Spiced beef or christmas beef
1 Servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| ½ | teaspoon | Powdered cloves |
| ½ | teaspoon | Powdered mace |
| ½ | teaspoon | Coarsely crushed black peppers |
| ½ | teaspoon | Coarsely crushed allspice |
| 1 | tablespoon | Dried thyme |
| 225 | grams | Moist dark brown sugar |
| 1 | Piece beef (silverside; (2.3 kg.) flank, top rump, or top rib) (2.3 to 2.7) | |
| 225 | grams | Sea salt |
| 15 | grams | Salt petre |
| 6 | Dried bay leaves | |
| 12 | Juniper berries; crushed | |
| 1 | Bouquet garni | |
| 2 | Carrots; chopped | |
| 2 | Sticks celery; chopped | |
| 1 | Onion; chopped | |
| 2 | Wine glasses port | |
| 575 | millilitres | Beef stock |
| 15 | grams | Gelatin |
| 1 | large | Bunch parsley; finely chopped |
Directions
* Mix powdered and crushed spices, and the thyme. Mix half the mixture with the sugar. Cover the meat with it in a shallow earthenware dish, and leave to stand for 24 hours. Now add the salt, salt petre, bay leaves and crushed juniper berries, rubbing them into the meat and let it steep in the mixture for a week, rubbing and turning it daily. * When ready to cook the meat, rinse it and soak for 1 hour in cold water. Dry it well, spread the reserved spices over the inside of the beef, roll it up tightly and tie with a string. * Put it into a heavy iron casserole which just fits it.
Surround it with the bouquet of herbs and the chopped carrots, celery and onion. Pour on the 2 glasses of port and the stock and cover tightly with its lid. Cook for 4 - - 5 hours very, very slowly with the liquid quietly plupping, turning the meat occasionally, or braise it in a very low oven, 300° F. for 4 - 5 hours until very tender. Eat hot or cold, allow to cool to lukewarm in the cooking liquid then take it out and put it between two boards with a 450 g weight on top. * Leave it overnight. The next day eat it plain or coat it with a jelly. To make the jelly: * Remove the fat from the top of the cooled cooking liquid. Strain, skim and taste it. If it tastes too strong and salty dilute it with red wine or weak stock. * Measure 575 ml. of the liquid. Put the gelatin in a cup with 3 - 4 tablespoons of the liquid, heated, and place it in a shallow pan of hot water, over a moderate heat, stirring until it has completely dissolved.
Add it and the chopped parsley to the measured amount of liquid and put it in the refrigerator, stirring it occasionally until it becomes thick and syrupy. Put the beef to chill at the same time. * As soon as the gelatin becomes thick, syrupy and almost set, remove the string from the beef and spoon the glaze over it. Chill and repeat this, giving two more coats so that the beef has a nice thick glaze with green parsley embedded in it. * Pour the rest of the jelly into a shallow pan, allow to set in the refrigerator. Then when it has set, cut it into squares and pile around the beef on its serving dish. * Serve, sliced with pickles, and plenty of mustard.
Posted to recipelu-digest Volume 01 Number 299 by "Diane Geary" <diane@...> on Nov 23, 1997