Brisket

“ Corned Beef Corned beef has but little nutritive value. It is used to give variety to our diet in summer, when fresh meats prove too stimulating. It is eaten by the workingman to give bulk to his food. The best pieces of corned beef are the rattle rand and fancy brisket. The fancy brisket commands a higher price and may be easily told from the rattle rand by the selvage on lower side and the absence of bones. The upper end of brisket (butt end) is thick and composed mostly of lean meat, the middle cut has more fat but is not well mixed, while the lower (navel end) has a large quantity of fat. ”

“ The aitch-bone and the brisket are considered the best pieces for boiling. If you buy them in the market already corned, they will be fit to put over the fire without a previous soaking in water. If you corn them in the brine in which you keep your beef through the winter, they must be soaked in cold water over night. ”

“ Beef Stew à la Mode 10 lbs. beef brisket Flour 1 cup rendered fat 11⁄2 cups sliced onion 1⁄3 cup salt 1 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon ground allspice 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1 teaspoon whole cloves 1 lemon, sliced Water to cover
Buy twenty-five or thirty pounds of brisket to get ten pounds of clear, lean meat. ”

“ Buy two and one-half or three pounds of brisket to get one and one-half pounds of clear, lean meat. Cut the meat into one inch pieces, roll them in flour, and fry them in the fat till brown. The onion may be sliced and added when the meat is nearly brown. Put the meat with the other ingredients into a small cooker-pail, cover it with hot water, boil for ten minutes, and cook it in a hay-box for five hours or more. If left for many hours the meat becomes a trifle dry, but otherwise the stew is not injured by overcooking. ”

“ Take the nicest part of the thick brisket of beef, about eight pounds, put it into a pot with every thing directed for the other soup; make it exactly in the same way, only put it on an hour sooner, that you may have time to prepare the bouilli; after it has boiled five hours, take out the beef, cover up the soup and set it near the fire that it may keep hot. ”

“ Of course a delicate morsel of the fat must go with each serving. The brisket of beef is not a joint very usually to be met with; but it has its merits, and has only to be cut neatly across the bones, to prevent its having a jagged, untidy look on its reappearance at table. What has been said concerning the carving of the sirloin of beef applies in all respects to the carving of the ribs, except that, these having no under-cut, the task is rendered less diversified. ”

“ Take a piece of brisket of beef, cover it with water, when boiling skim off the fat, add one quartern of French beans cut small, two onions cut in quarters, season with pepper and salt, and when nearly done take a dessert-spoonful of flour, one of coarse brown sugar, and a large tea-cup full of vinegar, mix them together and stir in with the beans, and continue stewing for about half an hour longer. ”

“ When soft, nib through a strainer, add a little boiling water or soup stock, add one and one-half teaspoons of salt, one-half teaspoon of sugar and a speck of white pepper, and beat the mixture well.
Put hard brisket fat chopped in small pieces, about one-eighth of a pound will be sufficient, into a spider and cook until a light yellow, add a large onion, cut in dice and continue cooking with the fat until brown. Serve the purée like mashed potatoes. Pour the onion and fat over it before serving. Serve hot. ”

“ Put a shoulder of salt pork in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, and then allow to become cool. Then put the pork in a pot with five pounds of brisket of beef, cover with water, add a little salt, a bouquet garni, three whole turnips, three beets, three carrots and a small head of cabbage. Cook until the vegetables are soft, then remove, and continue cooking the meat until well done. Place the meat on a platter, slice, and place the vegetables around the meat; add some plain boiled potatoes, pour a little of the broth over all, and serve hot. ”

“ Procure a nice brisket of beef with as little fat as possible attached, if too much cut a little of it off, and detach the whole of the bones from it, then make a pickle with twenty pounds of salt, three quarters of a pound of saltpetre, four cakes of sal prunella, two pounds of moist sugar, and two cloves of garlic, with which rub the meat well, and leave it rather more than a week, rubbing and turning it over every day ”

