Ox-cheek To Stew Recipe

Choose one that is fat and young, which may be known by the teeth; pick

out the eye-balls; cut away the snout and all superfluous bits. Wash and

clean it perfectly; well dry it in a cloth, and, with the back of a

cleaver, break all the bones in the inside of the cheek; then with a

rollingpin beat the flesh of the outside. If it is intended for the next

day's dinner, proceed in this manner:--quarter and lard it with marrow;

then pour on it garlic or elder vinegar so gently that it may sink into

the flesh; strew salt over it, and let it remain so till morning. Then

put it into a stewpan, big enough, if you do both cheeks, to admit of

their lying flat close to one another; but first rub the pan well with

garlic, and with a spoon spread a pound of butter and upwards at the

bottom and sides of the pan. Strew cloves and beaten mace on the cheeks,

also thyme and sweet marjoram, finely chopped; then put in as much white

wine as will cover them an inch or more above the meat, but wash not

off the other things by pouring it on. Rub the lid of the pan with

garlic, and cover it so close that no steam can escape. Make a brisk

fire under it, and, when the cover is so hot that you cannot bear your

hand on it, then a slack fire will stew it, but keep it so that the

cover be of the same heat as long as it is stewing. It must not be

uncovered the whole time it is doing: about three hours will be

sufficient. When you take it up, be careful not to break it; take out

the loose bones; pour the liquor on the cheek; clear from the fat and

the dross, and put lemon-juice to it. Serve it hot.