. Skim off every particle of fat from the gravy, add the port wine, just let it boil, pour it over the beef, and it is ready to serve. Great care must be taken that this does not boil fast, or the meat will be tough and tasteless; it should only just bubble. When convenient, all kinds of stews, &c., should be cooked on a hot-plate, as the process is so much more gradual than on an open fire.

Time.—5 hours, or rather more.

Average cost, 7d. per lb.

Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.

Seasonable all the year, but more suitable for a winter dish.

GOOD MEAT.—The lyer of meat when freshly killed, and the animal, when slaughtered, being in a state of perfect health, adheres firmly to the bones. Beef of the best quality is of a deep-red colour; and when the animal has approached maturity, and been well fed, the lean is intermixed with fat, giving it the mottled appearance which is so much esteemed. It is also full of juice, which resembles in colour claret wine. The fat of the best beef is of a firm and waxy consistency, of a colour resembling that of the finest grass butter; bright in appearance, neither greasy nor friable to the touch, but moderately unctuous, in a medium degree between the last-mentioned properties.

Notes

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