Potted Beef (I)

Ingredients

• 2 lb lean beef
• 1 tablespoonful water
• 1/4 lb butter
• a seasoning to taste of salt
• cayenne, pounded mace, and black pepper

Instructions

1. Procure a nice piece of lean beef, as free as possible from gristle, skin, &c., and put it into a jar (if at hand, one with a lid) with 1 tablespoonful of water.
2. Cover it _closely_, and put the jar into a saucepan of boiling water, letting the water come within 2 inches of the top of the jar.
3. Boil gently for 3-1/2 hours, then take the beef, chop it very small with a chopping-knife, and pound it thoroughly in a mortar.
4. Mix with it by degrees all, or a portion, of the gravy that will have run from it, and a little clarified butter;
5. add the seasoning, put it in small pots for use, and cover with a little butter just warmed and poured over.
6. If much gravy is added to it, it will keep but a short time; on the contrary, if a large proportion of butter is used, it may be preserved for some time.