A Course of Lectures on the Principles of Domestic Economy and Cookery

active laborers up to the working point. MEAT STEWS. For a brown stew, use any kind of dark meat. To-day I am going to use some of the cooked round of beef; but you can use fresh beef; you can use raw beef, rare roast beef, or any of the dark meats; always use white meats for white stews. Presently we will make a white stew of veal; but for a brown stew use dark meats. Cut the meat in pieces about an inch and a half square, put it over the fire with enough fat of some kind to keep it from burning; use the fat of the meat, or drippings, or butter, and brown it as fast as possible. If you make a stew large enough for four or five people, use about three pounds of beef. As soon as the meat is brown, sprinkle a heaping tablespoonful of flour over it; then add enough boiling water to cover the meat, and three teaspoons of vinegar. The vinegar is used for the purpose of softening the fibres of the meat and making it tender. You will find that by adding vinegar to meat in cooking, you can always make it tender. When we come to treat of steak, I shall explain that. After the vinegar has been used, season the meat palatably with salt and pepper, cover it, and let it cook very gently for at least an hour, or until it is tender. To the stew add any vegetable you wish, or cook it perfectly plain, having only the meat and the gravy. To-day I am going to use carrots with it. For three pounds of beef use carrots enough to fill a pint bowl after they are cut in little slices, or in little quarters. Of course, if you add vegetables of any kind, carrots, turnips, or potatoes, you want to put them in long enough before the meat is done to insure their being perfectly cooked. For instance, carrots take from one to two hours to cook; I shall put the carrots in directly I