Beef a-la-mode.
    Though what are called a-la-mode beef-shops swarm in the
metropolis, there is not perhaps one place under that denomina-
tion in London where the real beef a-la-mode is sold. What
passes under this name in England is nothing more than the
coarsest pieces of beef stewed into a sort of seasoned soup, not
at all superior to those of ox-cheek, or leg of beef, and fre-
quently by no means so good. The real a-la-mode beef can
only be made according to the instructions given in this and the
following receipt.
    The most proper parts for this purpose are a small buttock,
a leg of mutton piece, a clod, or part of a large bullock.
Cut into long slices some fat bacon, but quite free from yel-
low ; let each bit be near an inch thick : dip them into vinegar,
and then into a seasoning ready prepared of salt, black pepper,
allspice, and a clove, all in fine powder, with parsley, chives,
thyme, savory, and knotted marjoram, shred as small as
possible, and well mixed. With a sharp knife make holes deep
enough to let in the larding ; then rub the beef over with the
seasoning, and bind it up tight with tape. Set it in a well-
tinned pot over a fire, or rather stove : three or four onions must
be fried brown, and put to the beef, with two or three carrots,
one turnip, a head or two of celery, and a small quantity of
water ; let it simmer gently ten or twelve hours, or till extreme-
ly tender, turning the meat twice.
    Put the gravy into a pan, remove the fat, keep the beef
covered, then put them together, and add a glass of port wine.
Take off the tape, and serve with the vegetables; or you may
strain them off, and send them up cut into dice for garnish.
Onions roasted, and then stewed with the gravy, are a great
improvement. A tea-cupful of vinegar should be stewed with
the beef.

         Beef a-la-mode, another way.
    Take about eleven pounds of the mouse-buttock, or clod
of beef, or a blade bone, or the sticking-piece, or the like
weight of the breast of veal; cut it into pieces of three or four
ounces each ; put two or three ounces of beef drippings, and
a couple of large onions, into a large deep stew-pan; as soon
as it is quite hot, flour the meat, put it into the stew-pan , keep
stirring it with a wooden spoon : when it has been on about
ten minutes, dredge it with flour, and keep doing so till you
have stirred in as much as you think will thicken it, then cover
it with boiling water, (it will take about a gallon) adding it
by degrees, and stirring it together ; skim it when it boils, and
then put in one drachm of ground black pepper, two of all-
spice, and four bay leaves : set the pan by the side of the fire,
or at a distance over it, and let it stew very slowly for about
three hours ; when you find the meat sufficiently tender, put
it into a tureen, and it is ready for table.
    To the above dish many cooks add champignons; but as
these are almost always decayed, and often of deleterious qua-
lity, they are better left out, and indeed the bay leaves de-
serve the same prohibition.

Dr. Kitchiner's Receipt to make Barley Broth.
    Put four ounces of Scotch barley, (previously washed in
cold water) and four ounces of sliced onion, into five quarts
of water ; boil gently for one hour, and pour it into a pan :
then put into the sauce-pan from one to two ounces of clean
beef or mutton drippings, clarified or melted suet ; or two or
three ounces of fat bacon minced ; when melted, stir into it
four ounces of oatmeal, rub these together till you make a paste,
(if this be properly managed, the whole of the fat will combine
with the barley broth, and not a particle appear on the sur-
face to offend the most delicate stomach:) now add the barley
broth, at first a spoonful at a time, then the rest by degrees,
stirring it well together till it boils. To season it, put a dram
of finely pounded celery, or cress seed, (or half a dram of each,)
and a quarter of a dram of finely pounded cayenne, or a dram
and a half of ground black pepper, or allspice, into a tea-cup,
and mix it up with a little of the soup, and then pour it into
the rest, stir it thoroughly together, let it simmer gently a
quarter of an hour longer, season it with salt, and it is ready.
    The flavour may be varied by doubling the portion of
onions, or adding a clove of garlic or eschalot, and leaving
out the celery seed.
    It will be much improved, if, instead of water, it be made
with the liquor meat has been boiled in : at tripe, cow-heel,
and cook-shops, this may be had for little or nothing.
    If the generally received opinion be true, that
animal and
vegetable foods afford nourishment in proportion to the quan-
tity of oil, jelly, and mucilage that can be extracted from them,
this soup has strong claims to the attention of rational econo-
mists.

