BEEF
Good beef should be fine grained in texture, bright red in color and well coated and marked with fat. Roasting methods suit the tender cuts. A standing roast is one with the ribs left in. A rolled roast is one with the ribs removed and the meat rolled and tied. In roasting meats remember two things. First, try to keep all the juices in the meat; secondly, you want the tissues to grow tender.
Remove meat immediately from the paper when it comes from the market and place it in the ice box or a cool place on a china or enamel plate. Meat should not be washed, but wiped with a clean, damp cloth before cooking. The tough cuts of meat should be cooked very slowly and for a long time. The tender cuts rare, medium, or well done in a hot oven for a short time only. Do not pierce the meat with a fork when it is cooking, as this allows the juice to run out of it. Baste meat often while roasting so as not to have it too dry.
ROAST BEEF
4 lb prime rib beef, boned and rolled (sirloin, porterhouse, delmonico or tenderloin cuts), ¼ c fat, 1 tsp salt, ¼ c flour.
Clean beef well by wiping it with a damp cloth; spread with fat; dredge with flour mixed with salt; place on rack of a roaster; place roaster or pan, uncovered, in very hot oven for 20 min to sear meat; salt meat and reduce temp a little; bake 12 min to each pound for rare roast; 15 min to each pound for medium roast, or 18 min to each pound for a well done roast.
ROASTING CHEAP CUTS
4 lb beef (shoulder clod, chuck ribs, boned and rolled, inner rump, top sirloin or round), ¼ c fat, 1 tsp salt, ¼ c flour, 2 c water.
Only tender cuts of beef should be roasted in an uncovered pan. Shoulder clod of beef, chuck ribs, inner rump or top sirloin are best when roasted in the presence of steam in a covered pan. Place the larded, dredged meat on rack of roaster; sear uncovered in a very hot oven for 20 min; add enough water to cover bottom of roaster, but not enough to reach to level of meat or rack; cover roaster with lid-valve open and bake in moderate oven 35 min per pound. If roast is large roast in a slow oven. Tough meats have to be cooked well done in the presence of steam in order to be tender. Moist heat changes the tough connective tissue to a gelatinous substance which is tender.
POT ROAST
Brown the roast in a little fat to sear and to develop flavor; place in a pot or casserole with a closely fitting cover; add 1 c water and cook until tender (2 to 3 hr), adding more water if necessary. The roast may be cooked either on top of the stove or in the oven. Vegetables, such as carrots, turnips or onions, may be added at the beginning of the cooking; tomato juice may be used for the liquid added, and potatoes may be added about 30 min before the roast is done.
SMOTHERED BEEF
3 lb beef suitable for pot roast, 2 tbp flour mixed with 1 tsp salt and a few grains of pepper, 3 large onions sliced, 3 tbp oil or drippings, 1 tbp mustard, 1 tsp celery seed, 1 c strained tomatoes, 2 tsp salt, 1 tbp Worcestershire sauce.
Dredge the meat with the flour and brown it in a heavy iron pan; fry the onions in the oil and add the other ingredients; pour this sauce over the meat and simmer 3 hr or more. Cold roast meat, fowl or chicken giblets may be very attractively prepared in a similar manner.
COTTAGE PIE
Grease bottom of small baking dish and cover with hot mashed potato; add a thick slice of roast beef, cut in small pieces, seasoned with salt, pepper, a little onion juice, and moistened with some of the gravy; cover with a thin layer of mashed potato; bake in hot oven long enough to heat through. This is a good way to use left-over roast beef or hamburg. Grated onion can be used instead of onion juice.
MOCK DUCK
On a round steak, place a stuffing made as below; roll steak up around the stuffing, fasten with wooden toothpicks or tying with a string; brown the outside quickly to develop flavor; add a cup of hot water, meat stock or tomato juice and cover; cook slowly until tender.
MOCK DUCK STUFFING
2 c cornbread crumbs, 1 c bread crumbs, 1 onion, minced, 1 tbp chopped parsley, ¼ c fat, ¾ c milk or water, or stock to soften.
