TO STEW A RUMP OF BEEF

This joint is more easily carved, and is of better appearance when the bones are removed before it is dressed. Roll and bind it firmly with a fillet of tape, cover it with strong cold beef broth or gravy, and stew it very gently indeed from six hours to between seven and eight; add to it, after the scum has been well cleared off, one large or two moderate-sized onions stuck with thirty cloves, a head of celery, two carrots, two turnips, and a large faggot of savoury herbs. When the beef is perfectly tender quite through, which may be known by probing it with a sharp thin skewer, remove the fillets of tape, dish it neatly, and serve it with a rich _Espagnole_, and a garnish of forced tomatas, or with a highly-flavoured brown English gravy, and stewed carrots in the dish: for these last the mild preparation of garlic or eschalots, of page 122, may be substituted with good effect. They should be well drained, laid round the meat, and a little brown gravy should be poured over the whole.

This is the most simple and economical manner of stewing the beef; but should a richer one be desired, half roast the joint, and stew it afterwards in strong gravy to which a pint of mushrooms, and a pint of sherry or Madeira, should be added an hour before it is ready for table. Keep it hot while a portion of the gravy is thickened with a well-made brown roux (see Chapter IV.), and seasoned with salt, cayenne, and any other spice it may require. Garnish it with large balls of forcemeat highly seasoned with minced eschalots, rolled in egg and bread-crumbs, and fried a fine golden brown.

Plainly stewed from 6 to 7 or 8 hours. Or: half roasted then stewed from 4 to 5 hours.

_Obs._—Grated horseradish, mixed with some well-thickened brown gravy, a teaspoonful of mustard, and a little lemon-juice or vinegar, is a good sauce for stewed beef.

BEEF PALATES. (ENTRÉE.)

First rub them well with salt, to cleanse them well; then wash them thoroughly in several waters, and leave them to soak for half an hour before they are dressed. Set them over the fire in cold water, and boil them gently until the skin will peel off, and the palates are tolerably tender. It is difficult to state the exact time required for this, as some will be done in two hours and a half, and others in not less than from four to five hours. When thus prepared, the palates may be cut into various forms, and simmered until fit to serve in rich brown gravy, highly flavoured with ham, cayenne, wine, and lemon-peel; or they will make an excellent currie. As they are very insipid of themselves, they require a sauce of some piquancy, in which, after they have been peeled and trimmed, they should be stewed from twenty to thirty minutes, or until they are perfectly tender. The black parts of them must be cut away, when the skin is taken off. An onion, stuck with a few cloves, a carrot sliced, a teaspoonful of whole white pepper, a slice of butter, and a teaspoonful of salt, may be boiled with the palates in the first instance; and they will be found very good, if sent to table in the curried gravy of Chapter XVI., or in the Soubise of Chapter VI., made thinner than the receipts direct.

Boiled from 2-1/2 to 4 or 5 hours. Stewed from 20 to 30 minutes.

_Obs._—A French cook of some celebrity, orders the palates to be laid on the gridiron until the skin can be easily peeled or scraped off; the plan seems a good one, but we have not tried it.