1860. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of fleshy beef, 1-1/2 pint of water, 1/4 saltspoonful of salt.
_Mode_.--Cut the beef into small square pieces, after tr.i.m.m.i.n.g off all the fat, and put it into a baking-jar, with the above proportion of water and salt; cover 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 daytime, it is a good plan to put the jar in at night, and let it remain till the 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 those.
_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.
BAKED OR STEWED CALF"S FOOT.
1861. INGREDIENTS.--1 calf"s foot, 1 pint of milk, 1 pint of water, 1 blade of mace, the rind of 1/4 lemon, pepper and salt to taste.
_Mode_.--Well clean the foot, and either stew or bake it in the milk-and-water with the other ingredients from 3 to 4 hours. To enhance the flavour, an onion and a small quant.i.ty of celery may be added, if approved; 1/2 a teacupful of cream, stirred in just before serving, is also a great improvement to this dish.
_Time_.--3 to 4 hours. _Average cost_, in full season, 9d. each.
_Sufficient_ for 1 person. _Seasonable_ from March to October.
CALF"S-FOOT BROTH.
1862. INGREDIENTS.--1 calf"s foot, 3 pints of water, 1 small lump of sugar, nutmeg to taste, the yolk of 1 egg, a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of a nut.
_Mode_.--Stew the foot in the water, with the lemon-peel, very gently, until the liquid is half wasted, removing any sc.u.m, should it rise to the surface. Set it by in a basin until quite cold, then take off every particle of fat. Warm up about 1/2 pint of the broth, adding the b.u.t.ter, sugar, and a very small quant.i.ty of grated nutmeg; take it off the fire for a minute or two, then add the beaten yolk of the egg; keep stirring over the fire until the mixture thickens, but do not allow it to boil again after the egg is added, or it will curdle, and the broth will be spoiled.
_Time_.--To be boiled until the liquid is reduced one half.
_Average cost_, in full season, 9d. each.
_Sufficient_ to make 1-1/4 pint of broth.
_Seasonable_ from March to October.
CHICKEN BROTH.
1863. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 fowl, or the inferior joints of a whole one; 1 quart of water, 1 blade of mace, 1/2 onion, a small bunch of sweet herbs, salt to taste, 10 peppercorns.
_Mode_.--An old fowl not suitable for eating may be converted into very good broth, or, if a young one be used, the inferior joints may be put in the broth, and the best pieces reserved for dressing in some other manner. Put the fowl into a saucepan, with all the ingredients, and simmer gently for 1-1/2 hour, carefully skimming the broth well. When done, strain, and put by in a cool place until wanted; then take all the fat off the top, warm up as much as may be required, and serve. This broth is, of course, only for those invalids whose stomachs are strong enough to digest it, with a flavouring of herbs, &c. It may be made in the same manner as beef tea, with water and salt only; but the preparation will be but tasteless and insipid. When the invalid cannot digest this chicken broth with the flavouring, we would recommend plain beef tea in preference to plain chicken tea, which it would be without the addition of herbs, onions, &c.
_Time_.--1-1/2 hour.
_Sufficient_ to make rather more than 1 pint of broth.
NUTRITIOUS COFFEE.
1864. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 oz. of ground coffee, 1 pint of milk.
_Mode_.--Let the coffee be freshly ground; put it into a saucepan, with the milk, which should be made nearly boiling before the coffee is put in, and boil both together for 3 minutes; clear it by pouring some of it into a cup, and then back again, and leave it on the hob for a few minutes to settle thoroughly. This coffee may be made still more nutritious by the addition of an egg well beaten, and put into the coffee-cup.
_Time_.--5 minutes to boil, 5 minutes to settle.
_Sufficient_ to make 1 large breakfast-cupful of coffee.
