Good beef is easily distinguished by a practiced eye. It is of fine, smooth, open grain; the color of the fat should be white, and the lean a bright red. If the color be dark and of a brick dust hue, and the fat hard and skinny, it will certainly be tough, and unwholesome, and dear at any price.

Roast Beef, Ribs, Or Sirloin

Beef should be kept a week or ten days when the weather will permit. Wipe the joint with a clean cloth, envelope it in thin paper, thickly spread with sweet beef-dripping; place the screen before the fire half an hour before putting clown the beef, hang the joint before the fire for the first quarter of an hour near; baste; then withdraw it to a distance, and let it roast slowly till done; baste frequently from the commencement; half an hour before serving take off the paper, dredge the beef slightly with baked flour, and baste it with two ounces of dissolved butter; place the beef on a hot dish; pour the dripping off; add a teacupful of boiling water and half a salt-spoonful of salt to the gravy dripped from the beef; pour it into the dish; garnish with horseradish, and serve at once. The time as follows: To be underdone, eleven minutes to the pound; with the gravy in, fourteen minutes; to be well done through, seventeen minutes; in frosty weather, two minutes to be added in each case.

There are seven chances against even the most simple dish being presented to the mouth in absolute perfection. For instance, a roast of beef 1. The meat must be good.

It must have been kept a good time.

It must be roasted at a good fire.

By a good cook.

Who must be in good temper.

With all this felicitous combination you must have good luck, and

Good appetite - the meat and the mouths which are to eat it must be ready for action at the same moment.

Baked Beef, And Yorkshire Pudding

Rub salt on a nice piece of beef, put it on bars which should fit your dripping pan, set it in the oven, with a gill of water in the pan, and when it is half done, make the pudding in the following manner: Beat four eggs very light; the yolks in a pan, the whites in a broad dish. When the yolks are thick stir in a pint of milk, and as much flour as will make a batter, but not a thick one. Then stir in the whites, which must be whisked very dry, do not beat the batter after the white is in; lastly, stir in a teaspoonful of dissolved carbonate of ammonia. Take out the meat, skim all the fat off the gravy, pour in the batter and replace the meat; put all into the oven again, and cook it till the pudding is done. You should make batter enough to cover your dripping pan about half an inch deep. When the meat is dished, cut the pudding in squares, and place it round the dish, the brown side up.

Roasted Beef's Tongue

Soak a fresh tongue for several hours in strong salt and water, and then drain it well. Boil it slowly for two hours, take off the skin and roast it, and while cooking haste it with butter. Serve with currant jelly.

Beef's Heart, Stuffed

Trim and clean the heart, and sprinkle salt over it, and let it stand for two or three hours to draw out all the blood. The water should be changed two or three times. Then wipe it dry, and fill cavities with a dressing made of crumbs pepper, salt, and a little onion chopped fine. Put to this as much butter as will make the crumbs adhere together. Set it in a moderate oven and bake it, allowing a quarter of an hour for each pound. If convenient, it is better roasted before the fire.

Beef, Like Game

Cut some slices of beef into square pieces, put on each a strip of bacon, dredge flour over, bind each with twine, or skewer them into a rolled shape. Fry them in butter. When brown, add shalots, a slice of lemon-peel, a spoonful of capers, two bay-leaves, salt, spice, a glassful of wine, half a glassful of vinegar, and a little water. Stew till done.

Beef's Kidney, Fried

Kidneys require a longer time to dress, in proportion to their bulk, than any other parts of animals; and beef kidneys more than those of sheep, lambs, etc. Beef kidneys may be fried in the following manner: Trim, and cut the kidney into slices; dredge them well with flour, and season with salt, pepper, and Cayenne. Fry on both sides; and as the slices are done, remove them from the pan, and make a gravy with a small slice of butter, a dessert-spoonful of flour, pepper, and salt, and a little boiling water. Add a little mushroom catchup, lemon-juice, walnut pickle, or any sauce that will impart a good flavor. Some add to the gravy, at the last moment, a glass of white wine. Serve with small slices of fried bread.

Nice Patties From Under-Done Beef

Cut the beef into small pieces; season with pepper, salt, and a little chopped onion; make a plain paste, and roll it out thin; fill it with meat, and bake it a light brown.

Under-Done Beef Served As Steaks

Cut the meat in slices an inch and a half thick, securing a good proportion of fat. Lay them on a gridiron over a good fire; turn often, hut do not stick a fork into them. As soon as brown, lay them on a very hot dish, and add salt and pepper, and pour over some hot gravy of the joint. If the seasoning is added while the meat is being boiled, the latter will be hardened and the pieces wasted. The steaks will be found excellently served with sliced fried potatoes round it.

Broiled Beef's Heart

Cut the heart lengthwise, in slices not thicker than half an inch. Soak them in salt and water until all the blood is drawn out; then wipe them dry, and season well with pepper and salt. Broil them slowly, over or before a clear fire; and when thoroughly done they should be served with currant jelly.