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Sick, Cooking for The

The subject of the feeding of invalids is fully dealt with in PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY, pp. lxxxvii.--xc., and a list of various recipes for Invalid Cookery which appear in this work will be found in the Classified Index. For convenience sake we have here brought together a number of representative recipes from various sources.

Apple Water.--Cut two large apples into slices, and pour a quart of boiling water on them, or on roasted apples; strain in two or three hours, and sweeten slightly.

Arrowroot Jelly.--Put into a saucepan half a pint of water, a glassful of sherry or a spoonful of brandy, grated nutmeg, and fine sugar; boil up once, then mix it by degrees into a dessert-spoonful of arrowroot previously rubbed smooth with two spoonfuls of cold water; then return the whole into the saucepan, stir and boil it three minutes.

Arrowroot Pudding.--Take a table-spoonful of arrowroot and half a pint of milk, a table-spoonful of which add cold to the arrowroot, stirring it till it is well mixed, then boil the remainder of the half-pint of milk, sweeten to taste with loaf sugar, and while it is boiling hot add it by degrees to the arrowroot, then boil the whole (stirring it all the time) till it becomes thickened, and have ready the yolks and whites of six eggs, beaten together, which stir into it. Put all into a buttered basin, and cover with paper. Then steam it for half an hour. A pudding may be made in the same way, and baked in a dish with a light crust round, and flavoured with any approved ingredient. Barley Gruel.--Wash four ounces of pearl-barley, boil it in two quarts of water with a stick of cinnamon till reduced to a quart; strain, and return it to the saucepan with sugar and three-quarters of a pint of port wine. Heat up, and use as wanted.

Barley Water.--Wash a handful of common barley, then simmer it gently in three pints of water with a bit of lemon-peel. This is less apt to nauseate than the pearl barley of the following recipe; but the other is a very pleasant drink. Barley Water (another way).--Boil an ounce of pearl barley a few minutes to cleanse, then pour on it a quart of water; simmer an hour; when half done put into it a bit of fresh lemon-peel and one bit of sugar. If likely to be too thick, you may add another quarter of a pint of water. Beef Juice.--The clear juice of beef, slightly diluted with water, is always excellent, and is often valuable in pleasantly exciting the action of the mouth and stomach after a long illness in which milk has been the chief article of diet. To make it, take half a pound of steak, cut away everything except the lean fibre, divide it into small pieces, put them into a glass jar, cover it, and place it in a deep saucepan of cold water. Heat it gradually for an hour, but do not allow the temperature at any time to exceed 160 deg. Fahr.; then strain out the juice and press the meat. Add a little salt, and it is ready to serve. The liquid should be clear red. Half a pound will make three or four table-spoonfuls of juice.

Beef, Mutton, and Veal Broth.--Put two pounds of lean beef, one pound of scrag of veal, one pound of scrag of mutton, sweet herbs, and ten peppercorns, into a nice tin saucepan with five quarts of water; simmer to three quarts; and clear from the fat when cold. Add one onion if approved. Soup and broth made of different kinds of meat are more supporting as well as better flavoured. To remove the fat, take it off when cold as clean as possible; and if there be still any remaining, lay a sheet of clean blotting paper on the broth when in the basin, and it will take up every particle.

Beef-Tapioca Soup.--Soak a quarter of a pound of granulated tapioca for twenty minutes in a gill of cold water, then put it to cook in a double boiler with half a pint of water. When the grains become soft and begin to look transparent put in a pint of good stock, half a tea-spoonful of salt, the same of mixed sweet herbs, a tea-spoonful of minced onion, and a little black pepper, and cook them until the tapioca is completely dissolved, which will take from two to three hours. Strain and return to the fire for another five minutes, when it is ready to serve.

Beef Tea.--Cut in small pieces two pounds of fresh lean beef; add three pints of cold water; when on the point of boiling, carefully remove the scum; the moment the broth boils add a pint of cold water; then let it boil up again, and remove the scum as before. If by this time it is not perfectly clear, the same quantity of water may be added a second time, which will cause more scum to rise. The same remarks apply to all other broths and gravies, which will always be transparent and finely flavoured if the same rule be observed. Beef tea should be allowed to simmer not less than three-quarters of an hour, and not more than one hour, from the time it is last skimmed. Brandy-milk with Egg.--Heat half a pint of milk in an enamelled saucepan for half an hour, but do not let it boil, then pour it into a bowl, and set it aside to cool. When cold, beat an egg with a table-spoonful of sugar until well mixed, add two table-spoonfuls of brandy. Strain into a glass, and serve at once.

