Stewed Rump Steak

Two pounds of rump steak, (if you fear they will not eat tender, beat them well,) line the bottom of a three quart stew pan with slices of good bacon, and on this lay the steaks, with a pint and a half of cold water, a dozen corns of allspice, the same of black pepper, the red part of a quarter of a carrot, a little bundle of savory, sweet mar-joram, and parsley, a large onion with two cloves stuck in it, and half a head of celery; cover them, up closely, and let them simmer gently an hour and a half; if they are thin steaks, an hour wilt be enough; take care the meat does not go to rags by doing too fast or too much. When the steaks are tender take them up, flour them, and fry them just to brown them in an ounce of butter; make some thickening with an ounce of butter and two tablespoonful of flour; put it into your sauce; stir it well together with a wooden spoon, adding thereto a tablespoonful of mushroom catsup," the same of browning, half a teaspoonful of salt, and a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground black pepper: dish your steaks, and strain your sauce to them. Veal cutlets or mutton chops may be done the same way.

Observations

Rump steaks are in best condition from Michaelmas to Lady-day. To ensure their being tender, give the butcher three or four days' notice of your wish for them.

Rump Steak With Onion Gravy

Peel and slice two large onions; put them into a quart stewpan with two tablespoonsfui of water; cover the stewpan close, and set it on a slow fire till the water has boiled away, and the onions have got a little browned, then add half a pint of good broth *, and boil the onions till they are quite tender; strain the broth from them, and chop them very fine; thicken the broth with flour and butter, and season it with mushroom catsup, and pepper and salt; put the onion into it, and let it boil gently for rive minutes, and pour it over a broiled rump steak. If instead of broth you use good beef gravy it will be superlative.

*** Stewed cucumbers, No. 135, is another agreeable variety in the dressing of 'rump steaks.

* If you have no broth, put in half a pint of water, and just before you give it the last boil up, add to it a large spoonful of mushroom catsup, and, if you like, the same quantity of port wine.

Alamode Beef, Or English Turtle

In the hundred and fifteen volumes on cookery we digested before we began to compose this work, we could not rind one receipt that approached any thing like to an accurate description of the way in which this excellent dish is actually dressed in the best alamode beef shops; from whence, of course, it was impossible to obtain any information: however, after all, the whole of the secret seems to be the thickening the gravy (of beef that has been very slowly stewed) with bread raspings, and flavouring it with bay leaves.

Take about six pounds of the clod of beef, or the sticking piece; cut it into pieces of two or three pounds each; put two ounces of beef drippings into a large deep stew pan; as soon as it is quite hot, flour your meat, put it into the stew-pan, turn it often till it is a light brown, then cover it with boiling water, and put a quart over; skim it when it boils, and then put in a large onion, and half a pint of bread raspings, and let it stew very slowly for three hours, then just crack twelve berries of black pepper, same of allspice, and four cloves, put them into a linen bag, with half a dozen bay leaves, and a bunch of sweet herbs, and let them stew an hour longer: if you find the meat sufficiently tender, take it up with a slice, cut it into quarter of a pound pieces, and put it into a turcen, and pour the soup to it.

*** To the above many cooks add an ounce of champignons; but as these are almost always so decayed, and sometimes of deleterious quality, they are better left out.