To Make Beef Tea
Origin: London, England
Source: Isabella Beeton, 1861
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean gravy-beef
- 1 quart water
- 1 saltspoonful salt
Instructions
- 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 1/2 to 3/4 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 low, 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 the next 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 warm, it is ready to serve.