BEEF-TEA, BROTHS, ETC.
Beef tea and meat broths are by no means so useful as foods for the sick as is generally supposed. The late Dr. Austin Flint used to say of these foods, that "the valuation by most persons outside of the medical profession, and by many within it, of beef tea or its analogues, the various solutions, most of the extracts, and the expressed juice of meat, is a delusion and a snare which has led to the loss of many lives by starvation.
"The quantity of nutritive material in these preparations is insignificant or nil, and it is vastly important that they should be reckoned as of little or no value, except as indirectly conducive to nutrition by acting as stimulants for the secretion of the digestive fluids, or as vehicles for the introduction of the nutritive substances. Furthermore, it is to be considered that water and pressure not only fail to extract the alimentary principles of meat, but that the excrementitious principles, or the products of destructive assimilation, are thereby extracted."
Vegetable broths prepared from grains and legumes possess a much higher nutritive value, while they lack the objectionable features of meat broths.
RECIPES.
Beef Extract.—Take a pound of lean beef, cut it up into small dice, and put into a glass fruit jar. Screw on the cover tightly, put the jar into a vessel filled with cold water to a depth sufficient to come to the top of contents of the jar, and set over a slow fire. As soon as the water boils, set where it will keep just boiling, but no more; and cook for an hour or an hour and a quarter. Then strain, season, and serve. If preferred, a double boiler may be used for the preparation of the extract.
Beef Juice.—Cut a thick slice of round steak, trim off every particle of fat, and broil it over a clear fire just long enough to heat it throughout. Next gash it in many places with a sharp knife, and with the aid of a beef-juice press or lemon squeezer, press out all the juice into a bowl set in hot water, salt but very slightly, remove all globules of fat, and serve. This may also be frozen and given the patient in small lumps, if so ordered.
Beef Tea.—Take a pound of fresh, lean, juicy beef of good flavor,—the top of the round and the back and middle of the rump are the best portions for the purpose,—from which all fat, bones, and sinews have been carefully removed; cut into pieces a quarter of an inch square, or grind in a sausage-cutter. Add a quart of cold water, and put into a clean double boiler. Place over the fire, and heat very slowly, carefully removing all scum as it rises. Allow it to cook gently for two or three hours, or until the water has been reduced one half. Strain, and put away to cool. Before using, remove all fat from the surface, and season. In reheating, a good way is to place a quantity in a cup, and set the cup into hot water until the tea is sufficiently hot. This prevents waste, and if the patient is not ready for the tea, it can be easily kept hot.
Beef Tea and Eggs.—Beat the yolk of an egg thoroughly in a teacup and fill the cup with boiling beef tea, stirring all the while. Season with a little salt if desired.
Beef Broth and Oatmeal.—Rub two tablespoonfuls of oatmeal smooth in an equal quantity of cold water, and stir into a quart of boiling beef broth. Cook in a double broiler for two hours, strain, and season with salt and a little cream if allowed. Or, thin well-cooked oatmeal mush with beef-tea; strain, reheat, season, and serve.
Bottled Beef Tea.—Cut two pounds of round steak into small dice, rejecting all skin and fat. Put it into a glass fruit jar with one cup of cold water. Cover the can sufficiently tight to prevent any water from boiling in, and place it on a wisp of straw or a muffin ring in a kettle of cold water. Heat very gradually, and keep it just below the boiling point for two or more hours; or, place the can in a deep dish of hot water, and cook in a moderate oven for three hours. Allow the meat to cook thus four or five hours, or until it appears white, by which time it will have discharged all its juice. Turn the liquor off, strain through a piece of muslin or cheese cloth laid in a colander, and cool; then if any fat has been left, it will harden on the top, and can be removed. When needed for use, reheat, season, and serve.
Chicken Broth.—Take a well dressed, plump spring chicken, cut it into half-inch pieces, cracking well all the bones; add cold water,—a quart to the pound of meat and bones,—and cook the same as beef-tea. Allow the broth to cool before using, and carefully skim off all particles of fat before reheating. If allowed, a tablespoonful of steamed rice may be added to the broth, or a well-beaten egg may be stirred in while hot just before serving. Heat until the whole becomes thickened, but do not boil.
If preferred, the broth may be prepared by using only the white portion of the chicken in connection with lean beef. This is liked better by some to whom the strong flavor of the chicken is not pleasant. Or, prepare equal quantity of rich milk, season with salt, reheat, and serve. The broth may be flavored with celery if allowed.
Mutton Broth.—Cut a pound of perfectly fresh, lean mutton or lamb—the scrags of neck are best—into small dice. Add a quart of cold water, and simmer gently for two or three hours. Strain, and when cold skim off all fat. Reheat when needed for use.
If preferred, a tablespoonful of rice which has been soaked for an hour in a little warm water, or a tablespoonful of cooked barley, may be simmered in the broth for a half hour before serving. Season with salt as desired.
Vegetable Broth.—Put a cupful of well washed white beans into a quart of cold water in a double boiler, and cook slowly until but a cupful of the liquor remains. Strain off the broth, add salt, and serve hot. If preferred, a few grains of powdered thyme may be added as flavoring.
Vegetable Broth No. 2.—Pick over and wash a cup of dried Scotch peas, and put to cook in a quart of cold water, cook slowly in a double boiler or in a kettle placed on the range where they will just simmer, until but a cupful of liquid remains. Strain off the broth, add salt and one third of a cupful of the liquor, without pulp, from well-stewed tomatoes. Serve hot.
Mixed Vegetable Broths.—Broths may be prepared as directed from both black and white beaus, and combined in the proportion of one third of the former to two thirds of the latter; or a broth of lentils may be used instead of the black bean.
RECIPES FOR PANADA.
Broth Panada.—Use beef or chicken broth in place of water, and proceed the same as in Egg Panada, omitting the egg.
Chicken Panada.—Take a cupful of the white meat of chicken, pounded to a paste in a mortar, and half a cup of whole-wheat crust or zwieback crumbs. Add sufficient chicken broth to make a thick gruel. Season with salt, boil up for a few minutes, and serve hot.
Egg Panada.—Put two ounces of light, whole-wheat crusts into a pint of cold water in a granite-ware stewpan; simmer gently for three quarters of an hour, stirring occasionally. Season with a spoonful of sweet cream and a little salt, then stir in the well-beaten yolk of an egg, and serve.
Milk Panada.—Heat a pint of milk to boiling, then allow it to cool. Add two ounces of nice, light, whole-wheat crusts, and simmer for half an hour, stirring frequently. Season with a little sugar, if allowed. Granola may be used in place of the crusts, if preferred.
Raisin Panada.—Boil a half cup of raisins in a half pint of water. Break a slice of zwieback into fragments in a bowl. Add a well-beaten egg and a teaspoonful of sugar. Pour in the raisins, water and all, and beat very thoroughly.