Our great nurse Miss Nightingale remarks, that "a great deal too much against tea is said by wise people, and a great deal too much of tea is given to the sick by foolish people. When you see the natural and almost universal craving in English sick for their "tea," you cannot but feel that Nature knows what she is about. But a little tea or coffee restores them quite as much as a great deal; and a great deal of tea, and especially of coffee, impairs the little power of digestion they have. Yet a nurse, because she sees how one or two cups of tea or coffee restore her patient, thinks that three or four cups will do twice as much. This is not the case at all; it is, however, certain that there is nothing yet discovered which is a subst.i.tute to the English patient for his cup of tea; he can take it when he can take nothing else, and he often can"t take anything else, if he has it not. Coffee is a better restorative than tea, but a greater impairer of the digestion. In making coffee, it is absolutely necessary to buy it in the berry, and grind it at home; otherwise, you may reckon upon its containing a certain amount of chicory, at least. This is not a question of the taste, or of the wholesomeness of chicory; it is, that chicory has nothing at all of the properties for which you give coffee, and, therefore, you may as well not give it."
THE INVALID"S CUTLET.
1865. INGREDIENTS.--1 nice cutlet from a loin or neck of mutton, 2 teacupfuls of water, 1 very small stick of celery, pepper and salt to taste.
_Mode_.--Have the cutlet cut from a very nice loin or neck of mutton; take off all the fat; put it into a stewpan, with the other ingredients; stew _very gently_ indeed for nearly 2 hours, and skim off every particle of fat that may rise to the surface from time to time. The celery should be cut into thin slices before it is added to the meat, and care must be taken not to put in too much of this ingredient, or the dish will not be good. If the water is allowed to boil fast, the cutlet will be hard.
_Time_.--2 hours" very gentle stewing. _Average cost_, 6d.
_Sufficient_ for 1 person. _Seasonable_ at any time.
EEL BROTH.
1866. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of eels, a small bunch of sweet herbs, including parsley; 1/2 onion, 10 peppercorns, 3 pints of water, 2 cloves, salt and pepper to taste.
_Mode_.--After having cleaned and skinned the eel, cut it into small pieces, and put it into a stewpan, with the other ingredients; simmer gently until the liquid is reduced nearly half, carefully removing the sc.u.m as it rises. Strain it through a hair sieve; put it by in a cool place, and, when wanted, take off all the fat from the top, warm up as much as is required, and serve with sippets of toasted bread. This is a very nutritious broth, and easy of digestion.
_Time_.--To be simmered until the liquor is reduced to half.
_Average cost_, 6d.
_Sufficient_ to make 1-1/2 pint of broth.
_Seasonable_ from June to March.
EGG WINE.
1867. INGREDIENTS.--1 egg, 1 tablespoonful and 1/2 gla.s.s of cold water, 1 gla.s.s of sherry, sugar and grated nutmeg to taste.
_Mode_.--Beat the egg, mixing with it a tablespoonful of cold water; make the wine-and-water hot, but not boiling; pour it on the egg, stirring all the time. Add sufficient lump sugar to sweeten the mixture, and a little grated nutmeg; put all into a very clean saucepan, set it on a gentle fire, and stir the contents one way until they thicken, but _do not allow them to boil_. Serve in a gla.s.s with sippets of toasted bread or plain crisp biscuits. When the egg is not warmed, the mixture will be found easier of digestion, but it is not so pleasant a drink.
_Sufficient_ for 1 person.
TO MAKE GRUEL.
1868. INGREDIENTS.--1 tablespoonful of Robinson"s patent groats, 2 tablespoonfuls of cold water, 1 pint of boiling water.
_Mode_.--Mix the prepared groats smoothly with the cold water in a basin; pour over them the boiling water, stirring it all the time. Put it into a very clean saucepan; boil the gruel for 10 minutes, keeping it well stirred; sweeten to taste, and serve. It may be flavoured with a small piece of lemon-peel, by boiling it in the gruel, or a little grated nutmeg may be put in; but in these matters the taste of the patient should be consulted. Pour the gruel in a tumbler and serve. When wine is allowed to the invalid, 2 tablespoonfuls of sherry or port make this preparation very nice. In cases of colds, the same quant.i.ty of spirits is sometimes added instead of wine.