Bread Pudding, Light.--Pour some boiling-hot milk on a few thin slices of white bread or the crumb of French rolls; when cold beat up one whole egg and the yolks of two others, mix them well with the bread, adding a small portion of grated nutmeg, lemon-peel, and as much white powdered sugar as will make it palatable. A few picked currants may be sometimes added. Put the preparation into a pudding-basin slightly rubbed over with butter, and cover the top with a piece of buttered paper; then place the basin in a saucepan containing boiling water, and let the pudding steam for half an hour or more, according to its size.

Broth, Clear.--The following is a clear broth that will keep long. Put the mouse-round of beef, a knuckle-bone of veal, and a few shanks of mutton into a deep pan, and cover close with a dish or coarse crust; bake till the beef is done enough for eating, with only as much water as will cover. When cold, cover it close in a cool place. When to be used give it whatever flavour may be approved.

Broth for Invalids.--This may be made in the same way as restorative meat jelly (see Meat Jelly, Restorative), with an old fowl cut in pieces and its own weight in gravy beef. It must, however, simmer two hours only. Broth, Quickly Made.--Take a bone or two of a neck or loin of mutton, and take off the fat and skin, set it on the fire, in a small tin saucepan that has a cover, with three-quarters of a pint of water, the meat being first beaten and cut in thin bits; add a bit of thyme and parsley, and, if approved, a slice of onion. Let it boil very quickly, skim it nicely; take off the cover if likely to be too weak, else cover it. Half an hour is sufficient for the whole process.

Calf's Foot Broth.--Boil two feet in three quarts of water: reduce to half; strain, and set it by. When to be used, take off the fat, put a large tea-cupful of the jelly into a saucepan with half a glassful of sweet wine, a little sugar and nutmeg, and beat it up till it is ready to boil; then take a little of it, and beat by degrees to the yolk of an egg, and adding a bit of butter the size of a nutmeg, stir it all together, but do not let it boil. Grate a bit of fresh lemon into it.

Calf's Foot Broth (another way).--Boil two calf's feet, two ounces each of veal and beef, the bottom of a penny loaf, two or three blades of mace, half a nutmeg sliced, and a little salt in three quarts of water: reduce to three pints; strain, and take off the fat.

Calf's Foot Jelly.--Boil two calf's feet in four quarts of water for five hours, then strain the liquor through a hair sieve, and the next day take off all the fat. Whisk the whites and shells of three eggs in a stewpan, then put in the jelly, and add a small piece of cinnamon, the thin peel of two lemons and the juice of three, with about six or seven ounces of loaf sugar. Put the stewpan on a brisk fire, and whisk its contents till on the point of boiling, then remove the stewpan, cover it closely, and let it remain near the fire for fifteen minutes, taking care not to allow the jelly to boil. Pass it through the bag in the usual way. If wine be used, it will be better to add it the moment before the jelly is passed through the bag.

Caudle.--Make a fine smooth gruel of oat-meal; strain it when boiled well, stir it at times till cold. When to be used add sugar, wine and lemon-peel, with nutmeg. Some like a spoonful of brandy besides the wine; others like lemon-juice.

Caudle (another way).--Boil up half a pint of fine gruel with a bit of butter the size of a large nutmeg, a large spoonful of brandy, the same of white wine, one of capillaire, a bit of lemon-peel and nutmeg. Caudle (another way).--Into a pint of fine gruel, not thick, put, while it is boiling-hot, the yolk of an egg beaten with sugar and mixed with a large spoonful of cold water, a glassful of wine, and nutmeg. Mix by degrees. This is very agreeable and nourishing.

Chicken Broth.--Put the body and legs of the fowl that chicken panada was made of, after taking off the skin and rump, into the water it was boiled in with one blade of mace, one slice of onion, and ten peppercorns. Simmer till the broth be of a pleasant flavour. If there is not water enough, add a little. Beat fine a quarter of an ounce of sweet almonds with a tea-spoonful of water, boil this with the broth, strain, and when cold remove the fat. Chicken Broth and Veal Broth.--These are prepared in the same way as beef tea, and may be made of any strength desired by adding more or less water. Chicken and veal broth do not require so much skimming as beef tea. Chicken, Minced.--Take the breast of a cold roast chicken, and mince it finely. Add half a tea-spoonful of fine flour, together with five or six table-spoonfuls of broth. Season with a pinch of salt. If broth is not at hand, substitute new milk.