“ But if to be dressed without soup, boil a piece of the flank or brisket in water to cover it, with a sufficiency of cut carrot and turnip to garnish, also a head of celery and 12 or 16 button onions, browned; add a small table-spoonful of black and Jamaica peppers tied in muslin; simmer it gently; and it requires a long time to cook it enough. When it has boiled till tender, take out enough of the liquor to make sauce; thicken it with brown roux, or flour rubbed in butter, add catsup, cayenne, and made mustard. Garnish with the vegetables. Caper, walnut, or tomata sauce. ”

“ Boil about seven or eight pounds of beef, either brisket or a fillet off the shoulder,in enough water to cover it, when it has boiled for one hour, add as much sauer kraut, which is a German preparation, as may be approved, it should then stew gently for four hours and be served in a deep dish. The Germans are not very particular in removing the fat, but it is more delicate by so doing. ”

“ Figure 87.—Foreshank crosscuts and brisket.
Turning now to the blade section of the forequarter, remove the sixth rib by cutting between the fifth and sixth ribs and sawing through the backbone (fig. 88) . This roast, or roasts from the fifth and fourth rib sections, can be used as is (fig. 89) or separated into several usable pieces. The outside muscles may be removed by cutting along the fat seam through the middle of the roast (fig. 90) . These muscles are less tender and should be cooked with moist heat like a pot roast or made into stew meat or ground beef. ”

“ While this is an item of which little can be said, it is one which merits consideration where one is doing a large volume of business. The necks of cattle are trimmed to make them look smooth and even, cutting off the ragged ends. On large cattle there are two or three pounds of brisket fat in each animal. When oleo oil is high and beef is low it is advisable to cut this fat out; when the conditions are reversed it is profitable to leave it in. ”

“ The ribs are treated the same as the loin, and when the rind and fat are cut off are called spare-ribs. This piece makes a sweet roast. Having much more bone and less meat than the loin, it is not really any cheaper, although sold for less. The loin and ribs are both used for chops and steaks. The flank and brisket are corned. The head is sold while fresh for head-cheese, or is divided into two or four parts and corned, and is a favorite dish with many people. The feet are sometimes sold while fresh, but are more frequently first pickled. ”

“ The neck is delicately formed without dewlap, the brisket projecting; and the great depth and width of the chest giving short, well-spread fore-legs. The crops are good; back and loin broad and flat; ribs projecting; [Pg 32] deep flank and twist; tail well set up, strong at the roots and tapering. They have a thick covering of soft hair, and are mellow to the touch, technically termed, handling well. They mature early and rapidly for the quantity of food consumed, yielding largely of good beef with little offal. As a breed, they are excellent milkers ”

“ This is an economical dinner, especially where there are many mouths to feed. Buy a few pounds of either salt brisket, thick or thin flank, or buttock of beef; these pieces are always to be had at a low rate. Let us suppose you have bought a piece of salt beef for a Sunday's dinner, weighing about five pounds, at 6 1/2d. per pound, that would come to 2s. 8 1/2d.; two pounds of common flour, 4d., to be made into suet pudding or dumplings, and say 8 1/2d. for cabbages, parsnips, and potatoes ”

“ Should there not be likely to be any sufficiently good stock for next day’s dinner, an excellent soup, as well as a most useful cold dish for family use, may be made by stewing a piece of the thick brisket of beef the day before the soup is wanted. To 6 lb. of beef allow 3 large onions, 2 medium-sized carrots, 12 cloves, a sprig or two of parsley, and a tiny bunch of sweet herbs tied in muslin. ”

“ Asparagus tips, au gratin. Put the tips in a buttered pan or silver dish, cover with well-seasoned cream sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese and small bits of butter and bake in oven until brown.
Corned beef and cabbage. The best corned beef is that made from the brisket. Put on fire in cold water and skim when it comes to the boiling point. Cover and let it boil slowly until about three-quarters done. Then add two heads of well-washed cabbage cut in four, and cook with the beef for at least one hour. ”

“ The buffalo, or bison, is the great resource of the trappers of the West. The tongue, tenderloin and brisket are generally preferred, but all the meat is eatable. The flesh of the cow is best. It much resembles beef, but has a more gamey flavor. ”

