A guide to modern cookery

the meat, and it is restored to its former volume by means of two-thirds of its quantity of Espagnole sauce and one-third of tomato purée, or an equivalent quantity of fresh tomatoes. The cooking of the meat is completed in this sauce, and the basting should be carried on as before. When it is cooked—that is to say, when the point of a knife may easily be thrust into it without meeting with any resistance whatsoever—it should be carefully withdrawn from the sauce; the latter should be again strained through muslin and then left to rest, with a view to letting the grease settle on the surface. Carefully remove this grease, and rectify the sauce with a little excellent stock if it is too thick, or by reduction if it is too thin. _The Glazing of Braised Meat._—Braised meat is glazed in order to make it more sightly, but this operation is by no means essential, and it is quite useless when the meat is cut up previous to being served. To glaze meat place it as soon as cooked in the front of the oven, sprinkle it slightly with its cooking liquor (gravy or sauce), and push it into the oven so that this liquor may dry. Being very gelatinous, the latter adheres to the meat, while its superfluous water evaporates, and thus coats the solid with a thin film of meat-glaze. This operation is renewed eight or ten times, whereupon the meat is withdrawn from the oven, placed on a dish, and covered until it is served. _Various Remarks relative to Braising._—When a braised meat is to be accompanied by vegetables, as in the case of beef à la mode, these vegetables may either be cooked with the meat during the second braising phase, after they have been duly coloured in butter with a little salt and sugar, or they may be cooked separately with a portion of the braising-liquor. The first procedure is the better, but it lends itself less to a correct final dressing. It is, therefore, the operator’s business to decide according to circumstances which