Part 2

SWEET CORN SOUP.--Take a knuckle of veal, and a set of calf's feet. Put them into a soup-pot with some cold boiled ham cut into pieces, and season them with pepper only. Having allowed a quart of water to each pound of meat, pour it on, and let it boil till the meat falls from the bone; strain it, and pour the liquid into a clean pot. If you live in the country, or where milk is plenty, make this soup of milk without any water. All white soups are best of milk. You may boil in this, with the veal and feet, an old fowl, (cut into pieces,) that is too tough for any other purpose. When the soup is well boiled, and the shreds all strained away, have ready (cooked by themselves in another pot) some ears of sweet corn, young and tender. Cut the grains from the cob, mix the corn with fresh butter, season it with pepper, and stir it in the strained soup. Give the whole a short boil, pour it into the tureen, and send it to table.

VENISON SOUP.--Is excellent, made as above, with water instead of milk, and plenty of corn. And it is very convenient for a new settlement.

TOMATO SOUP.--Take a shin or leg of beef, and cut off all the meat. Put it, with the bones, in a large soup-pot, and season it slightly with salt and pepper. Pour on a gallon of water. Boil and skim it well. Have ready half a peck of ripe tomatos, that have been quartered, and pressed or strained through a sieve, so as to be reduced to a pulp. Add half a dozen onions that have been sliced, and a table-spoonful of sugar to lessen a little the acid of the tomatos. When the meat is all to rags, and the whole thoroughly done, (which will not be in less than six hours from the commencement) strain it through a cullender, and thicken it a little with grated bread crumbs.

This soup will be much improved by the addition of a half peck of ochras, peeled, sliced thin, and boiled with the tomatos till quite dissolved.

Before it goes into the tureen, see that there are no shreds of meat or bits of bone left in the soup.

FAMILY TOMATO SOUP.--Take four pounds of the lean of a good piece of fresh beef. The fat is of no use for soup, as it must be skimmed off when boiling. Cut the meat in pieces, season them with a little salt and pepper, and put them into a pot with three quarts of water. The tomatos will supply abundance of liquid. Of these you should have a large quarter of a peck. They should be full-grown, and quite ripe. Cut each tomato into four pieces, and put them into the soup; after it has come to a boil and been skimmed. It will be greatly improved by adding a quarter of a peck of ochras cut into thin round slices. Both tomatos and ochras require long and steady boiling with the meat. To lessen the extreme acid of the tomatos, stir in a heaped table-spoonful of sugar. Add also one large onion, peeled and minced small; and add two or three bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. The soup must boil till the meat is all to rags and the tomatos and ochras entirely dissolved, and their forms undistinguishable. Pour it off carefully from the sediment into the tureen, in the bottom of which have ready some toasted bread, cut into small squares.

FINE TOMATO SOUP.--Take some nice fresh beef, and divest it of the bone and fat. Sprinkle it with a little salt and pepper, and pour on water, allowing to each pound of meat a pint and a half (not more) of water, and boil and skim it till it is very thick and clear, and all the essence seems to be drawn out of the meat. Scald and peel a large portion of ripe tomatos--cut them in quarters, and laying them in a stew-pan, let them cook in their own juice till they are entirely dissolved. When quite done, strain the tomato liquid, and stir into it a little sugar. In a third pan stew an equal quantity of sliced ochras with a very little water; they must be stewed till their shape can no longer be discerned. Strain separately the meat liquor, the tomatos, and the ochras. Mix butter and flour together into a lump; knead it a little, and when all the liquids are done and strained put them into a clean soup-pan, stir in the flour and butter, and give the soup one boil up. Transfer it to your tureen, and stir altogether. The soup made precisely as above will be perfectly smooth and nice. Have little rolls or milk biscuits to eat with it.

This is a tomato soup for dinner company.

GREEN PEA SOUP.--Make a nice soup, in the usual way, of beef, mutton, or knuckle of veal, cutting off all the fat, and using only the lean and the bones, allowing a quart of water to each pound of meat. If the meat is veal, add four or six calf's feet, which will greatly improve the soup. Boil it slowly, (having slightly seasoned it with pepper and salt,) and when it has boiled, and been well skimmed, and no more scum appears, then put in a quart or more of freshly-shelled green peas, with none among them that are old, hard, and yellow; and also a sprig or two of green mint, and a little loaf sugar. Boil the peas till they are entirely dissolved. Then (having removed all the meat and bones) strain the soup through a sieve, and return it to the soup-pot, (which, in the mean time, should have been washed clean,) and stir into it a tea-cupful of green spinach juice, (obtained by pounding some spinach.) Have ready (boiled, or rather stewed in another pot) a quart of young fresh peas, enriched with a piece of fresh butter. These last peas should be boiled tender, but not to a mash. After they are in, give the soup another boil up, and then pour it off into a tureen, in the bottom of which has been laid some toast cut into square bits, with the crust removed. This soup should be of a fine green color, and very thick.

