Borrowed Light Cecils

We had a great Book Club last night!  Lella brought Cecils and they were soooo yummy!  Carla Kelly, the author, sent her a recipe but Lella tweeked it.  I included Lella's version at the end of Carla's.

"Lella, here's that Cecils with Tomato Sauce recipe (or receipt, as they would have said) from the facsimile edition of the 1896 Boston Cooking-School Cookbook by Fannie Merritt Farmer, as Julia Darling would have cooked it for the wary men of the Double Tipi.

Cecils with Tomato Sauce
1 c. cold roast beef or rare steak finely chopped
Salt
Pepper
Onion Juice
Worcestershire sauce
2 Tablespoons of bread crumbs
1 Tablespoon melted butter
Yolk 1 egg slightly beaten

Season beef with salt, pepper, onion juice and Worcestershire sauce. Add remaining ingredients, shape after the form of small croquettes, pointed at ends. Rollin flour, egg and crumbs, fry in deep fat, drain and serve with Tomato Sauce.

Tomato Sauce I (without stock)
1/2 can tomatoes, or
1 3/4 cups fresh stewed tomatoes
1 slice onion
3 T butter
2 1/2 T flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Cook onion with tomatoes 15 minutes, rub through a strainer, and add to butter and flour (to which seasonings have been added) cooked togeher. If tomatoes are very acid,add a few grains of soda.

I imagine Two Bits would have enjoyed the leftovers, if there were any.

Best to you and your book club,

Carla Kelly"

Lella's version (she sent this email to Carla Kelly):

     The Book Club meeting was a success.  I guess I dominated the conversation, but nobody seemed to mind.  I brought some BayRum to smell and the music to "Dear Evalina, Sweet Evalina" (I found it in a Pioneer Song Book).  And then I made the Cecils and the Tomato Sauce, as well as bringing my own homemade, home bottled catsup (since the wary men of the Double Tipi were allowed to dip theirs in catsup that first time).  My homemade catsup tastes nothing like the store bought and was a real compliment to the Cecils.
    However, the original recipe you sent me needed to be updated to 2011 in method.  For instance, onion juice? No amount, no "how to get it", and a few other things like that.  Although I did consult my 1972 edition of Fanny Farmer to figure out how to get onion juice.  Also, not many of us have leftover roast beef hanging around.  Sooooo, this is what I did.

2011 Version of Beer Cecils
(Makes 22 meatballs or 6 croquettes)  Note:  I doubled the original recipe.

1/2 medium onion, cut in chunks plus 2 tsp. water
1 pkg (17 oz.) Hormel Italian Style Beef Roast (Au Jus)  or
    2 cups very finely chopped leftover roast beef with drippings
1 T. Worcestershire Sauce
1/3 c. dry bread crumbs (homemade is best)
2 T. melted butter
2 egg yolks (save whites to combine with another egg for dipping)
flour with salt and pepper in a cake pan for dipping
extra breadcrumbs in a cake pan for dipping
oil for frying

Puree onion with water in food processor until nearly smooth.  With rubber spatula, scrape onion from processor bowl into a small strainer over a small bowl to strain off liquid, saving the solids for the tomato sauce.
Meanwhile, microwave heat the roast beef so that the juices will run (1 1/2-2 min.).  Strain Au Jus into blender container. 
Press onion solids to release as much juice as possible and put juice back into processor bowl with drained meat, worcestershire, bread crumbs, butter and egg yolks.  Pulse only a few times, just until it is mixed and meat appears to be broken up, shredded.
Beat remaining whites well with extra egg in a small bowl. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Assemble in a row, the flour, egg and breadcrumbs.  Using a 1" meatballer, shape into meatballs (or use hands to shape into croquettes).  Dredge them with flour, shaking off the excess, then dip in the eggs, using a spoon to remove from bowl, and finally dredge again in breadcrumbs.  Place on a platter to rest while forming all the meatballs.
Heat oil in a skillet (I didn't have an electric fryer or electric skillet) until hot, then turn heat to medium.  Place meatballs in hot oil, watching carefully because they brown quickly.  You may only be able to do 6 at a time in order to not overbrown any of them.   Remove from hot oil with slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain.
Serve with tomato sauce (recipe follows) or homemade catsup.

Tomato Sauce II (with stock)
Blender mix the reserved Au Jus liquid and remaining onion solids with
1 T. melted butter
2 T. flour
1 can (15 1/2 oz.) crushed tomatoes  (or diced)
salt and pepper to taste
dash of worcestershire sauce
Cook, stirring, in a small saucepan until hot and thickened.

Well, what do you think?  Everyone really liked them.  Actually, they liked my homemade catsup better than the tomato sauce.  But these are young modern mothers, not cowboys out on a ranch 100 years ago.
Thanks so much for sending that to me.  I've been looking up some of the other food in my '72 Fanny Farmers.  Snow Cake is there and Duchess Potatoes and Connecticutt Chowder, among others.  Such fun.  Thanks for the journey.   Lella