To Stew a Rump of Beef

Ingredients

• 1 rump of beef
• strong cold beef broth or gravy
• 1–2 onions
• 1 head celery
• 2 carrots
• 2 turnips
• 1 large faggot savoury herbs
• 1 pint mushrooms
• 1 pint sherry or Madeira
• brown roux
• to taste salt, cayenne, and spices
• forcemeat balls
• Espagnole sauce or brown English gravy
• stewed carrots or prepared garlic or eschalots

Instructions

1. Remove the bones from the rump of beef if desired for easier carving and appearance.
2. Roll the meat firmly and bind it with a fillet of tape.
3. Cover it completely with strong cold beef broth or gravy.
4. Stew very gently for six to eight hours (or four to five hours if the joint has been half-roasted first).
5. After the scum has been well cleared off the surface, add one large or two moderate-sized onions stuck with thirty cloves, a head of celery, two carrots, two turnips, and a large bundle of savoury herbs.
6. Cook until the beef is perfectly tender throughout, tested by probing with a sharp thin skewer.
7. Remove the fillets of tape and dish the meat neatly.
8. For the simple version, serve with a rich Espagnole sauce and forced tomatas, or with brown English gravy and stewed carrots laid around the meat with a little brown gravy poured over.
9. For the richer version, half-roast the joint first, then stew it in strong gravy.
10. Add a pint of mushrooms and a pint of sherry or Madeira an hour before it is ready for table.
11. Thicken a portion of the gravy with a well-made brown roux and season with salt, cayenne, and other spices as needed.
12. Garnish with large balls of forcemeat highly seasoned with minced eschalots, rolled in egg and bread-crumbs, and fried to a fine golden brown.