What better way to celebrate America’s Independence Day than by adapting a colonial recipe into a modern version? This next colonial recipe was very easy to make for Tasty Tuesday! It’s delicious, too!
First, as always, comes Hannah Glasse’s receipt from The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy:
Beef Collops.
Take some rump steaks, or tender piece cut like Scotch collops, only larger, hack them a little with a knife, and flour them; put a little butter in a stew-pan, and melt it, then put in your collops, and fry them quick for about two minutes; put in a pint of gravy, a little butter rolled in flour, season with pepper and salt; cut four pickled cucumbers in thin slices, half a walnut, and a few capers, a little onion shred very fine; stew them five minutes, then put them into a hot dish, and send them to table. You may put half a glass of white wine into it.
Beef steak cut into collops
This one didn’t have nearly as many changes necessary to put it together. As I’ve said before, I omit salt in most recipes unless it’s required for rising (like cookies and such). I’m very sensitive to salty foods and my hubby has had issues with kidney stones in the past, and that’s one of the possible culprits. So instead I use herbs and garlic to provide flavor.
Have all ingredients ready
For the “pickled cucumbers” I used “stackers” that are flat slices of pickle and then diced them to be about the same size as the pieces of walnut. Again, this was with an eye for how the ultimate sauce would present when served.
I estimated the size of a walnut based on the pieces I had on hand, and then chopped them up a bit more to make them easier to blend into the sauce.
Capers are not something I have used in the past so I didn’t have them on hand. While I was visiting a dear friend and fellow author, Linda Joyce, she let me sample one from her stash. They are quite tart and briny, so if you do want to use some, just use a couple since this recipe is not for a large quantity.
Collops frying
This recipe calls for brown gravy made from the first recipe I adapted, the broth. I made a good quantity and then froze it in individual Ziploc bags to use as needed. Same with the broth, for that matter, as I didn’t want to have to make it frequently.
So here’s what I ended up with and I think I may have to make this one regularly. Yum!
Betty’s Beef Collops
Ingredients
¾ lb steak, cut up into small pieces about the size of a matchbook
¼ cup flour
½ cup brown gravy
2 T butter
1 T butter rolled in flour
1/8 tsp pepper
½ T garlic, chopped
1 T walnut pieces, chopped
1/8 cup onion, diced
¼ cup white wine (optional)
Instructions
Ready to serve!
Have all ingredients at hand before beginning.
Lay steak on a cutting board and lightly score both sides.
Sprinkle flour on both sides.
Melt 2 T butter in deep skillet.
Fry the collops quickly until browned.
Add remaining ingredients, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and then serve.
If you want to reduce the amount of butter, you could fry the collops using cooking spray, but I’d keep the piece of butter rolled in flour to provide the gravy/sauce. We really did enjoy this for dinner the other night. It’s fairly simple to make and yet is very tasty indeed!
Wishing all my American fans a very happy Fourth of July!
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Literary Classics International Book Awards – Youth Award Winning Book
During the 1800s, daring and courageous girls across America left their unique mark on history.
Milly Cooper galloped 9 miles through hostile Indian Territory to summon help when Fort Cooper was under attack.
Belle Boyd risked her life spying for the Rebels during the Civil War.
Kate Shelly, when she was 15, crawled across a nearly washed-out railroad bridge during a ferocious thunderstorm to warn the next train.
Lucille Mulhall, age 14, outperformed cowboys to become the World’s First Famous Cowgirl.
These are just a few of the inspiring true stories inside Hometown Heroines—American Girls who faced danger and adversity and made a difference in their world.
Beef Collops.
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