To Stew a Rump of Beef
Source: Mary Randolph, 1824
History
"To Stew a Rump of Beef" is a recipe printed in Mary Randolph's cookbook The Virginia House-Wife, first published in 1824. As printed, it directs the cook to saw out as much of the bone as possible so the rump lies flat on the dish, stuff it with forcemeat "made as before directed," and stew it gently in two quarts of water and a pint of red wine together with carrots, turnips, a head of celery, a few cloves of garlic, pounded cloves, pepper, and salt; the fat is then skimmed, the gravy thickened, and the dish plated and garnished with little bits of baked puff paste and scraped horse-radish. The Virginia House-Wife is considered the first regional American cookbook and was republished at least nineteen times before the outbreak of the Civil War. Its author, Mary Randolph (1762–1828), came from the extended Randolph family of Virginia and in 1780 married the tobacco planter David Meade Randolph; in 1807 she opened a boarding house in Richmond. The historical record consulted here does not document a specific origin story for this particular dish, an unbroken line of descent from any national or royal kitchen, or any social, class, or status meaning attached to it; the claim that stuffing meat "began in the royal kitchens of France," and the claim that this dish "became a marker of status in the plantation houses of the Chesapeake," are not supported by any source located for this recipe and are omitted.
Ingredients
- 1 rump of beef
- forcemeat
- 2 quarts water
- 1 pint red wine
- carrots
- turnips
- 1 head celery
- a few cloves garlic
- cloves
- pepper
- salt
- puff paste
- horse-radish
Instructions
- Remove as much bone as possible from the rump of beef using a saw, so that it lies flat on the dish. Stuff it with forcemeat prepared as directed in the recipe referenced elsewhere in this book.
- Lay the stuffed rump in a pot with two quarts of water and a pint of red wine. Add carrots and turnips cut into small pieces, a head of celery cut up, a few cloves of garlic, pounded cloves, pepper, and salt.
- Stew gently over moderate heat until sufficiently done. Skim the fat from the surface.
- Thicken the gravy and serve the rump on a dish. Garnish with small pieces of puff paste that have been nicely baked until crisp, and with scraped horse-radish.