Chicken or Fowl, To Extract the Essence of.--Proceed in the same way as in the recipe Veal, To Extract the Essence of, taking care to chop the bones in pieces, and lay them in the bottom of the jar, placing the meat on the top of them. Take care that the water in the saucepan does not get into the jar when boiling. "The pure essence of meat thus extracted is invaluable for weak stomachs and where considerable nutriment is required in a concentrated form. It is also light, and easy of digestion, compared with more glutinous preparations. A single table-spoonful of the essence can be taken by an invalid, and would afford as much sustenance as a quarter of a pint of broth." Chicken Panada.--Take the breast of a cold chicken, and pound it in a mortar to a very fine paste, then put it into a small stewpan, and add to it, gradually, as much boiling-hot broth as will make it of the required consistency. Season with a little salt. Place the stewpan on the fire, stir the contents, but do not let them boil.

Chicken Panada (another way).--Boil the chicken till about three parts done, in a quart of water, take off the skin, cut the white meat off when cold, and put it into a marble mortar; pound it to a paste with a little of the water it was boiled in. Season with a little salt, a grate of nutmeg, and the least bit of lemon-peel. Boil gently for a few minutes to the consistency liked; it should be such as can be drunk, although tolerably thick. Chicken with Sauce.--Prepare the chicken as in the recipe Chicken with Sippets. Serve it up with a delicate sauce made by mixing the yolks of two fresh eggs with a spoonful of water, and then adding them to the gravy of the chicken while hot, but which must not be allowed to boil. Chicken dressed in this way forms an agreeable repast for an invalid, and is very light for the stomach, and easy of digestion.

Chicken with Sippets.--Take a small chicken trussed for boiling, and let it soak in a pan of cold water for half an hour. Put it into a small stewpan just large enough to hold it; pour in half a pint of cold water, and when it boils cover the saucepan closely, and let it simmer very gently for twenty or twenty-five minutes, according to its size. Dish up the chicken in a very hot covered dish, put half a dozen sippets of bread round the bottom, and then strain the broth from the chicken through a fine lawn sieve into the dish, taking care to prevent any fat passing through. Add a little salt, if approved.

Cream of Celery Soup.--Wash and scrape a head of celery, cut it into half-inch pieces, put it into a pint of boiling water, and cook until it is soft. Then mash it in the water in which it was boiled, and add salt and pepper to taste. Cook an onion in a pint of milk, and with it a table-spoonful of flour, and the same of butter. Make a white sauce. Add the celery to this, and strain through a wire sieve, pressing it with the back of a spoon until all is squeezed through. Return the soup to the fire in a double boiler, and heat until it steams, when it is ready for use.

Cream of Rice Soup.--Pick and wash two table-spoonfuls of rice, and put it into a pint of chicken broth or stock to cook. Simmer slowly until the rice is very soft, which will take about an hour. Half an hour before it is done put a pint of cream into a saucepan with a tea-spoonful of chopped onions, a stalk of celery, a little white pepper, and a salt-spoonful of curry-powder, and let them simmer slowly for twenty minutes. Then pour the mixture into the rice, press all through a wire sieve, add three salt-spoonfuls of salt, and set it back on the fire to heat to boiling point.

Eel Broth.--Clean half a pound of small eels, and set them on with three pints of water, some parsley, one slice of onion, a few peppercorns; let them simmer till the eels are broken and the broth good; add salt, and strain it off. The above should make three half-pints of broth.

Eggs.--An egg broken into a cup of tea, or beaten and mixed with a basin of milk, makes a breakfast more supporting than tea solely. An egg divided, and the yolk and white beaten separately, then mixed with a glassful of wine, will afford two very wholesome draughts, and prove lighter than when taken together.

Egg Wine.--Beat an egg, mix with it a spoonful of cold water. Set on the fire a glassful of white wine, half a glassful of water, sugar, and nutmeg; when it boils, pour off a little of it to the egg by degrees, till all of it is in, stirring it well; then return the whole to the saucepan, put it on a gentle fire, stir it one way for not more than a minute, for if it boils, or the egg be stale, it will curdle. Serve with toast. Egg wine may be made as above without warming the egg, and it is then lighter on the stomach, though not so pleasant to the taste.

