FoodNetArchive

[Modern cookery, in all its branches

1884

Page 34 · 2 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1884. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Cut the carrots into inch lengths, then pare them round and round in ribands of equal thickness, till the inside is reached ; next cut these ribands into straws, or very small strips; celery- is prepared in the same way, and turnips also are first pared into ribandsVegetable Vermicelli, then sliced into strips ; these last require less boiling than the carrots, and attention must be paid to this, for if broken, the whole would have a bad appearance in soup. The safer plan is to boil each vegetable separately, till tole- rably tender, in a little pale broth (in water if this be not at hand), to drain them well, and put them into the soup, which should be clear, only a few minutes before it is dished. For cutting them small, in other forms, the proper instruments will be found at the iron- monger’s. EXTRACT OF BEEF j OS, VERY STRONG PLAIN BEEF GRAVY SOUP. (Baron Liebeg’s Receipt.) Observation. — This admirable preparation is not only most valu- able as a restorative of the best kind for invalids who require light but highly nutritious diet, it is also of the utmost utility for the general purposes of the kitchen, and will enable a cook who can take skilful advantage of it, to convert the cold meat which often abounds so in- conveniently in an English larder, from our habit of having joints of large size so much served, into good nourishing dishes, which the hashes and minces of our common cookery are not , though they may answer well enough as mere varieties of diet. We shall indicate in the proper chapters the many other uses to which this beef juice — for such indeed it is — will be found eminently adapted. Of its value in illness it is impossible to speak too highly ; and in every family, there- fore, the exact mode of making it ought to be thoroughly understood. The economist who may consider it expensive, must remember that drugs and medical advice are usually far more so ; and in cases of ex- treme debility the benefit derived from it, when it is well prepared and judiciously administered, is often remarkable. It should be given m small quantities at first, and in its pure state. It may afterwards be varied by the addition of vermicelli, semoulina, or other preparations chap, i.] SOUPS. 7 of the kind ; and also by using for it a portion of mutton* calf’s head, poultry, or game, when these suit a patient as well as the beef. Receipt. — Take a pound of good, juicy beef (rumpsteak is best for the purpose), from which all the skin and fat that can possibly be separated from it, has been cut away. Chop it up small like sausage- meat ; then mix it thoroughly with an exact pint of cold waterExtract of Beef, and place it on the side of the stove to heat very slowly indeed; and give it an occasional stir. It may stand two or three hours before it is allowed to simmer, and will then require at the utmost but fifteen minutes of gentle boiling. Professor Liebeg directs even less time than this, but the soup then occasionally retains a raw flavour which is distasteful. Salt should be added when the boiling first commences, and for invalids, this, in general, is the only seasoning required. When the extract is thus far prepared, it may be poured from the meat into a basin, and allowed to stand until any particles of fat it may exhibit on the surface can be skimmed off entirely, and the sedi- ment has subsided and left the soup quite clear (which it speedily becomes), when it may