No. 805 — Roast Beef Roasted in the Oven

Trim excess fat, wash and towel-dry the beef, tie with strong thread and salt all over. Place fat-side down on a roasting tray, pour over browned butter, add a glass of cold water and put into a very hot oven to brown without burning.

If the oven is too hot, briefly cover with damp clean blotting paper. Turn once browned, then reduce the heat and continue roasting, basting every ten minutes with the pan juices and adding a spoonful of water or stock. The historical text also directs piercing the meat with a large fork.

When cooked, take the roast out for a quarter of an hour. Remove the strings and separate the inner fillet and outer cut from the bones. Slice both across the grain into thin long pieces and arrange them back on the bones to resemble a whole roast.

Before removing the roast from the oven, pour its juices into a wide bowl, add about ½ glass of very cold water and cool in snow or another cold place. Skim the fat, strain through a napkin, boil and serve in a sauceboat.

Garnish with small potatoes fried whole No. 626, potato croquettes No. 628, cauliflower No. 555, Brussels sprouts, peas No. 511, shallots, chestnuts No. 564, swedes, carrots or Italian macaroni, and scatter grated horseradish over the beef.

A twenty-pound roast serves approximately eighteen people according to the author; further directions are given in the general note.