Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 82, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 April 1916 — MAKING MEAT TENDER [ARTICLE]

MAKING MEAT TENDER

HOW THE INEXPENSIVE CUTS MAY BE EMPLOYED. Pounding Flour Into Them Is Recommended at One Method—Chopping Fine Is Another Excellent Way of Improving Them. When the housekeeper attempts to reduce her meat bill by usihg the less expensive cuts she has two difficulties to contend with —toughness and lack of flavor. Pounding meat before cooking is an old-fashioned method of making it tender, but while this process breaks down the tough tissues it also releases the Juices, driving them out, and with them the flavor. A good way is to pound flour into the meat. This catches and holds the Juices. A very palatable and economical dish can be made from a round steak as follows: Pound flour into both sides of the steak, as much as the meat will take up. Fry In drippings or other fat in an ordinary pan of kettle, then add water to cover it Cover the vessel tightly, so that no steam can escape and allow the meat; to simmer very gently for two hours. It is then ready to serve, the gravy being already thickened by the flour beaten into the steak. This gravy is delicious and far superior to the kind made in the ordinary way after the meat is cooked. Another very tasty dish is Spanish beefsteak. Take a piece of round steak weighing two pounds and about an inch thick. Pound until thin, season with salt and cayenne pepper, cover with a layer of bacon or salt pork sliced, roll and tie with a cord, place in a covered baking dish. Pour around it half a cupful each of milk and water. Cook two hours, basting occasionally.

Chopping meat is one of the principal methods of making tough and inexpensive meat tender. Chopped meats have another advantage, in that they may be cooked quickly and economically. Chopped raw meat of almost any kind can be very quickly made into a savory dish by cooking it with water or with water and milk for a short time, then thickening with butter and flour, and adding different seasoning as preferred, either pepper and salt alone or onion juice, celery, or tomato. Such a dish may be made to go further by serving it on slices of toast or surrounded by a wall of rice or macaroni. In broiling chopped meat successfully the point is to sear the surface very quickly so that the juices may be kept in, and then to allow the heat to penetrate to the inside until the whole mass is cooked to the taste of the family. To begin with, the broiler should he well greased. Otherwise the cakes or balls may be broken when removing them from the broiler. They should be heated on both sides more quickly than a steak, because the chopping has allowed the juice to escape and the openings should be sealed as quickly as possible. Hamburg stdak is made from inexpensive bits of beef chopped, seasoned a little, and shaped into flat cakes or steaks. If possible the chopping should he done at home, so that the meat may be cooked at once. Some housekeepers think Hamburg steak is improved by mixing the meat with a little milk before cooking.