Ox-Cheek Staved

If convenient, prepare this the day before it is to be eaten; cleanse it, and put it to soak all night in salt and water; next day wipe it clean, and put it into a stewpan with two quarts of water and a pint of table-beer that is neither bitter nor stale; skim it well when it is coming to a boil, and let it simmer for two hours: slice a couple of onions, fry them brown in a little butter and flour, and put them into the soup, with two whole onions with a clove in each, three turnips quartered, a couple of carrots sliced, a bay leaf, a head of celery, and a bundle of sweet herbs, pepper and salt; let it stew till perfectly tender, take out the cheek, divide it into handsome pieces; skim and strain the gravy, and add to it a tablespoonful of basil or elder vinegar, the like quantity of mushroom or walnut catsup, and the same of browning.

Serve up in a soup or ragout dish.

Observations

This is a very economical, nourishing, and savoury meal.

Ox-Tails Stewed

Having cut them into joints, wash them, parboil them, and set them on to stew in just water enough to cover them, and dress them in the same manner as we have directed, in No. 531, Slewed Giblets, for which they are an excellent substitute.

Potted Ham

Cut a pound of the lean of cold boiled ham; cut it small and pound it in a mortar with a little fresh butter, in the proportion of an ounce to a pound, till it is a very fine paste, seasoning it by degrees with a little pounded mace or grated nutmeg; put it close down in pots for that purpose, and cover it with clarified butter a quarter of an inch thick; let it stand one night in a cool place. Send it up in the pot, or cut out in thin slices.

*** A couple of ounces of the fat of the ham are quite as good as butter to mix with it, in pounding.