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Potted Beef

Potted Beef is a traditional British recipe, based on Robert Kemp Philp's recipe of 1859, for a classic dish of salted beef that's boiled, pounded to a paste with the meat juices, mixed with butter then spooned into pots and covered with clarified butter. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Potted Beef.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

240 minutes

Total Time:

260 minutes

Additional Time:

(+3 days curing)

Makes:

8 ramekins

Rating:

Tags : Beef RecipesBritish Recipes

This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Potted Beef that's derived from Robert Kemp Philp's 1859 volume, The Dictionary of Daily Wants. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.

Original Recipe

BEEF, POTTED.—Salt three pounds of lean beef, for two or three days with common salt; divide it into pieces of a pound each, and put it into an earthen pan just sufficient to contain it. Pour in half a pint of water. Cover it close with paste, and set in a very slow oven for four hours: when taken from the oven, pour the gravy from it into a basin, shred the meat fine, moisten it with the gravy poured from the meat, and pound it thoroughly in a mortar with fresh butter. When it has become a fine paste, season with pepper and allspice; put it into pots, press it down as closely as possible; when cold, cover it with clarified butter, a quarter of an inch thick, and tie down.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

1.35kg lean beef
plenty of salt
300ml water
150g flour mixed to a thick paste with water
750g butter, softened
freshly-ground pepper and ground allspice, to taste
300g clarified butter

Method:

Place a layer of salt in a bowl, add the beef and cover the meat with more salt. Cover the bowl with clingfilm then set aside in the refrigerator for 3 days to cure.

After this time, remove the excess salt and cut the meat into three pieces of 450g each. Place these in the base of an earthenware casserole just large enough to contain them and pour over the water. Set the lid on the casserole then use the flour paste to seal the lid.

Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 160°C and allow to stew slowly for 4 hours. After this time, pour off the gravy into a bowl then shred the meat very finely. Add the meat to a bowl, and moisten with a little of the reserved gravy.

Work in the butter until you have a smooth paste then season to taste with nutmeg and black pepper. Stuff the resultant mixture into ramekins or earthenware pots and chill in the refrigerator to harden. Melt the clarified butter and pour this over the top to make a 1cm thick seal. Cover in clingfilm and store in the refrigerator until needed.

Find more Traditional Victorian Recipes Here