Value of the Casserole in Cooking the Cheaper Cuts of Meat - Distinct Flavourings, and How to Obtain Them - Use of Vinegar - Sheep's Head - Ox Tail

There are many parts of meat often described as inferior, not because they lack nourishment, but because they are in less demand than the prime cuts. They are unsuitable for roasting and grilling, two of the most popular processes of cooking, and for this reason are low in price.

The average housewife frequently knows only how to cook the choicest parts, and would be quite at a loss if required to deal with beef skirt, leg-of-mutton-piece, neck or leg of beef, etc. Sheer ignorance of the nature of the part of meat being used will sometimes result in a sinewy, coarse-fibred cut being roasted or fried. The result is the whole is rendered tough, dry, and indigestible, the gelatinous portions requiring a gentle, moist heat to soften them.

It is often said that to select cheaper cuts of meat which need long cooking is not true economy, where gas is used for fuel, or coal is high in price.

Many experts have, however, refuted this statement by maintaining that experiments show that so very little fuel of any kind is required to keep stews, etc., somewhat lower than boiling point - the best temperature for the prolonged cooking of meat - that the cost of the actual cooking is reduced to a minimum.

Casserole of Beef. Cooking "en casserole" is an excellent method of cooking the cheaper parts of meat

The value of the casserole for use in slowly cooking coarse pieces of meat in the oven cannot be over-estimated. The flavour is well preserved, the meat does not dry, and the dish can be used for serving as well as for the cooking. If it is not possible to obtain a casserole, a stewing-jar of thick earthenware, or any basin or dish can be substituted, providing its contents are tightly covered.

Three ways of flavouring stews and casseroles can be obtained, not by varying the vegetables and flavourings, but solely through the treatment of the meat and flour. One flavour is gained by frying and browning the meat only, another by browning the meat and flour, and the third by cooking the meat without either browning it or the flour. Thus three distinct changes can be secured with no additional cost.

Tough Meat In Vinegar

Meat that, from its hard texture, seems likely to be tough should be soaked in vinegar previous to cooking. The action of the acid aids in softening the fibres, and has also the additional advantage of acting as a preservative.

Curried Shin of Beef. Curries, when carefully prepared, are very appetising. Rice should always be served with a curry

Sheep's heads afford great possibilities, and are about the most economical purchase to be obtained at the butcher's, for the price of a head rarely exceeds 6d., and is more frequently 4d.

Scotch sheep's head broth, thickened with fine oatmeal, and vegetables, barley, and some of the meat rubbed through a sieve, is excellent; or the head can be boiled, and then the meat neatly removed from the bones and served with parsley, tomato, curry, or piquant sauce, and a garnish of vegetables. To send the entire head to table is revolting, and, fortunately, rarely done.

Ox tails are inexpensive if the excellent foreign ones, costing about I0d. each, are procured. Otherwise they are an extravagance not to be indulged in by those with limited incomes. To neglect stewed ox tails or ox-tail soup because 2s. 4d. for one off an English-killed animal is out of the question is regrettable and a distinct loss. Ox tails carefully stewed are digestible, nourishing, and form one of the most popular of all thick soups.

Good for Pies and Puddings

Beef skirt, a thin, lean piece enclosed in a skinny membrane, is a valuable addition to steak pies and puddings, or it may be stewed. It yields a particularly nice gravy. The skin should be removed before cutting up the meat.

Beef kidney is also much used for mixing with the steak for pies and similar dishes, as it greatly improves the gravy. If carefully stewed until quite tender, beef kidney makes a very palatable dish, though less delicate than sheep's kidneys.