Helping Out the Meat Ration

Manawatu Times, Volume 69, Issue 58, 11 March 1944, Page 2

Helping Out the Meat Ration

To help housewives over the first few weeks of reorganising the family menus with the new meat ration, the New Zealand Women’s Food Value League has collected in its bulletin a number of suggestions as how to save coupons on meat culg. Don’t despise tho cheaper cuts of moat, it states. Properly cooked, they are often more flavoursome than the better-known cuts. The two main drawbacks—toughness and dryness —can be overcome by long, slow, moist cooking. Stewing, casserole cooking, and potroasting are the best methods to use. For a pot-roast choose a piece of round topside or rump of beef. For a casserole or a stew get a piece of thin flank of beef, strip the layers of fat off and cut the meat into small pieces. The fat can be rendered down for dripping, the meat, which requires long cooking (two or three hours) is rich and well flavoured. The cost is very small. Middle neck of mutton chops may be casseroled or stewed, and flap of mutton used either for soup or for stew. The best end of neck of mutton makes quite a good joint for boiling and serving cold. In choosing corned beef remember that brisket can be made just as tender as silverside with longer cooking. Choose a piece that is not too fatty. For meat moulds and potted meat knuckle of veal, shin of beef or shoulder steak are all good. Good soups and broths come from shin of beef, gravy beef (leg), marrowbone (gives dripping, too). If your family likes its week-end joint, shoulder is cheaper than leg of mutton and often sweeter. Top rib and back rib of beef merely require longer, slower cooking to make excellent roasts. The following is a league recipe for meat loaf: Combine 21b. minced steak, one cupful grated carrot, two tablespoonfuls fine oatmeal, chopped parsley, one large onion (minced), two eggs, celery salt, one teaspoonful alfalfa. Place in greased basin, cover with butter paper, tie down and steam two hours. Turn out on dish and slice.