Pressed Beef

Wash a four-pound piece of beef flank or any other of the cheaper cuts. Cover with boiling water, bring to boiling point, and skim; slice and add two carrots, two onions, and one white turnip; cook slowly for four hours or until meat is very tender; add two teaspoons of salt when half cooked; pack meat solidly into a deep bread pan, putting the grain of the meat lengthwise; place pan in a shallow pan to catch the overflow, put an empty bread pan on top of meat, and press with two heavy flatirons; let stand in a cool place over night. Strain the stock, and use for soups ox sauces.

Pressed Corned Beef

Select a four-pound piece of shoulder or lean end of brisket lightly corned; wash well, cover with boiling water, and cook slowly for four hours; pack and press as for Pressed Beef (see No. 119). The heat should not be above the simmering point (185° F.): if the water boils the meat will be tough.

1 Recipes for using only the cheaper cuts of meat are given in this Chapter. For cooking poultry, game, and other cuts of meat, see Time Table for Cooking (page 240).

Roast Beef

The most economical cuts of beef for roasting are the shoulder, the face of the rump, and the chuck ribs; they are all of good flavor and fairly tender. When ordering a shoulder roast, have an inch slice cut off to broil. The chuck roast should be ordered boned and rolled, and the bones sent with it. Wipe beef with cheesecloth, place skin side down on a rack in a roasting pan suitable for the size of the roast; dust with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and cook in a hot oven, basting every ten minutes. When half roasted, turn over, dredge with flour, and finish cooking. For a medium-cooked roast allow seventeen minutes for each pound of meat. The oven should be very hot for the first fifteen minutes, after which the heat should be reduced.

Pot Roast Of Beef

A small aitchbone or a solid piece from the shoulder weighing about five pounds makes an economical roast. Wash, dry, season with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and brown quickly in a hot frying pan or Scotch kettle; place in kettle, half cover with water, cover closely, and cook slowly four hours; when half cooked, season with salt and pepper; add four small onions, two carrots, and one white turnip cut in quarters; when cooked place meat on platter with vegetables around it; remove fat from gravy, and thicken with flour mixed to a paste with cold water, allowing one-fourth cup of flour to two cups of gravy. Color with a few drops of kitchen bouquet if necessary.

Shin Of Beef With Creole Sauce

4 pounds shin of beef

1/2 onion sliced

1/2 carrot sliced

2 cups tomato

1 green pepper chopped

1/2 onion chopped

1/4 teaspoon celery salt 1/4 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons dried bread crumbs

Wash meat, sprinkle with salt and pepper; put into an iron kettle or earthen crock; add onion and carrot; cover closely, and bake in a slow oven four hours. Remove meat from the bone; skim fat from stock. Cook tomatoes, pepper, onion, and seasonings twenty minutes; add stock, crumbs, and meat. The meat cooks in its own juice and will be very tender.