“ In sawing the breast, it should be done centrally, holding saw at same angle as that at which the animal is lying, otherwise the saw works toward one side, and makes a very bad-looking brisket on one side of the beef. ”

“ The flesh is esteemed by all classes in Africa above that of any other animal; in grain and colour it resembles beef, but is better tasted and more delicate, possessing a true game flavour, and the quantity of fat with which it is interlarded is surprising, greatly exceeding that of any other game quadruped with which we are acquainted. The venison fairly melts in the mouth, and as for the brisket, that is absolutely a cut for a monarch. ”

“ Brisket and flank, used for pickling in salt and smoked bacon.
The cheek is used for pickling in salt, also the shank or shin. The feet are usually used for souse and jelly.
For family use the leg is the most economical, that is when fresh, and the loin the richest. The best pork is from carcasses weighing from fifty to about one hundred and twenty-five pounds. Pork is a white and close meat, and it is almost impossible to over-roast or cook it too much; when underdone it is exceedingly unwholesome. ”

“ The turkeys were à merveille, the venison delicious; for the big buck—he was nearly as big as a Mexican burro-deer—was very fat indeed. It is only the man who has eaten really fat wild venison who knows what good venison really is. The kidneys were completely covered with tallow, and my companion assured us that the buck cut nearly an inch of fat on the brisket. The quarters had been hung out to freeze all night, and were thawed in melted snow-water before being cooked, and so were quite tender. ”

“ A variety of pieces known by a variety of names, such as cross ribs, plate or Rattel rand, brisket, shoulder, rump, thick flank, aitch bone and the butt or vein, are used for boiling, braising, stewing, corned beef, pot roasts and spiced beef.
The upper round, occasionally called the buttock, is used for round steaks.
The lower round is good for beef-tea, hamburg-steak, meat pies and any purpose for which good chopped beef is needed.
The chuck ribs are those nearest the neck; they [269] are frequently used for stews, chuck steaks and ragout. ”

“ In a breast of veal, separate the breast and brisket, and then cut them up, asking which part is preferred. In carving a pig, it is customary to divide it, and take off the head, before it comes to the table; as, to many persons, the head is very revolting. ”

“ The Round
is, in large families, one of the most profitable parts owing to its comparative freedom from bone: it is usually boiled, and is generally sold at the same price as the sirloin, and ribs. It is sometimes divided downwards, close to the bone; one side being known as the
top side
, and the other as the
silver side
. Either of these parts is as good roasted as boiled.
ii. The Brisket
is always less in price than the roasting parts. ”

“ In choice and well-fed beef, the lean will be found intergrained with fat: very lean meat is generally of an inferior quality.
The ribs, the sirloin, and the rump, are the proper joints for roasting. The round, or buttock, the edgebone, the second round, or mouse-buttock, the shin, the brisket, the shoulder or leg of mutton piece, and the clod, may be boiled or stewed. The neck is generally used for soup or gravy; and the thin flank for collaring. The best steaks are cut from the middle of the rump ”

“ When that is soaked in, put on more. So continue till it be well mittonée, and the bread grown spungy, and like a gelly. Then fill up the dish with broth, and put the Hen and Veal upon it, and cover them over with herbs, and so serve it in. He keeps of this broth to drink at night, or make a Pan-cotto, as also for next morning. I like to adde to this, a rand of tender brisket Beef, and the Cragg-end of a neck of Mutton. But the Beef must have six hours boiling. So put it on with all the rest at six a Clock. When it is well scummed, take out all the rest. ”

“ Next a wheaten loaf made her dodge nimbly, and then a broad ham fell flat-footed at her toes. A sack of flour burst in the middle of the street; a side of bacon impaled itself on an iron hitching-post. Pretty soon a chain of sausages fell in a circle around her, flattening out as if a road-roller had passed over them. Then there was a lull—nothing came down but dried fish, cold puddings and flannel under-clothing; but presently her wishes began to take effect again, and a quarter of beef descended with terrific momentum upon the top of the little orphan's head. ”