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Clear Broth
The following is a clear broth that will keep long. Put the mouse round of beef, a knucklebone 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 what flavor may be approved.
A slow oven-baked stock, kept deliberately plain so it can be seasoned to suit whoever is being fed. The whole point is a concentrated, gelatinous broth made with almost no water.
- Mouse roundThe mouse buttock (mouse round) was a cut from the beef hind leg, part of the round, no longer sold under that name. The recipe gives no weight; beef shin or a piece of bottom round gives the same lean, long-cooking meat.
- Knucklebone of vealThis is the joint end of a veal leg, bought from a butcher as a sawn veal knuckle. It is there entirely for gelatin; a split veal or beef marrow bone will do, and the broth should set to a jelly when cold if you have enough of it.
- Shanks of muttonMutton shanks are rare now; lamb shanks are the direct substitute, one or two, though they will taste milder than mutton did.
- The coarse crustA flour-and-water paste lid (huff paste) was a seal, not food, and was discarded. A tight lid, or a double layer of foil crimped hard over the pan, does the same job of trapping steam.
- Oven and timeThe recipe gives neither temperature nor time, only "bake till the beef is done enough for eating". A low oven and several hours will answer; judge it by the beef, then leave it to cool in the pan.
- Only as much water as will coverResist topping up. The strength of this broth comes from the small quantity of liquid, and adding water turns it into a thin, characterless stock.
- StorageThe recipe's "cover it close in a cool place" meant a cold larder, which is not adequate today. Strain, chill quickly, refrigerate no more than three or four days, or freeze in small portions.
- Seasoning at the endNo salt, herbs or vegetables go in during cooking, so the finished broth tastes flat straight from the pan. Season and flavour each portion as it is reheated, which is exactly what "give what flavor may be approved" means.
"Invalid cookery" was a fixed department of English and American household books through the nineteenth century, on the assumption that the sick were fed at home, from the same kitchen as everyone else. Beef teas, gruels, panadas and clear broths were the standard of the genre: mild, unseasoned, and believed to carry the strength of the meat in concentrated form. This recipe is not itself labelled as invalid cookery, and similar wording circulated widely in English domestic manuals of the early nineteenth century. The flour-and-water crust used as a pan seal is an older technique still, a way of making an ordinary vessel airtight in an oven that could not be regulated.