Beef Steaks with London Mixed Vegetables

A Mother’s Instructions to Her Son’s Wife — London, 1838

My dear daughter,

Now we come to beef, which is a proper thing to put before a hungry family and considerably easier to manage than a goose, provided you do not commit the terrible mistake of cooking it until it resembles the sole of my husband's old boots.

Buy good steaks from a butcher you trust. For our household, naturally, the beef must be slaughtered and prepared according to the customs of the family. Do not allow a butcher to sell you some miserable thin scrap merely because he says it will fry quickly. A good steak should have some thickness to it.

For a supper of four to six persons, you will require four to six beef steaks, each about an inch thick if possible; two onions, four carrots, two turnips, four or five potatoes, a small green cabbage, and a good quantity of peas when they are in season.

You will also need beef dripping or goose fat, salt, black pepper, parsley, thyme, a little flour, and about a pint of beef broth.

Keep a bottle of good red wine for the table.

Preparing the Beef

Take the steaks from the cold pantry perhaps half an hour before cooking.

Wipe them with a clean cloth and trim away only the hardest pieces of excess fat or gristle. Do not cut away every bit of fat. Meat without any fat is a punishment, not a supper.

Season each steak with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Chop together a little parsley and thyme and press some of the herbs lightly onto the meat.

Do not drown the steaks in sauces before they are cooked. If the beef is good, it already knows what it is supposed to taste like.

Slice one onion into thick rings and keep it nearby.

Preparing the Vegetables

Peel the carrots, turnips, and potatoes.

Cut the carrots and turnips into pieces of similar size so that they will finish cooking together. Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters depending upon their size.

Remove the heavy outer leaves from the cabbage and slice the remainder into broad strips.

If you have fresh peas, shell them shortly before cooking.

Now you have several pots to attend to, which is why sensible women prepare everything before putting the first pan over the fire.

The Potatoes

Put the potatoes into salted water and boil them until they are nearly tender, perhaps fifteen minutes, depending upon their size.

Drain them well.

Put a good spoonful of beef dripping or goose fat into a heavy pan and add the potatoes.

Turn them over the heat until their edges become brown and crisp.

Season them with salt, pepper, and a little parsley.

Keep them warm while you finish the rest of supper.

Carrots and Turnips

Put the carrots and turnips together into a saucepan with enough broth to come perhaps halfway up the vegetables.

Add a little salt, pepper, and thyme.

Cover and simmer them gently for about twenty to thirty minutes, until tender.

Remove the lid during the final few minutes so that some of the broth cooks away.

A small spoonful of beef dripping may be stirred through them before serving.

No butter is needed.

Your vegetables will survive the disappointment.

The Cabbage

Put a spoonful of beef dripping or goose fat into a heavy pot.

Add a little chopped onion and cook it gently until softened.

Add the sliced cabbage with several spoonfuls of broth, salt, and pepper.

Cover the pot and cook gently for about twenty minutes.

Stir it from time to time.

Do not boil the cabbage until it becomes grey and sorrowful. It should still have some green color and enough body that a person knows what he is eating.

The Peas

Fresh peas need very little assistance.

Put them into a small saucepan with a little water, a pinch of salt, and perhaps a sprig of mint if you have one.

Cook for ten minutes or so, until tender.

Drain them and keep them warm.

And no, my son does not require an entire dish of peas to himself merely because he claims they are his favorite.

Cooking the Steaks

Now attend to the beef.

Use the heaviest frying pan or iron skillet you possess and place it over a strong fire.

Let the pan become properly hot.

Add only a small spoonful of beef dripping.

When the fat is hot, place the steaks into the pan.

Do not crowd them. If your pan is too small, cook them in two batches.

For steaks approximately one inch thick, cook them for roughly three to five minutes on the first side, then turn them and cook the other side.

How long they remain in the pan depends upon how well done your family likes its beef.

A steak should be well browned outside while remaining tender within.

Do not stab the meat repeatedly with a fork. Turn it with tongs or a broad utensil if you can.

During the final few minutes, add the sliced onions to the pan around the steaks.

Let them brown in the beef juices.

When the steaks are done, remove them to a warm platter and allow them to rest for several minutes.

This is important.

If my son is already seated at the table complaining that he is starving, he may wait.

He has survived this long.

Making the Onion Gravy

Leave the browned onions and juices in the pan.

If there is too much fat, spoon some away.

Sprinkle approximately one spoonful of flour into what remains and stir it around the pan.

Cook the flour for a minute.

Slowly add approximately one cup of beef broth, stirring constantly and scraping up all the browned pieces from the bottom.

Those browned pieces are not dirt.

They are supper.

Add a small splash of red wine if you wish and let the gravy simmer until slightly thickened.

Taste before adding more salt.

Pour some of the onion gravy around the steaks and bring the remainder to table in a warmed jug.

Serving the Supper

Place the steaks upon a large warmed platter.

Arrange the browned onions over and around them.

Serve the potatoes, carrots and turnips, cabbage, and peas in separate dishes so that everyone may take what they please.

Bring good bread to the table as well.

If one of the steaks is particularly fine, give it to your guest.

If there are no guests, take it yourself.

You cooked the dinner.

The Wine

With beef, serve a good red claret, somewhat stronger than the wine you might pour with rabbit.

There is no need to purchase the most expensive bottle in London. A respectable household should serve good wine, not wine intended to impress people who will complain about it regardless.

For a household observing Jewish custom, naturally use wine acceptable to the family's practice.

Open the bottle before bringing the steaks to table and pour modestly.

The wine should accompany the beef, not make everyone forget whether they have eaten it.

Keep water on the table as well.

And if my son begins explaining to you how the steak ought to have been cooked after he has already eaten every bite, you may safely ignore him.

What to Do With What Remains

If there is leftover beef, do not waste it.

Slice it thinly the following day and serve it cold with bread, mustard, pickled vegetables, or onions.

The remaining vegetables may be chopped and fried together in a little beef dripping for another meal.

And save every spoonful of good dripping.

A respectable kitchen does not throw away useful fat simply because supper is finished.

Remember, daughter:

Hot pan. Good beef. Do not overcook it.

That is almost all the wisdom required.

The rest is learning not to listen when hungry men stand in your kitchen pretending they know better.

— From your mother, London, 1838