I’m unashamed to admit that I’ve been around long enough to remember well the “Where’s the beef?” commercials Wendy’s served up back in the ’80s. They called to me, as a natural carnivore, because so many restaurant burgers seemed so, so, so tiny to me back then.
In my lifetime, I’m sure I’ve eaten a whole herd or two. Beef is what’s often for dinner for me — from taco nights, to steaks, to roasts, to casseroles to, you guessed it, burgers. It’s juicy and delicious.
This week, I’m diving into three Montgomery Advertiser’s beef recipes from years gone by that are a little different, and I hope you enjoy the ride.
Beef Salad
Here’s one from way back in 1867 that even the little old lady from the Wendy’s commercials would love. It’s a salad of sorts. You’ll need:
-
1 pound of cooked roast beef
-
1 pound of Irish potatoes, boiled and peeled
-
Head of lettuce (or cabbage if you prefer)
-
The whites of four hard-boiled eggs
Add these all together in a big pot with salt and pepper to taste. Chop it all together, until thoroughly mixed and very fine. In a seperate bowl, take the hard-boiled yolks while hot and add them to one large tablespoon of fresh butter and one teaspoon of mustard. Mix that together to make a smooth paste. Add to it one pint of sharp vinegar and thoroughly mix. Serve bowls of the salad with the mixture to top it. Makes a great appetizer or side dish.
More: Lost Recipes: Strawberry dishes from across the decades
Beef Tea
This is one from 1893, and yes it’s called “beef tea.” The Advertiser would also refer to it as “beef essence.” It has everything to do with the juices, so it’s really a beef broth. With all the colds going around this time of year, you can imagine what they used it for — soothing throats and getting some nutrition into people who were ill and didn’t have the strength to eat. Here’s what the Advertiser had to say about it:
“If beef tea is needed for immediate use, the beef may be put over a slow fire without any previous soaking, and allowed to simmer from 15 minutes to half an hour. Use a wooden spoon or a potato masher and press out the juices every few minutes while the beef is cooking. Add salt as soon as the water is put on the beer, as that will also aid in drawing out the juices. Do not boil the beef extract. Keep it just below the boiling point. Neither make the mistake of straining the floating brown particles out of it, for they are the nutritious part.
“If beef tea is to be given to a patient so ill that a stimulant rather than nutrition is required, let the brown particles settle to the bottom and give only the clear portion.
“To make a strong beef tea, use one pound of the round beef cut into small cubes and freed from bone, fat and gristle. To one pound of such beef ad one pint of cold water. Strain the extract through a colander, pressing and stirring the meat so that all the juices may be extracted.”
These days, I’d probably just settle for some bouillon cubes dissolved in water and heated up in the microwave — but I’m sure the 1800s way was tastier.
More: Big Bob Gibson’s white sauce makes most of moist chicken for past 100 years | LOST RECIPES
Hamburg Steaks
No, I didn’t leave off the “er.” This is Hamburg Steak, a recipe from 1895. But, yes, it’s hamburger steaks and gravy.
“Hamburg steaks, though of beef, have a certain suggestion of sausage, which on a cold morning pleases the palate,” the Advertiser wrote. “One pound of beef will make eight. Have it cut from the upper part of the round and chop fine. Add to it one grated onion, half a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper, and mix well. Wet the hands in cold water and form into small balls. Put two tablespoons of butter in a frying pan and when it is very hot put in the steaks. Turn in a tablespoon of flour. Stir smooth. Six minutes will be sufficient. Put the steaks on a hot dish, and into the pan put a tablespoon of flour, stir smooth and add half a pint of boiling water, stirring till it boils again. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, and pour over the steak.”
IF YOU TRY IT
If you decide to try one of these lost recipes please 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 at sheupel@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Here’s the beef, 1800s-style: Meaty recipes from years gone by | LOST RECIPES