Thirty strips may be run into three pounds of meat as well as half a dozen; but about half a pound of salt pork to five pounds of beef is a pretty good proportion.
Then take a saucepan of a proper size for the piece of meat; it must not be too large or too small, but large enough to hold the meat without being obliged to bend or fold it; a crockery pan is certainly the best for that purpose, and one that will go easily in the oven.
Put in the saucepan, for six pounds of beef, half a calf's foot, or a veal-bone if more handy, two ounces of butter, half a handful of parsley (cives, if handy), two bay-leaves, a clove of garlic, a sprig of thyme, two onions, with a clove stuck in each, salt, pepper, half a carrot cut in slices, the rind of the salt pork you have used, and what you may have left of strips; the whole well spread on the bottom of the pan, then the piece of meat over, cover the pan, set on a rather sharp fire and after about ten minutes add half a gill of water; keep the pan covered to the end.
After another ten or fifteen minutes, add about one pint of cold water, turn the meat over, and after about ten minutes more, place the pan in the oven, a rather slow oven (a little above 220 degrees Fahr.), for five or six hours. Dish the meat, skim off the fat on the top of the gravy, give one boil and turn it over the meat and carrots through a strainer.
When the meat is dished; put some carrots _au jus_ all around; serve warm.
_Cold._--Serve it whole or in slices, with meat jelly, or with a sharp sauce; such as _piquante, ravigote_, etc.
Stewed beef is called also _daube_ or _braised_ beef, but it is the same.
It may be larded as beef _à la mode_, or not; it may be put whole in the pan or in large dice, according to taste.
The following is for five or six pounds of rump or even a piece of ribs:
Put in a saucepan two ounces of salt pork cut in dice, four sprigs of parsley, two of thyme, two bay-leaves, a clove of garlic, a sprig of sweet basil, two cloves, three carrots cut in pieces, salt, and pepper; put the piece of beef on the whole, wet with a glass of broth, and one of white wine (a liquor-glass of French brandy may also be added); season with six or eight small onions; place in a moderately heated oven, put paste around the cover to keep it air-tight; simmer about six hours; dish the meat with the onions and carrots around it, strain the gravy on the whole, and serve.
