A handbook of invalid cooking

by Mary A. Boland

BEEF-JUICE, BEEF-TEA, AND BROTHS

Beef-Juice. The clear juice of beef, slightly diluted with water, is always excellent, being especially useful for its strong flavors. It is like concentrated beef-tea, and is often valuable in pleasantly exciting the action of the mouth and stomach after a long illness in which milk has been the chief article of diet.

Beef-juice is best made by broiling the beef. Prepared in this way, the flavor is superior, and it is a quick and easy method; but when a proper broiling fire cannot be had, then it may be made in a glass jar like beef-tea, except without the water.

Beef-Tea is valuable for its stimulating properties and for the warmth that it gives; it is also somewhat nutritious, containing as it does the albuminous juices of the meat, some salts, and the very important flavors. Beef-tea should be prepared in such a manner that the juices are held in solution in the water, not coagulated, to secure which the cooking temperature should never be allowed to exceed that of 160° Fahr.

Broths. Beef, mutton, and chicken broths are the most desirable forms of meat drinks for convalescents and those no longer dangerously ill. By slow cooking at a low temperature at first (the temperature should not exceed 150° Fahr. for the first hour), the extractives and albuminous juices are drawn out; then, by boiling, the gelatin of the bones, flesh, and tissues is dissolved. The nutritive qualities of these broths may be much increased by the addition of bread, rice, tapioca, barley, and sago, cooked during the whole time so that they may be completely dissolved in the liquid.

BEEF-JUICE

Bottled. Select a half pound of well-flavored beef, cut away everything except the lean fiber, divide it into small pieces, put them into a glass jar, cover, and place in a deep saucepan of cold water; heat gradually for one hour, but do not allow the temperature at any time to exceed 160° Fahr.; then strain out the juice and press the meat. The liquid should be clear red, not brown and flaky. Add a little salt, and it is ready to serve. A half pound will make three or four tablespoons of juice. If it is to be used constantly, a larger quantity may be made at once, as it will keep eighteen hours in a refrigerator. Beef-juice may be made into tea by diluting it with warm water.

Broiled. Prepare a fire of clear glowing coals from which all blue flames have disappeared. Cut a piece of lean beef (one half pound from the round or any good lean portion) one and one half inches thick, and remove from it all membranous tissues and fat. Put it into a wire broiler, and broil from six to eight minutes according to the intensity of the fire (see rules for broiling). The piece when done should be pink and full of juice, not dry and hard, nor, on the other hand, bluish-red in the middle. More juice will be obtained if the heat has penetrated to the center than if the meat is raw. When done, cut it into small pieces and squeeze out the juice with a meat-press or a lemon-squeezer. Add a little salt, and it is ready to serve. It should be given in spoonfuls, either warm or cold. If it is necessary to warm it, put a little into a cup and place it in a dish of warm water on the fire. Care should be taken that the water does not become hotter than 160° Fahr., for beyond that temperature the albuminous juices become coagulated and appear as brown flakes.

BEEF-TEA

Bottled. Select and prepare the meat in the same manner as for bottled beef-juice, except that for every half pound a cup of water should be used, poured over after it has been put into the jar. The liquid thus obtained will resemble beef-juice in every respect except in strength. Serve as a drink in a red wine-glass or a china cup.

With Hydrochloric Acid. Hydrochloric acid acts upon the fibers of meat in such a way that they become more easy of digestion. From a given portion of meat much more nutriment is extracted by the use of hydrochloric acid than without it; beef-tea made with it is recommended by physicians as the most easily absorbed form of beef drink, and for feeble children and patients much weakened by sickness it is especially useful.

To Prepare. Select a half pound of good beef; remove from it everything that is not clear meat,—that is, bone, gristle, connective tissue, and fat; chop it fine on a meat-board or in a chopping-tray. Put into a bowl one cup of water and five drops of dilute hydrochloric acid; stir into this the chopped meat, and set it in a refrigerator or any cool place for two hours to digest. Then strain, flavor with salt, and serve cold in a red wine-glass.

Should there be any objection to the taste or color, heat the tea until it steams and changes to a brownish hue; do not strain out the flakes of coagulated albumen and fibrin which appear, for they are the most nutritious portion of the tea.

Chemically pure hydrochloric acid may be obtained of a druggist (it is usually marked C. P.); from it a diluted solution may be made by mixing it in the proportion of five and one half fluid ounces to fourteen ounces of water.

BEEF BROTH

Beef broth is the juice of beef extracted by the long application of heat in connection with some solvent, usually water.

To make beef broth, allow one pound of meat, or meat and bone, to every quart of water. Wash the meat with a cloth in cold water until it is clean, or wipe it with a wet cloth if it is apparently fresh cut; divide it into small pieces (half-inch cubes) in order to expose as great an extent of surface as possible to the dissolving action of the water. Put it into a granite-ware kettle with cold water, and cook it at a low temperature for two hours, then boil it for two hours to dissolve the gelatin. Remove it from the fire, and strain it, using a strainer so coarse that the flakes of albumen may go through (an ordinary wire strainer will do). Skim as much fat as possible from the surface with a spoon, and then remove the remaining small particles with a sheet of clean paper (unsized is best) drawn over the surface. Season the broth with salt and pepper, and serve it very hot. If not needed at once, it may be set away to cool, when the fat will rise to the top, and form into a cake which may be lifted off.

