Beef Beef Tea. - Receipt for 6 Pints

no. 3. - beef tea. receipt for 6 pints
(from Hand-book for active service; containing practical instructions in campaign duties, by Egbert L. Viele, 1861, Chapter VIII.)

Part of
HOSPITAL DIETS​

Ingredients:

3 lbs. beef​

1/2 lb. mixed vegetables, such as onions, leeks, celery, turnips, carrots​

1 oz. salt​

pepper​

1 tsp. sugar​

2 oz. butter​

1/2 pint water​

Instructions:

Cut three pounds of beef into pieces the size of walnuts, and chop up the bones, if any; put it into a convenient sized kettle, with 1/2 pound of mixed vegetables, such as onions, leeks, celery, turnips, carrots (or one or two of these, if all are not to be obtained), one ounce of salt, a little pepper, one teaspoonful sugar, two ounces of butter, half a pint of water. Set it on a sharp fire for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour, stirring now and then with a spoon, till it forms a rather thick gravy at bottom, but not brown; then add seven pints of hot or cold water, but hot is preferable; when boiling, let it simmer gently for an hour, skim off all the fat, strain it through a sieve, and serve.​

Fixings for camp.

 

[donna]

I wanted to bring this thread back up. Beef Tea also known as Bone Broth has been around for 100s of years. The Chinese made a bone broth for medicinal purposes. It was a broth used by Florence Nightingale. Also was popular during Civil War. It was used for health benefits and its flavor.

It is now back in favor and is used for digestive issues.

A recipe I found recently for Bone Broth is from "Chef's Choice", "Kentucky Living", September 2017.

1 pastures-raised chicken back
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot
1 rib celery
1 to 2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
water to cover all ingredients
salt to taste

Add all ingredients to slow cooker pot or in pot on stove. Cook on low for 24 hours. Add water as some evaporates. Strain broth through fine mesh sieve and discard solids. Use broth as a drink or as a base for soup. Refrigerate for seven days in jars, adding fresh herbs if you wish. You can freeze in muffin tins up to 30 days. Makes 4 to 6 quarts, depending on evaporation.

 

[donna]

An excellent article on Bone Broth/Beef Tea:

https://www.eater.com/drinks/2015/5...oth-got-its-start-from-beef-tea-in-the-1800's

 

[mofederal]

This does sound it would taste pretty good. I think I have eaten it somewhere. Is it a kind of broth, but it appears almost like a soup. I see that you say it can be used as a base for soup. As a broth it would look to be mighty good. Thanks for posting.

 

[FarawayFriend]

Beef tea is very invigorating to those who are too weak to eat much, but in one case it unfortunately proved fatal - and that case was Robert E. Lee!!
Here comes a remarkable tidbit about his last days I have read a while ago. As most of us know he had suffered a stroke. His doctors recommended that he should have some beef tea as it was not possible for him to eat. It was in the evening and there was no beef in the Lee's kitchen to make broth from, so Mary Custis Lee sent an urgent message to the VMI and asked if she could have a piece of beef from their kitchen to prepare some beef tea for the General. She was provided with that piece of beef and the broth was given to Robert E. Lee. And it is terribly tragic that all these efforts to make him a little better might have eventually contributed to his death, because with the stroke he had lost the coughing reflex. He could not swallow the liquid properly and it probably got into his lungs and caused the pneumonia which killed him in the end.

But of course that was not caused by the broth but by his generally weak condition. My Mom always made broth the way donna described and it is so much better than anything made from concentrate!

 

[Seduzal]

I have had this type of tea before! I take it with me while hunting in the cold of winter days.

 

[donna]

Since there are several threads on remedies of the times, thought bring this one on Beef Tea back up.

 

[Anna Elizabeth Henry]

Thought I'd bump up this thread again as beef tea was mentioned on this week's episode of Victoria, since little Princess Vicky fell ill and the Baroness ordered up some beef tea.

Another popular Victorian Era remedy for those with weak digestion was Bread Soup. The below recipe is from Mrs. Beeton.

BREAD SOUP

117. INGREDIENTS.—1 lb. of bread crusts, 2 oz. butter, 1 quart of common stock.
Mode.—Boil the bread crusts in the stock with the butter; beat the whole with a
spoon, and keep it boiling till the bread and stock are well mixed. Season with a little
salt.

Note.—This is a cheap recipe, and will be found useful where extreme economy is an
object.