SWISS STEAK
2 lb beef round, ½ c flour, ½ tsp salt, ⅓ tsp pepper, 1 small onion, chopped, 2 tbp shortening, ¼ c chopped green pepper, 1 c stewed or canned tomatoes, 1 c boiling water.
Wipe meat with a clean damp cloth; cut in 2″ square pieces; mix flour, salt and pepper together; pound flour into the meat with a wooden potato masher; brown onion and meat in the shortening; add green pepper, tomatoes and water; cover and cook slowly 2 hr, or until meat is tender. The stock may be thickened more with a little flour mixed to a smooth paste with cold water.
BEEFSTEAK PIES
2 lb chuck steak, 1 tsp salt, ⅛ tsp pepper, 2 tbp flour, 3 tbp cold water, 1 c cooked carrots, cut in cubes, 2 c cooked potatoes, cut in cubes, 1 c cooked celery, cut in pieces, 6 cooked medium-sized onions, 2 tbp shortening.
Wipe meat with a clean damp cloth; cut in 1″ cubes and sprinkle with salt and pepper; cover meat with boiling water and simmer for 1 hr or until meat is tender; put the meat in a baking dish; thicken the stock with the flour mixed to a paste with the water; add carrots, potatoes, celery and onions; pour the gravy over it and dot with shortening; add more seasoning if necessary; cover top with plain pastry; bake in a quick oven 10 min; reduce heat to a moderate oven; bake 20 to 25 min.
HAMBURG BALLS
1 lb round steak, ground, 2 eggs, ⅔ c soft bread crumbs, 1 tsp salt, ⅛ tsp pepper, ⅓ c milk, 2 tbp chopped onion, 1 tbp butter, 1½ tsp flour, 1½ c boiling water.
Mix meat, beaten eggs, bread crumbs, salt, pepper and milk together; fry onion in grease until a delicate brown and add to the meat mixture; form in small flat circular cakes and sprinkle with flour; fry on both sides in a small amount of grease until brown; remove the cakes to a hot platter; add flour to the grease in the pan and cook until a delicate brown, stirring constantly; add water and bring to the boiling point, mixing well; pour around the meat balls.
PLANKED SIRLOIN STEAK
Wipe a sirloin steak, cut 2″ thick; remove flank end and pan broil 10 min, seasoning with salt after first 5 min of cooking; place a border of mashed potatoes around edge of slightly buttered plank and make 8 nests of mashed potatoes; place steak on plank and put in oven to brown potatoes and finish cooking steak. Fill potato nests with canned peas, reheated and seasoned, and arrange equal distances piles of buttered carrot cubes and stuffed tomatoes; spread steak with butter; fit plank into nickel frame and serve.
GOULASH FOR FOUR
Slice and chop small 1 large or 2 medium-sized onions; heat 2 heaping tbp fine lard, in which brown the onions to a deep golden color; then add a level tsp of Hungarian paprika, a tsp of salt and 2 lb of lean sirloin or good round steak that has previously been cut in about inch cubes; let meat simmer, under cover, for a few minutes, being careful to stir often to avoid burning; then add sufficient water to cover it well, and let boil. In the meantime peel and cut in good-sized cubes 6 or 7 large potatoes, to be added when meat is fairly done; fill again up with water to cover about ½″ to 1″ and let boil; season again according to taste. Potatoes and meat should be done about the same time, and the gravy have assumed the consistency of cream.
HOMINY MEAT CAKES
2 c cooked hominy grits, ½ c cooked meat, 1 tbp minced onion, salt, pepper, milk or stock to moisten if necessary.
Form into cakes, brown in fat or brush with melted fat and brown in the oven.
CREAMED DRIED BEEF
¼ lb dried beef, 1 c medium white sauce.
Remove skin and separate meat into small pieces; cover with lukewarm water; let stand 10 min and drain; add white sauce and cook in db 10 min.
