The Saturday Sip: January 27, 2024
Your etiquette tip, quote and an Emily Post Cookbook recipe to start your weekend off right!
The Tip
Do not feel obligated to have an extensive hors d’oeuvres offering for a small(ish) dinner party. When the main event of the gathering is dinner, you can easily offer a couple of “nibble-type” items rather than “substantial bites” to eat. For example, a small bowl of mixed nuts or olives alongside a small platter of cheese and crackers (which does not have to have multiple types of cheese or crackers) or even a small bowl of chips or snack mix.
The Recipe
A decadent appetizer is on the menu for today’s recipe. This crunchy, creamy bite will surely be a crowd-pleaser at your next party.
Emily Post’s Cookbook, 1951, pg. 73 *Please note that recipes are copied as exactly as possible, including grammatical errors and inconsistencies.
Braised Flemish Steak
Time: 2 hours
Serves: 4
Ingredients
2 1/2 lb. piece of tender beef with little fat
3 tbs. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
3 tbs. butter or bacon fat
3 medium onions, chopped
1 bottle of dark beer (ale can be used)
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
2/3 cup chopped celery
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. thyme
Directions
Trim off any fat and cut meat into 4 pieces. Roll the pieces in the flour, in which the salt and pepper have been mixed, and brown them slowly on all sides in the butter or bacon fat in a heavy skillet having a close-fitting cover. Add the onions for the last 6 or 8 minutes of browning the meat and stir them around till all are golden.
Add 2/3 of the beer (1 cup), the celery, carrot, and herbs. Bring them to a boil, reduce flame to simmering, and cover. Turn meat every half hour and add beer of beef stock if the liquid gets to be less than 1/2-inch deep.
Serve, after simmering 1 1/2 hours or until meat is tender, with the liquid in the skillet as a sauce.
Cauliflower goes well with the unusual flavor of this dish.
The Quote
“Understanding of and kind-hearted consideration for the feelings of others are the basic attributes of good manners…” - Emily Post
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We hope you’ve enjoyed the Sip today and that you’re looking forward to a great day! What are your favorite go-to hors d’oeuvres for a small dinner party? Post it in the comments! Can’t post here? Head over to the Monday thread, where the comment section is open to everyone!
Cheers!
Lizzie and Dan
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Pg 133 of Emily Post’s Etiquette. The caption reads: “The personality of a house is indefinable, but there never lived a lady of great cultivation and charm whose home, whether a palace, a farm-cottage or a tiny apartment, did not reflect the charm of its owner.”