Sherlock Holmes Christmas Spiced Beef
I have another excellent Sherlock Holmes cookbook titled “The Sherlock Holmes Victorian Cookbook - favorite Recipes of The Great Detective & Dr. Watson” by William Bonnell. This book features Victorian recipes that were popular during Holmes’ era. One of them that I found quite intriguing is the appetizer below.
Christmas Spiced Beef
Serves 10 as an appetizer
2 pound (1 kg) topside of beef (use top round)
1/2 cup (125 ml) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (125 ml) coarse salt (use kosher salt)
1 Tbsp (15 ml) white pepper
1 tbsp (15 ml) black peppercorns
2 teaspoon (10 ml) turmeric
2 teaspoon (10 ml) allspice
3/4 cup (175 ml) water
Trim the fat from the beef. Place it in a large casserole dish and rub the
brown sugar into the meat. Rub in the salt.
Mix together the white pepper, peppercorns, turmeric, and allspice. Press
all over the meat.
Cover the dish an put it in the refirgerator. Turn the beef over once a day
for 12 days, pressing into the meat any loose spices, salt, or sugar.
On the twelfth day, run the beef under cold water to remove any spices,
salt, and sugar.
Return the beef to the casserole and add 3/4 cup (175 ml) water. Cover and
bake at 275 F (140 C) for 3-1/2 hours or until the meat is tender. Cool to
room temperature and wrap in foil.
Place a flat plate on it and put a 3 - 4 pound (1.5 - 2 kg) weight such as a
frying pan on the plate. Refrigerate overnight. Carve the beef into thin
slices. It will keep, wrapped in foil and refrigerated, 3 to 4 weeks.
Servings: 4