In the absence of a braising pan a large earthenware casserole is desirable. Brown five or six pounds of beef from the rump or round, on all sides in a hot frying-pan (using fat from the top of the soup kettle, or that tried out from salt pork). Sprinkle half a cup, each, of small cubes of salt pork, carrot, onion, and celery into the casserole and place the meat on these; add about a pint of stock or water, a bay leaf, a piece of red pepper or six peppercorns, and three cloves tied in a sprig of parsley. Spread a few more cubes of vegetables on the top of the meat and add half a teaspoonful of salt; if water be used, with seasoned stock it may be omitted. Put on the cover, bind a strip of cloth spread with flour paste over the joining of the dish and cover and let cook in a very slow oven about six hours. Thoroughly rinse the pan, in which the meat was browned, with the stock or water, to retain the browned juices from the meat. The meat may be dredged with flour while browning, or a brown sauce may supplant the stock or water. Strain the sauce and serve poured over the meat, or in a sauce boat. Thicken with roux, if not already of the desired consistency. This kind of a casserole is not intended for table use. For a change serve some of the vegetables with the meat. When a dish is used from which the cover can be easily taken, vegetables, cut in match-like pieces, or fanciful shapes and blanched, may be added to the dish just in time to become tender. Serve these around the meat; celery, carrot, and, occasionally, turnip are suitable for this purpose. A cup of tomato purée, added when the meat is half cooked, is often an improvement; so also is a little grated horseradish.