Tod came home with a cold this evening, his first in many months. How fortunate for me that I’d just discovered the “Invalid” section in the old Argonaut Bookshop cookbook. I passed over the recipes for Fricasseed Brains (there were two different versions) and Treacle Posset, to settle on beef tea as a curative for tomorrow.
Standard Beef Tea
1/2 lb lean, juicy beef
1/2 pint water
salt (if allowed)
Wipe the meat with a damp cloth. remove skin, gristle and fat. Shred with a knife against the grain. Put into a jar with salt and water. Cover and let stand for half an hour to draw out the juices. Place the jar in a saucepan of cold water and slowly bring to a boil. Simmer for two or three hours. Stir and squeeze well. Strain through a coarse strainer and remove fat.
Quickly Made Beef Tea
1/2 lb lean, juicy beef
1/2 pint water
salt, if allowed
Prepare meat as for Standard Beef Tea. Place in a saucepan with salt and water and allow to stand for half and hour. Squeeze and stir well. Heat over a slow fire til a pale brown color, stirring and pressing well with teh back of a wooden spoon. Strain through a coarse strainer.
Raw Beef Tea
Half gill of water (70 ml)
2 oz meat
Prepare the meat as for Standard Beef Tea. Add the water and let stand for an hour. Squeeze well and strain.
Posted by kuri at February 09, 2006 10:36 PMPoor Tod. I do hope it works. Sounds kinda’ dreadful.
Posted by: Fran on February 10, 2006 06:39 AMWhat does “salt (if allowed)” mean? Were people trying to cut down on salt back then too?
And yes, the raw beef tea….. yuck.
Posted by: j-ster on February 12, 2006 10:56 PMTod decided he’d rather that I put the beef in real soup than try this. He wasn’t sick enough to force it on him. Maybe next time. :-)
J - I guess salt’s effects have been known a long time. I can’t imagine it without salt, though.
Force some of that garlic tonic on him instead! :-)
This is similar to broth in the book, Soothing Broths, based on very old recipes from when sick people were cared for at home. I have been finding that these types of foods are very healthy and nourishing, but not popular with our current taste for “factory-manufactured” foods. Personally, I would try it if it was organic, grass fed beef, but not with grocery store, factory-farmed, grain & soy fed beef. There is a world of difference.
In a similar vein, I highly recommend the book, Nourishing Traditions. Anyone who makes their own plum wine might find it interesting.
Posted by: Anna on February 17, 2006 03:32 AM