Hamburg Steak, Beef Stew and Lobster Curry

From The American Pure Food Cook Book & Household Economist 1898.

Two turf meals and a surf entree...

HAMBURG STEAK. This is a good way to cook Hamburg steak: chop fine one pound of round steak, add two small onions, chopped fine, and pepper and salt to taste. Flour your hands, take two tablespoonfuls of the mixture and make into small, flat cakes. Have a large lump of butter, very hot, in your frying-pan, drop in the cakes and fry brown on either side. Some people make a gravy by adding a couple teaspoonfuls of flour to the butter, very hot, in your frying-pan, drop in the cakes and fry brown on either side. Some people make a gravy by adding a couple of teaspoonfuls of flour to the butter in the pan, stirring in a half a pinto of cold water, with salt and pepper, and letting it boil up.

STEWED BEEF. One tablespoonful of butter, two sliced onions, twelve whole cloves, allspice, one-half teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth teaspoonful of black pepper, one pint of cold water, two or three pounds of tender beef, a little flour, a few sprigs of sweet basil. In a stew-pan place a large tablespoonful of butter, in which fry until quite brown two sliced onions, adding, while cooking, twelve whole cloves; ditto allspice; one-half teaspoonful of salt, and half that quantity of black pepper; take from the fire, one pint of cold water, wherein lay two three pounds of tender lean beef cut in small, thick pieces; cover closely, and let all stew gently two hours, adding, just before serving, a little flour thickening. A few sprigs of sweet basil is an improvement.

CURRIED LOBSTER. Lobster, cream, rice. Take the flesh of a lobster (or a tin of lobster does very well for this dish) make curry gravy with plenty of cream; pour into a saucepan with the lobster, warm it just to boiling point; serve with rice round.