Casserole Of Beef

One recipe for beef in the casserole will serve as a guide for cooking any piece of meat which is not tender enough to be roasted or broiled. Take two or three pounds of round steak; it need not be from the more expensive top of the round, a lower cut is good enough and will be quite tender if properly cooked. Remember, the tougher the meat, the more delicious the gravy, and the greater your achievement in transforming a cheap food into a nutritious and sightly dish. Have the meat cut half way across the round. Wipe it, tie into shape, salt and pepper it, then roll in flour, till thickly coated, sear in hot fat, turning every side of the cut till well browned. Have the casserole hot, add two cupfuls of canned tomato, half an onion, a sliced carrot, and a turnip, two stalks of chopped celery, a sprig of parsley, and half a teaspoonful of mixed whole spices. Pour a cupful of water in the spider, add a teaspoonful of kitchen bouquet, and pour over the meat. Cover tightly and set in a hot oven. As soon as the meat begins to cook, turn the gas low and cook very slowly for two or three hours. If you wish to serve potatoes with this dish, about fifteen minutes before taking the casserole from the oven, add as many as you wish, sliced and parboiled. Serve on a platter with the vegetables as a garnish, and the gravy in a boat.

The variations on casseroled dishes are restricted by individual taste and by what is in the pantry. For instance, if you desire, the steak may be onioned, by adding, instead of vegetables, four or five onions sliced and fried light brown in the spider. Or mushrooms may be used instead of the vegetables. If you like the canned variety, pour off the liquor and add them to the gravy ten minutes before taking the meat from the oven.

Casseroled Veal

Casseroled veal is delicious treated like steak, using instead of vegetables, one shredded green pepper, half a sliced onion, fried light brown, with a cupful of hot steamed rice added half an hour before serving. Chicken is at its best when cooked in this fashion with mushrooms and potatoes. A dash of onion, green pepper, or pimiento, adds to the flavor of chicken, veal, or rabbit. When lamb chops - or better still - slices of lamb cut from across the leg, are casseroled, make a bed of parboiled vegetables underneath, using diced carrots, parsnip, or turnip.

Put on top of these the browned meat, with a sprinkling of finely cut onion and celery, afterward pour over all the slightly thickened gravy.

Beef Tongue En Casserole

Another delicious casseroled dish is a beef tongue which has been slightly corned. Boil it first, trim off unsightly bits and skin. Rub with flour, to which has been added a dash of ginger, and allspice. Fry a few slices of onion in salt pork, then put the tongue in the spider, first tying it into shape. Flour it and fry lightly on all sides. Make a cupful of gravy, adding the juice of a lemon, three tablespoonfuls of shredded almonds, and half a cupful of seeded raisins. Put the tongue in a round casserole, pour the gravy over it, and bake half an hour in a moderate oven. .Untie the meat, turn out on a chop plate, and serve with the gravy poured over it.