4 Main Dish Recipes

November 19, 2009 | By Admin In Main Dishes |

Here are 4 old-time main dish recipes for savory beef rolls, braised beef with brown sauce, Spanish style veal casserole, veal pot pie with baked dumplings.

Savory Beef Rolls

1 1/2 pounds round steak, cut very thin
1/4 cup rice
Dash of ground cloves
1 tablespoon mixed herbs or poultry seasoning
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons drippings
2 1/2 tablespoons flour
3 cups water
1 tablespoon minced parsley

Cut the meat into pieces about 4 inches square. Combine the rice with the seasonings and flavorings. Put a spoon of this mixture on each square of the meat, roll up, and tie with white thread.

When all the rolls are made, brown them in the drippings which have been heated in a frying pan or sauce pan. Then brown the flour in the same drippings, adding a little more if necessary.

Add the water and stir until boiling. Cook the meat in it until tender – from one to one and one-half hours. Serve with plain boiled potatoes, boiled rice, or macaroni.

Braised Beef

Select 5 pounds of beef from round or rump. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and dredge with flour. Brown richly in hot frying pan in it’s own grease or in shortening if needed.

Place meat in a Dutch oven or casserole on 3 slices of bacon. Surround with 2/3 cup each chopped bacon, carrot, onion, and celery, and a spray each of parsley, thyme and marjoram. Add 2 cups of brown stock or broth, half of a small bay leaf, 2 small red pepper pods, or 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns, and 4 cloves. Sprinkle all with salt and strew top of meat with chopped bacon.

Cover closely and cook in a slow oven from 4 to 5 hours, basting occasionally. Remove meat and strain the liquid. Rinse the vessel in which meat was browned and reserve the liquid from that, also. Prepare a brown sauce with this liquid. (recipe below)

Serve in a sauce-boat, or turn around meat after placing on serving platter. A cup of hot stewed and strained tomatoes may be added to the sauce. Also 1 1/2 tablespoons of freshly grated horseradish root and 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce can be added if desired.

Brown Sauce

2 tablespoons butter
1 slice onion
4 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Melt butter in saucepan. Add onion and cook until delicately browned. Remove onion and cook butter until richly browned, stirring constantly. Add flour with seasonings, stir to a paste and continue browning. Then pour on broth, slowly stirring until smooth and glossy. Onion may be omitted.

Spanish Style Veal Casserole

2 pounds veal
1/3 cup bacon
3/4 cup fine soft bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Few grains cayenne, if desired
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
2 cups cooked and strained tomato pulp
1/2 green pepper, finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 egg, slightly beaten
Soda
Worcestershire Sauce

Remove all fat and skin from veal. Pass veal and bacon through meat grinder twice. Add crumbs and seasonings, except tomato, onion, and green pepper. Mix thoroughly and bind together with egg. Shape in balls the size of a small egg. Roll in flour and saute a rich brown in shortening made hot in a frying pan.

Heat tomato pulp. Add 1/8 teaspoon soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce. Turn into a warm casserole, add chopped pepper and onion. Dispose balls over sauce. Rinse frying pan with a little boiling water and pour over balls. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 2 hours.

Serve from casserole, or arrange on a platter and surround with a border of boiled rice sprinkled with finely chopped parsley. Place a spray of parsley in each meat ball.

Veal Pot Pie with Baked Dumplings

Cut 2 pounds of veal into one-inch cubes. If desired, add a couple slices of bacon, cut into pieces. Cover with boiling water. Add one small carrot sliced, one stalk celery broken in pieces, and two slices onion. When half done, add 1/2 tablespoon salt. Cook until meat is tender.

Remove the meat and strain the broth. Thicken broth with flour diluted with cold water. Put meat in a baking dish and pour over enough of the thickened broth to barely cover the meat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Make a soft dough by mixing and sifting 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder. Rub in 3 tablespoons shortening with tips of fingers. Then add milk enough to make a soft dough and drop by tablespoonfuls upon meat close together to cover the surface. Dumplings should set upon the meat and not sink into the gravy.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve remaining gravy in a sauce-boat.

Variation: 2 pounds of beef stew meat could be used instead of the veal, if preferred.