Simmered Meat (Beef, Corned Beef, Pork Hocks, Ham Shanks)

Recipe No. 260 from the U.S. Army’s WWII cookbook — Meat. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.

Ingredients

• Meat, carcass — 60 pounds
• or — as needed
• Meat, boneless — 42 pounds
• Water, boiling — as needed
• Salt — 8 ounces (¼ No. 56 dipper)
• Pepper — 1 ounce (4 mess kit spoons)
• Onions, peeled, whole — 1½ pounds
• Bay leaves — 15 leaves
• Garlic (optional) — 1 to 2 cloves

Directions

1. Cut meat into pieces weighing about 5 pounds each.
2. Place in kettles without stacking or overlapping; barely cover with boiling water.
3. Add salt, pepper, onions, bay leaves, and garlic.
4. Cover tightly and heat to boiling point; reduce heat and simmer about 3 to 4 hours or until meat is tender. Remove meat from water.
5. Carve across the grain.

Notes

SCALED TO 8 SERVINGS (the original is ÷12.5): Meat, carcass — 4 lb 12¾ oz or — to taste Meat, boneless — 3 lb 5¾ oz Water, boiling — to taste Salt — ⅔ oz Pepper — about ½ tsp Onions, peeled, whole — 2 oz Bay leaves — 1¼ leaves Garlic (optional) — scale to taste (1 to 2 cloves)

Serve simmered meat with potatoes cooked in meat broth. Chopped parsley or paprika may be added to the potatoes.

— TM 10-412, Army Recipes (War Department, 15 August 1944), recipe No. 260, Meat. Army measures: 1 No. 56 dipper = 1 qt; 1 No. 55 dipper = 1¾ qt; 1 mess kit cup = 1½ pints.