Beef Tea Recipe

Take half a pound of lean beef; cut it up into small bits;

let it soak in a pint of water for three-quarters of an hour; then put

both into a quart champagne bottle with just a suspicion of salt. Cork

tightly, and wire the cork, so as to prevent its popping out. Set the

bottle in a saucepan full of warm water, boil gently for an hour and a

half, and strain through a napkin. Beef tea, without the fibrine of the

meat, if administered often to a patient, will tend to weaken, instead

of strengthening the invalid; always add about a teaspoonful of finely

chopped raw meat to a goblet of the tea, and let it stand in the tea for

about five minutes before serving.

BISQUE OF CRABS

Boil twelve hard-shell crabs for thirty minutes, and

drain; when cold break them apart, pick out the meat carefully, scrape

off all fat adhering to the upper shell, and save these for deviled

crabs (an excellent recipe for deviled crabs may be found in "Salads and

Sauces.")

Set the crab meat aside; put the under shell and the claws in a mortar

with half a pound of butter and a cupful of cold boiled rice, and pound

them as smooth as possible; then put this into a saucepan, and add a

heaping teaspoonful of salt, a bouquet of assorted herbs, a dozen whole

peppers, a blade of mace, and three quarts of stock; boil slowly for one

hour, pour it through a sieve, and work as much of the pulp through the

sieve as possible. Place the soup on the range to keep warm, but not to

boil.

Beat up the yolk of one egg, and add it slowly to a quart of warm milk

previously boiled; whisk the milk into the soup; taste for seasoning.

Now take the crab meat and heat it in a little boiling water, drain, put

it into a hot soup tureen, pour the soup over it and serve.