With Herbs. Make a broth according to the above rule, and flavor it with bay-leaves, mint, or with a bouquet of sweet herbs in the proportion of one teaspoon to a quart of liquid.

With Grains. One tablespoon of any of the following grains—rice, barley, oatmeal, or wheat—to one quart of liquid, gives a pleasant consistency and flavor to beef broth. Tapioca, sago, cold dry toast, or cuttings of bread may also be used. They should be put in when the broth is first set on the fire to cook, that they may be completely dissolved in the liquid.

With Vegetables. Celery, onion, carrot, turnip, or shredded cabbage may be used in broth in the proportion of one tablespoon to a quart. Cabbage is better in combination with onion than alone.

BROTH MADE FROM BEEFSTEAK

(A QUICK METHOD)

Scrape the pulp from a pound of round or of sirloin steak, or mince the meat in a chopping-tray until it is fine; put it into a saucepan with just enough cold water to cover it, and let it come to the boiling-point slowly; then simmer it for fifteen minutes (better half an hour if there is time). Strain it, take off the fat with a sheet of paper, and season it with salt. This is a somewhat expensive but savory broth, and may easily be made on a gas or alcohol stove.

A beef panada may be made by leaving the pulp in the broth and adding a little rolled cracker-crumbs or some bread softened and squeezed through a strainer.

SCOTCH BEEF BROTH

Put into a granite stew-pan a pint of prepared beef broth,—that is, broth which has been strained, cleared of fat, and seasoned. Add to it one tablespoon of rolled oats, or of ordinary oatmeal, and simmer it gently until the oatmeal is soft and jelly-like. The time required will be about two hours. Then strain it, and serve very hot. This makes a good dish for an invalid for whom oatmeal has not been forbidden. If the broth is reduced by the boiling, add enough water to restore the pint.

CHICKEN BROTH

Chicken broth should be made with fowl, not with young chicken; a good one weighing three pounds will make three pints of broth.

To Prepare. Singe the chicken with a piece of blazing newspaper to burn off the long hairs; remove all refuse or that which is not clear flesh, viz., pin-feathers, oil-bag, crop, lungs, kidneys, and, of course, the entrails if the fowl is not already drawn. If the pipes in the neck are not all drawn out with the crop, they may be easily taken away when the fowl is cut up. Scrub it well in cold water, and then disjoint and cut it into small pieces; wash each piece thoroughly, retaining the skin if it is clear and free from pin-feathers, otherwise removing it. Put the chicken into cold water and simmer it for two hours, then boil it for two hours. Finally strain it and remove the fat, season it with salt and a bit of white pepper, and serve very hot in pretty china cups, with or without a lunch-cracker or a bit of dry toast.

With Herbs. Parsley, bay-leaves, sage, thyme, or a bouquet of sweet herbs will give a pleasant flavor to chicken broth. A teaspoon to a pint is the right proportion.

With Grains or Vegetables. Rice may be used to advantage in chicken broth, and also pearl-barley, sago, tapioca, and bread. These are among the best additions of the kind that can be made, for with them one is able to preserve the light color so desirable in chicken broth. Onion, celery, and parsley in the proportion of one teaspoon to a pint are suitable vegetables. Celery is especially nice.

MUTTON BROTH

One pound of mutton from the neck, or, better, the loin, one quart of cold water, and one teaspoon of chopped onion will be needed for this broth. Remove from the mutton the tough skin, the fat, and all membranes, and cut the meat into small pieces; break the bone, and if it be a part of the spinal column, take out the spinal cord. Put the pieces of meat, the onion, and the water into a saucepan, and simmer them together for three hours; then strain out the meat, dip off the fat from the broth with a spoon, and remove the remaining small particles with paper; season it with salt and white pepper. Serve hot in a pretty cup, with a toasted cracker.

A little bunch of mint, a bouquet of herbs, a few bay-leaves, or a sprinkle of Cayenne pepper or curry-powder will vary the broth agreeably. Pearl-barley is a particularly good addition to make, or rice may be used in the proportion of one teaspoon to a pint.

OYSTER-TEA. No. 1

Select eight fresh oysters, chop them fine in a chopping-tray, and turn them into a saucepan with a cup of cold water; set the saucepan on the fire, and let the water come slowly to the boiling-point, then simmer for five minutes; strain the liquid into a bowl, flavor it with half a saltspoon of salt, and serve hot with or without a small piece of dry toast, or a toasted cream-cracker.

OYSTER-TEA. No. 2

Put a dozen large oysters with their liquor into a stew-pan; simmer for five minutes. Then strain the liquor, leaving out the oysters, and add to it one half cup of milk; set it back on the stove and heat it just to the boiling-point. Flavor with a sprinkle of white pepper and half a saltspoon of salt. Or make it according to rule No. 1, using milk instead of water.

CLAM BROTH

Six large clams in their shells and a cup of water will be needed for this broth. Wash the clams thoroughly with a brush, and place them with the water in a kettle over the fire. The broth is simply the juice of the clams with the water boiled for a minute. It does not require seasoning, as clam-juice is usually salt enough. As soon as the shells open, the broth is done.

This broth and oyster-tea No. 1 are good in cases of nausea, and will be retained on the stomach when almost everything else is rejected.

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