            Beef Broth.
    Wash a leg or a shin of beef very clean, crack the bone
in two or three places, (this you should desire the butcher to do
for you,) add thereto any trimmings you have of meat, game,
or poultry, (i.e. heads, necks, gizzards, feet, &c.) and cover
them with cold water; watch and stir it up well from the
bottom, and the moment it begins to simmer, skim it care-
fully ; your broth must be perfectly clear and limpid ; then
add some cold water, to make the remaining scum rise, and
skim it again ; when the scum has done rising, and the
surface of the broth is quite clear, put in one moderate-
sized carrot, a head of celery, two turnips, and two onions.
It should not have any taste of sweet herbs, spice, or garlic,
&c. Either of these flavours can easily be added immediately
after, if desired. Cover it close, set it by the side of the fire,
and let it simmer very gently (so as not to waste the broth) for
four or five hours, or more, according to the weight of the
meat: strain it through a sieve into a clean and dry stone pan,
and set it in the coldest place you have.
    This is the foundation for all sorts of soups and sauces,
brown or white.
    Stew no longer than the meat is thoroughly done to eat,
and you will obtain excellent broth, without depriving the
meat of its nutritious succulence: to boil it to rags, as is the
common practice, will not enrich your broths, but make them
thick and grouty.
    The meat, when gently stewed for only four or five hours
till it is just tender, remains abundantly sapid and nourishing,
and will afford a relishing and wholesome meal for half a dozen
people ; or when you have strained off the broth, cover the
meat again with water, and let it go on boiling for four hours
longer, and make what some cooks call second stock: it will
produce some very good glaze, or portable soup.

            Veal Broth.
    Stew a knuckle of veal in about a gallon of water, put in
two ounces of rice or vermicelli, a little salt, and a blade of
mace. When the meat is thoroughly boiled, and the liquor
reduced to about one half, it will be very good, and fit for use.

            Mutton Broth.
    Take two pounds of serag of mutton; to take the blood out,
put it into a stew-pan, and cover it with cold water; when the
water becomes milk warm, pour it off, skim it well, then put
it in again, with four or five pints of water, a tea-spoonful
of salt, a table-spoonful of best grits, and an onion; set it on
a slow fire, and when you have taken all the scum off, put in
two or three turnips, let it simmer very slowly for two hours,
and strain it through a clean sieve.
    You may thicken it, by boiling with it a little oatmeal,
rice, Scotch, or pearl barley.

         Scotch Mutton Broth.
    Soak a neck of mutton in water for an hour ; cut off the
scrag, and put it into a stew-pot with two quarts of water.
As soon as it boils, skim it well, and then simmer it an hour
and a half; then take the best end of the mutton, cut it into
pieces, (two bones in each,) take some of the fat off, and put
as many as you think proper : skim the moment the fresh meat
boils up, and every quarter of an hour afterwards. Have
ready four or five carrots, the same number of turnips, and
three onions, all cut, but not small ; and put them in soon
enough to get quite tender: add four large spoonfuls of Scotch
barley, first wetted with cold water. The meat should stew
three hours. Salt to taste, and serve all together. Twenty
minutes before serving, put in some chopped parsley. It is an
excellent winter dish.

            Scotch Barley Broth.
    Wash three quarters of a pound of Scotch barley in a little
cold water, put it in a soup pot, with a shin or leg of beef, or
a knuckle of veal of about ten pounds weight, sawed into four
pieces, (tell the butcher to do this for you,) cover it well with
cold water, set it on the fire ; when it boils, skim it very
clean, and put in two onions of about three ounces weight
each, set it by the side of the fire to simmer very gently about
two hours ; then skim all the fat clean off, and put in two heads
of celery, and a large turnip cut into small squares ; season it
with salt, and let it boil an hour and a half longer, and it is
ready : take out the meat (carefully with a slice, and cover it
up, and set it by the fire to keep warm:) and scum the broth
well before you put it in the tureen.
    If it is made the evening before the soup is wanted, and
suffered to stand till it is cold, much fat may be removed from
the surface of the soup, which is, when clarified, used for all
the purposes that drippings are applied to.