I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve been around long enough to ask myself the question, “Where’s the beef?” still well remembered. commercials that Wendy’s served in the ’80s. They appealed to me, as a natural carnivore, because so many restaurant burgers seemed so, so, so small to me at the time.
I’m sure I’ve eaten a whole herd or two in my life. Beef is often dinner for me – from taco nights, to steaks, to roasts, to casseroles and, you guessed it, burgers. It’s juicy and delicious.
This week I’m diving into three Montgomery Advertiser beef recipes from a bygone era that are a little different, and I hope you enjoy them.
Beef Salad
Here’s one from 1867 that even the little old lady from the Wendy’s commercials would love. It’s a kind of salad. You need:
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1 pound cooked roast beef
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1 pound Irish potatoes, boiled and peeled
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Curl lettuce (or cabbage if you prefer)
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The whites of four hard-boiled eggs
Add this all together in a large pan with salt and pepper to taste. Chop everything together until well mixed and very fine. In a separate bowl, take the hard-boiled yolks while they are hot and add them to a large tablespoon of fresh butter and a teaspoon of mustard. Mix that together into a smooth paste. Add half a liter of sharp vinegar to it and mix thoroughly. Serve bowls of salad with the mixture on top. Makes a great appetizer or side dish.
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Broth
This is one from 1893, and yes, it’s called ‘beef tea’. The advertiser would also call it ‘beef essence’. It has everything to do with the juices and is therefore really a beef stock. With all the colds this time of year, you can imagine what they used it for: soothing the throat and giving some nourishment to people who were sick and didn’t have the strength to eat. Here’s what the advertiser had to say about it:
“If beef tea is required for immediate use, the beef can be placed over a slow heat without first being soaked, and simmered for 15 minutes to half an hour. Using a wooden spoon or a potato masher, squeeze out the juices each time. Add add salt once the water has been added to the beer as this will also help draw out the juices. Do not boil the beef extract either just below the boiling point or strain out the floating brown particles as they form the nutritious part.
“If beef tea is to be given to a patient so ill that a stimulant is required instead of food, let the brown particles settle to the bottom and give only the clear part.
To make a strong beef tea, use a pound of the round beef, cut into small cubes and trimmed of bones, fat and cartilage. To a pound of this beef add half a pint of cold water. Strain the extract through a colander, press it down and express it. stir the meat so that all the juices can come out.”
Nowadays I’d probably settle for some stock cubes dissolved in water and heated in the microwave, but I’m sure the 19th century way was tastier.
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Hamburg steaks
No, I didn’t leave out the “er”. This is Hamburg Steak, a recipe from 1895. But hey, it’s hamburger steaks and gravy.
“Hamburg steaks, even though they are made of beef, have a certain suggestion of sausage, which tickles the taste buds on a cold morning,” the advertiser wrote. “One pound of beef makes eight. Have it cut off from the top part of the round and finely chopped. Add to it a grated onion, half a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper and mix well. Wet your hands in the cold water and form them into small balls. Put two tablespoonfuls of butter in a frying pan, and when it is very hot, put in a tablespoonful of flour. Stir until smooth. Place the steaks on a hot dish, and put a tablespoonful of flour in the pan, stir smooth and add half a liter of boiling water, stir until it boils again. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and pour over the steak.
IF YOU TRY
If you decide to try one of these lost recipes, send us a photo and a note on how it went. Send it in an email titled “Lost Recipes” to Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel bee sheupel@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on the Montgomery Advertiser: Here’s Beef, 19th Century Style: Recipes with Meat from a Bygone Year | LOST RECIPES
