Cure What Ails You

A classic strengthening soup/beverage, beef tea (this is the English version) tastes like the drippings from a prime rib. Meat lovers, rejoice. Unlike chicken soup or vegetable soup there are no vegetables to slice. Beef tea is especially good for building up males who are sick or have little appetite.

BEEF TEA

-1/2 pound boneless round steak, cut 1 inch thick and trimmed completely of fat
-salt to taste

1. Broil the steak 2 minutes per side. Then, right in the broiling pan, cut the steak into 1-inch squares and put the squares into a pint-sized glass canning jar. Be sure to scrape of the bottom of the pan using one of the squares and get every scrap of goodness into the jar.

2. Pour cold water over the meat to cover, screw on the top, then put the jar into a saucepan or slow cooker filled with cold water. Turn the heat to low and let the goodness leach out of the meat slowly, over the next 3 to 4 hours, maybe more, until the tea has good beef-broth color. The point here is not to cook, but to steep the meat.

To Serve: Pour off the beef tea, discarding the meat hunks, salt the broth to taste, and serve the broth warm.

The cooked meat will be tasteless; all the richness will be in the liquid.