Fish, Creamed.--Take any white fish which flakes easily, such as cod and haddock. Cook it for fifteen or twenty minutes by gentle boiling. Then remove the flesh carefully from the bones, separating it into flakes; season with pepper and salt and a few drops of lemon-juice. For every pint of prepared fish make a butter sauce with four table-spoonfuls of butter, two of flour, and a pint of milk in which a small slice of onion has been boiled. Pour the sauce over the seasoned fish, mixing them together gently so that the flakes may not be broken. Arrange them on a plate, sprinkle the top with small flecks of butter and bread-crumbs, and bake in a hot oven for twenty to thirty minutes.

Gloucester Jelly.--Take an ounce each of rice, sago, pearl barley, hartshorn shavings, and eringo-root; simmer with three pints of water till the liquid is reduced to one, and strain it. When cold it will be a jelly; which give, dissolved in wine, milk, or broth.

Isinglass Jelly.--Put one ounce of isinglass into a stewpan with a pint of cold water, the thin rind of a fresh lemon, and four ounces of loaf sugar; the half of the white of an egg beaten on a plate may be added. Put the stewpan at the fire, and occasionally stir its contents. The moment they boil place the stewpan at the corner of the fire, and let the jelly simmer very gently for fifteen minutes; then strain through a fine lawn sieve. This jelly may be flavoured with lemon-juice, maraschino or noyeau.

Lemonade.--Peel the thin rind of one or two fresh lemons without any of the white part; put the peel into a jug, and pour over it a pint of boiling water; add four ounces of loaf sugar, and cover the jug closely to keep in the steam. Let it stand till cold, and then add the juice of the lemons; strain through a fine piece of muslin into a clean jug or decanter.

Lemon-water.--Put two slices of lemon thinly pared into a tea-pot, a little bit of the peel, and a bit of sugar, or a large spoonful of capillaire; pour in a pint of boiling water, and stop it closely for two hours. Light Puddings of Vermicelli, Semolina, Tapioca, Rice, Ground Rice, etc.--Whatever substance is used, it must first be boiled tender in milk, then proceeded with as for the other puddings (see Bread Puddings, Light, etc.), always taking care that the substance employed is of a thick consistency before the eggs, etc., are added. All light puddings, either of bread, spongecake, vermicelli, etc., may be flavoured in various ways by using vanilla, orange-flowers, cinnamon, almond, or any other approved flavours. Macaroni, with Broth.--Take a small quantity of real Italian macaroni, and boil it in water till it is just tender. Drain the water off on a hair sieve, then put the macaroni into a stewpan with some of the broth, and let it simmer for five or six minutes; season with a little salt, if preferred. Meat Jelly, Restorative.--Take two or three pounds of the knuckle of veal, the same weight of fresh-killed gravy-beef, and one calf's foot, cut the meat from the bones, and chop these in pieces; lay them in the bottom of a stewpan, and put the meat on the top of them; then add as much cold water as will rise two or three inches above the meat; let the whole simmer gently for four hours, taking great care to remove every particle of scum as it rises in the first boiling. Strain through a fine hair sieve, and the next morning the whole of the fat can be taken off.

Mutton Broth.--This is best made with the scrag-ends of the necks chopped in pieces, then well washed and soaked in warm water to draw out the blood, and allowed to simmer for two hours.

Mutton Broth (another way).--This is a very supporting broth against any kind of weakness. Boil two pounds of loin of mutton, with a very large handful of chervil, in two quarts of water till reduced to one. Take off part of the fat. Any other herbs or roots may be added. Take half a pint four times a day. Orangeade.--Take the thin peel of two oranges and of one lemon; add the water and sugar the same as for lemonade; when cold, add the juice of one lemon and of four or five oranges, and strain off.

Orange Jelly.--Use only half a pint of water to one ounce of isinglass, and proceed as in the recipe Isinglass Jelly. Then rub the rinds of one lemon and of two oranges on a piece of loaf sugar, which must be scraped off into a basin, in which the juice of the lemon and the juice of five or six oranges must be squeezed. Then add the melted isinglass, and mix well together. Strain through a fine sieve.

