1471 | Fillet of Beef to the Success of the World’s Fair of 1892.
—Procure a fine fillet of prime beef of about six pounds, neatly pare it, remove the sinews from the top; cut three truffles in oblong pieces, two ounces of uncooked lean ham, and two ounces of larding pork, all cut the same way; then with a larding-needle lard the fillet, with a row of ham crosswise on the surface; then one row of pork, and then one of truffles, and continue the same with the rest until down to the end of the fillet; place in a pan one sliced carrot, one sliced onion, one bay-leaf, and a few scraps of pork, lay the fillet over, sprinkle over all one tablespoonful of salt, pour over half a cupful of clarified butter; cover the fillet with a well-buttered paper, and then lay aside until further action.
Lightly butter the interior of a tin mold about two inches longer than the fillet, so as to make a solid pedestal for the fillet. Cut into oblong pieces two good-sized red carrots, two fine white, cooked turnips, seeing that they are all cut the same length; arrange a line of cooked green peas, by preference, all around the edges of the bottom of the mold, then arrange a piece of carrot over the peas, slightly inclined toward the right, then a piece of turnip inclined in the same way, and continue so all around the mold; place another line of peas parallel to the other, right over the carrots and turnips; arrange another line of carrots and turnips the same as the other, but this one inclined toward the left. Boil in a quart of white broth (No. 99) for twenty minutes half a pound of well-picked Italian rice; then carefully pour the rice right in the centre of the mold, avoiding disturbing the vegetables; place the mold in a baking-pan, with hot water in it up to half its height, place in a moderate oven for twenty minutes, remove from out the oven, and keep in a warm place until further action.
Place on a wooden board half a pound of flour, make a small hollow space in the centre, place in it four ounces of butter, gradually add one gill of cold water, gently kneading meanwhile until all well mixed together, sprinkle a very little flour over it, and let rest for a few minutes. Have four round molds, three inches in diameter by two and a half in depth, very lightly butter the inside of each. Roll out three-quarters of the dough to a quarter of an inch thick, then with it line the inside of the four molds, fill them with cracker dust, place them on a tin pan, and bake in the oven for ten minutes; remove from out the oven, let cool, throw out the cracker dust, then turn each mold upside down on a table, lift up the molds and let cool for awhile. Roll out the rest of the dough as thin as possible, then cut out leaves with a wheeled paste-cutter one inch and a half long; take the yolk of one egg and a tablespoonful of water, beat up in a bowl, then with a hair brush completely glaze the exterior all around of the four croustades: completely cover the croustades with the cut out leaves all around, commencing at the top, with the points upward, one overlapping another. Lightly glaze the leaves now with the beaten egg and water, and then place in the hot oven for three minutes, to let them get a good golden color; take from out the oven, lay aside until further action.
Now place the fillet in the oven to roast for thirty-five minutes, basting it occasionally with its own gravy. Remove it from the oven, have a large hot dish ready, carefully unmold the rice right in the centre of the dish, then gently arrange the fillet on top of the rice right in the centre; fill two croustades with hot mushroom garnishing (No. 230), and fill the other two with hot jardinière (No. 1033); place one mushroom croustade on each side of the fillet, and a jardinière at each end. Pour into the pan in which the fillet was cooked half a glassful of Madeira wine, place on the hot range and let come to a boil; add now to it a gill of white broth (No. 99), let boil for two minutes, then thicken with two tablespoonfuls of Espagnole sauce (No. 151), let come to a boil again, skim off all the fat, strain through a fine sieve into a sauce bowl, and send the fillet to the table with the sauce separate.