MEAT MOUSSE
1 c cooked meat, minced, 1 tbp gelatin, 1¼ c clear stock, 2 mushrooms, minced and sauteed, ¼ tsp pepper, ½ c evaporated milk, ½ c cream, 1 tsp salt.
Chicken, ham or sweetbreads may be used; chop meat very fine; soak the gelatin in the stock; heat stock until gelatin dissolves; then add meat, mushrooms and seasonings; cool, stirring occasionally. When it begins to stiffen fold in the evaporated milk and cream, which has been chilled and beaten stiff; pour mixture into molds and chill at least 2 hr.
CORNED BEEF HASH
Remove skin and gristle from cooked corn beef, then chop the meat. When meat is very fat, discard most of the fat. To 2 cups chopped meat add an equal quantity of cold boiled chopped potatoes; season with salt and pepper; moisten with milk or cream; put into a hot buttered frying pan, stir until well mixed, spread evenly, then place on a part of the range where it may slowly brown underneath, the time required being 40 to 45 min; turn and fold on a hot platter; garnish with spring of parsley in the middle.
CREAM DRIED BEEF (2)
¼ lb smoked dried beef, thinly sliced, 1 c scalded cream, 1½ tbp flour.
Remove skin and separate meat in pieces, cover with hot water, let stand 10 min and drain; dilute flour with enough cold water to pour easily, making smooth paste; add to cream, and cook in db 10 min; add beef, and repeat.
BEEFSTEAK A LA HENRIETTA
½ c butter, yolks 3 eggs, 1 tbp cold water, ½ tbp lemon juice, ¼ tsp salt, 2 tbp tomato puree, 1 tbp Worcestershire sauce, ½ finely chopped parsley, few grains cayenne.
Wash butter and divide in 3 pieces; put 1 piece in saucepan with yolks of eggs slightly beaten and mixed with water and lemon juice; then add tomato, parsley and seasonings; pour ½ sauce on a serving dish, lay a broiled porterhouse steak on sauce, and cover steak with remaining sauce; garnish with parsley.
MEXICAN BEEF SAUCE
Reheat cold roast beef cut in thin slices; cook 1 onion, finely chopped, in 2 tbp butter 5 min; add 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, and 1 clove of garlic, each finely chopped, and 2 tomatoes peeled and cut in pieces; cook 15 min; add 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, ¼ tsp celery salt, and salt to taste.
CORNED BEEF
Corned beef gives variety to the diet. The best pieces are the rattle rand and fancy brisket. The fancy brisket commands a higher price and may be easily told from the rattle rand by the selvage on lower side and the absence of bones. The upper end of brisket (butt end) is thick and composed mostly of lean meat, the middle cut has more fat, but is not well mixed, while the lower (navel end) has a large quantity of fat.
To Boil: Wipe the meat, tie securely in shape, if this has not been already done at market; put in kettle, cover with cold water, and bring slowly to boiling point; boil 5 min, remove scum and cook at a lower temperature until tender; cool slightly in water in which it was cooked, remove to a dish, cover, and place on cover a weight, that meat may be well pressed. The lean meat and fat may be separated and put in alternate layers in a bread pan, then covered and pressed.
BOILED TONGUE
A boiled corned tongue is cooked the same as Boiled Corned Beef. If salty, it should be soaked in cold water several hours, or over night, before cooking; take from water when slightly cooled and remove skin.
ROAST BEEF GRAVY
Leave 4 tbp of fat in pan; place on front of range; add 5 tbp flour; stir until well browned; the flour, dredged and browned in pan, should give additional color to gravy; add gradually 1½ c boiling water; cook 5 min, season with salt and pepper and strain.
TO CARVE A ROAST
Have roast placed on platter, skin side up; with a pointed, thin-bladed sharp knife cut a sirloin or rib roast in thin slices at right angles to the ribs, and cut slices from ribs. If there is tenderloin, remove it from under the bone, and cut in thin slices across grain of meat; carve back of rump in thin slices with the grain of meat; by so doing, some of the least tender muscle will be served with that which is tender; by cutting across grain of meat, the tenderest portion is sliced by itself, as is the less tender portion.