Orgeat.--Beat two ounces of almonds with a tea-spoonful of orange-flower water and a bitter almond or two; then pour a quart of milk and water to the paste. Sweeten with sugar or capillaire.

Panada (made in five minutes).--Set a little water on the fire with a glassful of white wine, some sugar, and a scrape of nutmeg and lemon-peel; meanwhile grate some crumbs of bread. The moment the mixture boils up, keep it still on the fire, put the crumbs in, and let it boil as fast as it can. When of a proper thickness to drink, take it off.

Pork Jelly, Dr. Ratcliff's Restorative.--Take a leg of well-fed pork just as cut up, beat it, and break the bone. Set it over a gentle fire with three gallons of water, and simmer to one. Let half an ounce each of mace and nutmeg stew in it. Strain through a fine sieve. When cold, take off the fat. Give a chocolate-cupful the first and last thing and at noon, adding salt to taste. Shank Jelly.--Soak twelve shanks of mutton four hours, then brush and scour them very clean. Lay them in a saucepan with three blades of mace, an onion, twenty Jamaica and thirty or forty black peppers, a bunch of sweet herbs, and a crust of bread made very brown by toasting. Pour three quarts of water to them, and set them on a hot hearth close-covered; let them simmer as gently as possible for five hours, then strain the liquor off, and put it in a cold place. This may have the addition of a pound of beef, if approved, for flavouring. It is a remarkably good thing for people who are weak. Sippets.--On an extremely hot plate put two or three sippets of bread, and pour over them some gravy from beef, mutton, or veal. Sprinkle a little salt over.

Spongecake Pudding.--Pour boiling milk on six penny spongecakes, and follow the same directions as for the bread pudding (see Bread Pudding, Light), sometimes adding a few muscatel raisins. Half a wine-glassful of sherry or a table-spoonful of good brandy may also be added, if approved. Tapioca Jelly.--Choose the largest sort, pour cold water on two or three times to wash it, then soak it in fresh water five or six hours, and simmer it in the same until it becomes quite clear; then add lemon-juice, wine, and sugar. The peel should have been boiled in it. It thickens very much. Tench Broth.--Make in the same way as eel broth. They are both very nutritious and light of digestion.

Toast and Water.--Toast slowly a thin piece of bread till extremely brown and hard, but not the least black; then plunge it into a jugful of cold water, and cover it over an hour before using. It should be of a fine brown colour before it is drunk.

Veal Broth (very nourishing).--Put the knuckle of a leg or shoulder of veal with very little meat to it, an old fowl, and four shank-bones of mutton extremely well soaked and bruised, three blades of mace, ten peppercorns, an onion, a large piece of bread, and three quarts of water into a stewpot that covers close, and simmer in the slowest manner after it has boiled up and been skimmed; or bake it; strain, and take off the fat. Salt as wanted. It will require four hours.

Veal, To Extract the Essence of.--Take two pounds of the lean part of the leg of veal, and cut it into pieces, without any of the fat. Wash the meat in cold water, and put it in a white glazed jar or stone jar just large enough to hold the pieces. Add only two table-spoonfuls of water. Cover the jar down closely, and lay it in a saucepan containing boiling water, which must continue to boil on a slow fire for two hours. At the end of that time all the juice or gravy will be extracted, and may be strained off for use.

Vermicelli, Italian Paste, and Rice.--These are all to be prepared in the same way as macaroni (see Macaroni, with Broth). In this way light and nutritious diet will be furnished for an invalid, which will often be retained on the stomach when a more solid substance would be rejected. Water Gruel.--Put a large spoonful of oatmeal by degrees into a pint of water, and when smooth boil it with a little salt.

Water Gruel (another way).--Rub smooth a large spoonful of oatmeal with two of water, and pour it into a pint of water boiling on the fire; stir it well, and boil quickly, but take care that it does not boil over. In a quarter of an hour strain it off, and add salt and a piece of butter when about to be eaten. Stir until the butter is incorporated.

Whey.--That of cheese is a very wholesome drink, especially when the cows are in fresh herbage.

White Broths with Vermicelli.--Light and delicate white broths may be produced by stirring the yolks of two or three fresh eggs with two or three fresh eggs with two table-spoonfuls of cold water, which must then be poured into the hot broth, gently stirring it all the time, without allowing the broth to boil after the eggs are put in, or they will be curdled.