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
- garlic
- cloves
- pepper
- salt
- puff paste
- horse-radish
Instructions
- Take out as much of the bone as can be done with a saw, that it may lie flat on the dish.
- Stuff it with forcemeat made as before directed.
- Lay it in a pot with two quarts of water, a pint of red wine, some carrots and turnips cut in small pieces and stewed over it, a head of cellery cut up, a few cloves of garlic, some pounded cloves, pepper and salt.
- Stew it gently till sufficiently done.
- Skim the fat off, thicken the gravy, and serve it up.
- Garnish with little bits of puff paste nicely baked, and scraped horse-radish.