boeuf a la mode
cold beef in jelly
recipes for this dish vary quite a bit, every cook having his own idea as to the seasonings and herbs, but the essentials are always the same. they are a large piece of secondary cut of beef such as topside, top rump, or even sometimes a shoulder cut, plus calf's feet, carrots and wine. the dish can be served either hot or cold, but is at its best cold when the juices have set to a beautiful soft, limpid jelly, but although this aspect of the dish seems to make it an ideal one for summer, beware of making it in sultry or thundery weather, for the jelly easily goes sour under such conditions...it should also be larded lengthways with little strips of back pork fat, and if you do this yourself, season the pieces of fat with a little salt, pepper, chopped herbs and, if you like, garlic...simmer extremely slowly...it should be tender enough to cut with a spoon
-elizabeth david
