Timbale of Cold Meat, from Miss Parloa’s Kitchen Companion, 1887[1]
For a large part, meat recipes prior to the 20th century involved simply boiling or roasting very large cuts of meat or whole fowl. Nothing very fancy. What can sometimes get interesting is what was done with the leftovers. In this case, we have a “timbale”, which was something molded into a form, and baked or steamed.
I need to work with this recipe more, the liquid balance just wasn’t right, and it didn’t bind. But it was amazingly delicious, so I had to post a preview. Think of this as a meatloaf for leftover meat. You’ll need an oven-proof bowl, around 1.5-2qt in size, and a large pan it can sit in, that will be filled with water. Parchment paper works perfectly in place of the buttered paper. As I mentioned, mine didn’t bind together, and so did not turn out in one piece. But we ate every bit of it, and I will be trying again when I have sufficient leftover meat. Not entirely sure about that “six persons” thing. Mine made dinner for two with some for lunch for me the next day. What? I said it was really good!
