To Clarify Drippings

Drippings accumulated from different cooked meats (except mutton, which has a strong flavor) can be clarified by putting all into a basin and slicing into it raw potato, allowing it to boil long enough for the potato to brown, which causes all impurities to disappear. Remove from the fire, and when cool drain into basin and set in a cool place.

Hint On Cooking Roast Beef

For roast beef to be juicy and tender when done, it should be basted every few minutes, so in order to save yourself this trouble, place a large piece of beef suet on top of the roast; have baking pan perfectly dry and oven very hot; place in the oven and let cook the allotted time - say 1/2 hour - according to size. You can be about your inside work and in the allotted time your roast is done to a beautiful brown and is very juicy, as it has been constantly basting itself all the while with the suet. Take roast out of pan, pour off drippings in a bowl and make a gravy on top of stove. A nice addition to this is to put 1/2 dozen or so peeled potatoes on the pan with the roast when placing it in to cook, and they will be done to a nicety when the roast is. On taking up roast lay baked potatoes around same.

Pot Roast

Put a very little drippings in an iron kettle. When hot, lay the beef in. Add an onion chopped and fried till brown in butter; pour in water to half height of meat; add salt and pepper and cover as close as possible; thicken the gravy; simmer from 2 to 3 hours, according to weight. When done, take up, and pour the gravy over it and serve.

Braised Beef

Wipe and trim 6 pounds round or rump of beef without bone; sear brown on all sides in very hot frying pan over hot fire. In braising pan or iron kettle put layer of sliced onions, turnips and carrots, sweet herbs, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper; on this lay meat, add pint boiling water (or water and stewed tomatoes); cover closely and cook 4 hours in moderate oven. If water evaporates rapidly, add more. Put meat on hot platter. Strain, thicken and season gravy. The vegetables may be served separately if desired.

Beefsteak Pie - French Style

Take a nice piece of beef rump or sirloin, cut in small slices; slice also a little raw ham; put both in a frying pan, with some butter and small quantity chopped onions; let them simmer together a short time on the fire or in the oven; add a little flour and enough stock to make sauce; salt, pepper, chopped parsley and Worcestershire sauce; add some sliced potatoes, and cook together 20 minutes; put this into a pie-dish, with a few slices of hard-boiled eggs on top, and cover with a layer of common paste; bake from 15 to 20 minutes in a well-heated oven; all dark-meat pie can be treated precisely in the same way.

Creamed Dried Beef

Pick in small pieces 1/4 pound of thinly-cut, rather moist dried beef and brown in a little butter; when brown pour it in a cup of milk; let it come to a boil and slightly thicken with a little butter and flour creamed together; when it boils pour it over a platter of brown toast and serve it at once.