(1346). Roast Beef - Middle Short Loin - English Style (Rosbif D'Aloyau A L'Anglaise)

Cut along the vertebra and toward the top of the back a piece containing the greater part of the tenderloin, from the end rib to the hip: this part called the middle short loin, and is the choice piece for roasting; it is used in the best houses in England and France. The meat must be selected from a young and tender beef of deep crimson color and veined with slices of fat. Cut from the center a piece weighing, ten, twenty, or thirty pounds, more or less, according to the number of guests to be supplied, cut away the fat. and a piece of the flank seasoning with salt and pepper,rand fold the flank over; the meat should be the same thickness throughout. Tie it well, making a knot at each turn of the string. It can be wrapped up in several sheets of buttered paper. A piece of beef roasted on the spit is far preferable to one cooked in tin-oven. It suffices to place it in the middle of an English cradle spit (Fig. 116), but sometimes it is impossible to cook it in this way. Therefore the most practical manner is to cook it as follows: .Set it in a deep pan with raised edges, and furnished with a grate slightly raised on four feet an inch and a half high (Fig. 306). Pour into the pan a few spoonfuls of fat. put the meat, on the grate, and roast it in a moderateoven allowing for a short loin weighing fifteen pounds one and a half hours, one of twenty, two hours, and one of thirty, two and a half hours, forty pounds, three and a half hours, the time always to be calculated according to the regularity of the fire and the thickness of the meat; roast the meat, basting and turning it over frequently, add a little water in case the grease threatens to burn.

When nearly done salt. When the short loin is nearly cooked untie, and keep in a hot closet from fifteen to forty minutes according to the size, then serve it in a large dish; it must be cut in slices lengthwise of the meat, beginning at the sirloin and then the tenderloin. Serve on very hot plates with a sauce-boat of clear gravy (No. 404) passed around at the same time.

Fig. 306.

(1347). Middle Short Loin Braised A La Messinoise (Aloyau Braise A La Messinoise)

Select a short loin weighing about thirty pounds; taken from a young and tender beef, and prepare it as follows: remove all the fat surrounding the tenderloin, detach the tenderloin from the chine-bone sufficiently so as to be able to saw off the chine-bone. Cut away the aitch bone from the sirloin. Prick the thick flank with the tip of a small knife; flatten it; remove the skin from the tenderloin, also the large nerve on the sirloin, trim the loin well, leaving the flank wider on the thin side of the tenderloin. Season with salt and pepper, lard the meat with larding pork and seasoned raw ham, roll the flank over the tenderloin, covering the latter with slices of tat an inch or more in thickness; tie it up, making a knot at each turn of the string, which must be about three-quarters of an inch apart. Cover the bottom of a buttered braising pan with cut slices of carrots and onions, lay the loin on top, moisten to a quarter of its height with broth, (No. 194a) and a quarter of a bottleful of Marsala wine, adding a quarter of a pound of sliced mushrooms. Reduce to a glaze, then moisten again to three-quarters of its heighth with the same quantity of broth and Marsala wine as before.

Cook slowly for four hours, basting it frequently with its own gravy, and when the meat is cooked, trim and lay it on a long dish, garnishing the sides with small macaroni Milanese timbales (No. 2988), and the ends with small round ravioles (No. 158). Strain the gravy, skim it carefully, reduce to the consistency of a quarter-glaze, then pour over the meat one-third of it, serving the rest at the same time in a sauce-boat.

(1348). Middle Short Loin A La Norwood (Aloyau A La Norwood)

For thirty pounds, prepare the middle short loin the same as for No. 1347, but remove most of the fat adhering to the flank, season with salt and pepper. Put the meat in an earthen dish with some carrots, onions, thyme, bay leaf and sprigs of parsley, olive oil and lemon juice. Macerate the whole for two hours, then remove the meat without the vegetables, tie the flank over the tenderloin, making a knot at each turn of the string, leaving an interval of three-quarters of an inch between each; wrap up the marinade with the short loin in several sheets of buttered paper, place it on a roast pan. with some grease at the bottom of the pan, and some minced carrots and onions, adding a little water; roast in the oven; when the meat is nearly done, remove the paper, salt it and glaze, return to the oven to attain a nice color, then set it in a warm closet for about twenty minutes; it will take about two and a half hours to cook it. Dish the meat up, glaze it again, and garnish with quartered and peeled apples, previously placed in a buttered plate, lightly dredged with sugar and cooked in a hot oven.

Add a garnishing of small potatoes cut olive-shaped, blanched and cooked in butter; add the vegetables from the marinade, to one quart of espagnole sauce (No. 414), and some good gravy (No. 404), reduce and skim free of fat, pass through a sieve and serve in a separate sauce-boat.