For boiling, stewing, or braising, inferior pieces of meat may be used and made into good, wholesome and sightly dishes. Points to be remembered: -

I. Be sure that the water is boiling when you pour it over the meat.

II. Stand it on the back part of the fire, where it will just simmer, never boil, allowing forty-five minutes for every pound of meat.

III. Add the salt when the meat is half done.

Ragout Of Beef A La Mode

Cut cold beef a la mode into pieces about one inch square. To every pint of these squares allow

1 tablespoonful of butter 1 tablespoonful of flour 1 tablespoonful of Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoonful of mushroom catsup 1/2 pint of stock 1 tablespoonful of sherry (if you use wine) Salt and pepper to taste

Put the butter in a small stewpan, and stir until a dark brown; then add the flour, mix well, add the stock, and stir continually until it boils; then add the meat, sauce, catsup, salt and pepper, and let it simmer gently for fifteen minutes. Take from the fire, add the wine; dish, garnish with boulettes of potatoes, and serve.

Spiced Beef

4 pounds of beef from the round or shoulder 1/2 teaspoonful of salt A dash of cayenne 2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoonful of cloves 1 teaspoonful of allspice

1/4 teaspoonful of mace Juice of one lemon 1 onion

4 tablespoonfuls of olive oil or butter

Mix the spices, salt and pepper together, and rub them well into the meat on all sides. Mix the lemon-juice and oil or butter together, and (if you use it) a gill of sherry. Pour this over the meat and stand it away in an earthen vessel for twenty-four hours. Then put it, with all its juices, into a stewing-pan, cover with boiling water, add the onion and bay leaves, and simmer two hours. When done, take out the meat, and reduce the liquor by boiling to one pint. Put a tablespoonful of butter in a frying-pan and brown. Add to it a tablespoonful of flour, mix, add a half-pint of the liquor in which the meat was boiled, stir constantly until it boils, add a tablespoonful of Worcestershire sauce; then pour it over and around the beef, and serve.

Beef Bouilli

Take a piece of the round, weighing four pounds. Tie it into a neat shape with strong muslin or tape, put it into a large stewing-pan, cover with boiling water; stand over a moderate fire, skim carefully, and simmer forty-five minutes to every pound. When the meat is half done, add a large teaspoonful of salt and one carrot, one onion, and one turnip, sliced. Fifteen minutes before you dish it, add two sliced potatoes. When done, dish the meat. Rub together one tablespoonful of butter or suet and three tablespoonfuls of flour, stir them into the boiling stew; season to taste, and serve in a tureen, reserving enough vegetables to garnish the meat.