Ingredients.—A shin of beef, 1 head of celery, 1 onion, a faggot of savoury herbs, ½ teaspoonful of allspice, ½ teaspoonful of whole black pepper, 4 carrots, 12 button onions, 2 turnips, thickening of butter and flour, 3 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup, 2 tablespoonfuls of port wine; pepper and salt to taste. Mode.—Have the bone sawn into 4 or 5 pieces, cover with hot water, bring it to a boil, and remove any scum that may rise to the surface. Put in the celery, onion, herbs, spice, and seasoning, and simmer very gently until the meat is tender. Peel the vegetables, cut them into any shape fancy may dictate, and boil them with the onions until tender; lift out the beef, put it on a dish, which keep hot, and thicken with butter and flour as much of the liquor as will be wanted for gravy; keep stirring till it boils, then strain and skim. Put the gravy back in the stewpan, add the seasoning, port wine, and ketchup, give one boil, and pour it over the beef; garnish with the boiled carrots, turnips and onions. Time.—The meat to be stewed about 4 hours. Average cost, 5d. per lb. with bone. Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons. Seasonable at any time.
BEEF-TEA.
Ingredients.—1 lb. of lean gravy-beef, 1½ pint of water, 1 saltspoonful of salt. Mode.—Have the meat cut without fat and bone, and choose a nice fleshy piece. Cut it into small pieces about the size of dice, and put it into a clean saucepan. Add the water cold to it; put it on the fire, and bring it to the boiling-point; then skim well. Put in the salt when the water boils, and simmer the beef-tea gently from ½ to ¾ hour, removing any more scum should it appear on the surface. Strain the tea through a hair sieve, and set it by in a cool place. When wanted for use, remove every particle of fat from the top; warm up as much as may be required, adding, if necessary, a little more salt. This preparation is simple beef-tea, and is to be administered to those invalids to whom flavourings and seasonings are not allowed. When the patient is very weak, use double the quantity of meat to the same proportion of water. Should the invalid be able to take the tea prepared in a more palatable manner, it is easy to make it so by following the directions in Soyer’s recipe, which is an admirable one for making savoury beef-tea. Beef-tea is always better when made the day before it is wanted, and then warmed up. It is a good plan to put the tea into a small cup or basin, and to place this basin in a saucepan of boiling water. When the tea is hot, it is ready to serve. Time.—½ to ¾ hour. Average cost, 6d. per pint. Sufficient.—Allow 1 lb. of meat for a pint of good beef-tea.
BEEF-TEA, Baked.
Ingredients.—1 lb. of fleshy beef, 1 pint of water, ½ saltspoonful of salt. Mode.—Cut the beef into small square pieces, after trimming off all the fat, and put it into a baking-jar (these jars are sold expressly for the purpose of making soups, gravies, &c., in the oven, and are arranged with tightly-fitting lids), with the above proportion of water and salt; close the jar well, place it in a warm but not hot oven, and bake for 3 or 4 hours. When the oven is very fierce in the day-time, it is a good plan to put the jar in at night, and let it remain till next morning, when the tea will be done. It should be strained, and put by in a cool place until wanted. It may also be flavoured with an onion, a clove, and a few sweet herbs, &c., when the stomach is sufficiently strong to take these. Time.—3 or 4 hours, or to be left in the oven all night. Average cost, 6d. per pint. Sufficient.—Allow 1 lb. of meat for 1 pint of good beef-tea.
BEEF-TEA, Savoury (Soyer’s Recipe).
Ingredients.—1 lb. of solid beef, 1 oz. of butter, 1 clove, 2 button onions or ½ a large one, 1 saltspoonful of salt, 1 quart of water. Mode.—Cut the beef into very small dice; put it into a stewpan with the butter, clove, onion, and salt; stir the meat round over the fire for a few minutes until it produces a thin gravy, then add the water, and let it simmer gently from ½ to ¾ of an hour, skimming off every particle of fat. When done, strain it through a sieve, and put it by in a cool place until required. The same, if wanted quite plain, is done by merely omitting the vegetables, salt, and clove; the butter cannot be objectionable, as it is taken out in skimming. Time.—½ to ¾ hour. Average cost, 8d. per pint. Sufficient.—Allow 1 lb. of beef to make 1 pint of good beef-tea.
Note.—The meat left from beef-tea may be boiled a little longer, and pounded with spices, &c., for potting. It makes a very nice breakfast dish.