EXCELLENT BEAN SOUP.--Early in the evening of the day before you make the soup, wash clean a large quart of dried white beans in a pan of cold water, and about bedtime pour off that water, and replace it with a fresh panful. Next morning, put on the beans to boil, with only water enough to cook them well, and keep them boiling slowly till they have all bursted, stirring them up frequently from the bottom, lest they should burn. Meantime, prepare in a larger pot, a good soup made of a shin of beef cut into pieces, and the hock of a cold ham, allowing a large quart of water to each pound of meat.

Season it with pepper only, (no salt,) and put in with it a head of celery, split and cut small. Boil the soup (skimming it well) till the meat is all in rags; then take it out, leaving not a morsel in the pot, and put in the boiled beans. Let them boil in the soup till they are undistinguishable, and the soup very thick. Put some small squares of toast in the bottom of a tureen, and pour the soup upon it.

There is said to be nothing better for making soup than the camp-kettle of the army. Many of the common soldiers make their bean soup of surpassing excellence.

SPLIT PEA SOUP.--In buying dried or split peas, see that they are not old and worm-eaten. Wash two quarts of them over night in two or three waters. In the morning make a rich soup of the lean of beef or mutton, and the hock of a ham. Season it with pepper, but no salt. When it has boiled, and been thoroughly skimmed, put in the split peas, with a head of celery cut into small pieces, or else two table-spoonfuls of celery seed. Let it boil till the peas are entirely dissolved and undistinguishable. When it is finished strain the soup through a sieve, divesting it of the thin shreds of meat and bits of bone. Then transfer it to a tureen, in which has been laid some square bits of toast. Stir it up to the bottom directly before it goes to table.

You may boil in the soup (instead of the ham) a good piece (a rib piece, or a fillet) of corned pork, more lean than fat. When it is done, take the pork out of the soup, put it on a dish, and have ready to eat with it a pease pudding boiled by itself, cut in thick slices and laid round the pork. This pudding is made of a quart of split peas, soaked all night, mixed with four beaten eggs and a piece of fresh butter, and tied in a cloth and boiled three or four hours, or till the peas have become a mass.

ASPARAGUS SOUP.--Make in the usual way a nice rich soup of beef or mutton, seasoned with salt and pepper. After it has been well boiled and skimmed, and the meat is all to pieces, strain the soup into another pot, or wash out the same, and return to it the liquid. Have ready a large quantity of fine fresh asparagus, with the stalks cut off close to the green tops or blossoms. It should have been lying in cold water all the time the meat was boiling. Put into the soup half of the asparagus tops, and boil them in it till entirely dissolved, adding a tea-cupful of spinach juice, obtained by pounding fresh spinach in a mortar. Stir the juice well in and it will give a fine green color. Then add the remaining half of the asparagus; having previously boiled them in a small pan by themselves, till they are quite tender, but not till they lose their shape. Give the whole one boil up together. Make some nice slices of toast, (having cut off the crust.) Dip them a minute in hot water. Butter them, lay them in the bottom of the tureen, and pour the soup upon them. This (like green peas) will do for company soup.

CABBAGE SOUP.--Remove the fat and bone from a good piece of fresh beef, or mutton--season it with a little salt and pepper, put it into a soup-pot, with a quart of water allowed to each pound of meat. Boil, and skim it till no more scum is seen on the surface. Then strain it, and thicken it with flour and butter mixed. Have ready a fine fresh cabbage, (a young summer one is best) and after it is well washed through two cold waters, and all the leaves examined to see if any insects have crept between, quarter the cabbage, (removing the stalk) and with a cabbage-cutter, or a strong sharp knife, cut it into shreds. Or you may begin the cabbage whole and cut it into shreds, spirally, going round and round it with the knife. Put the cabbage into the clear soup, and boil it till, upon trial, by taking up a little on a fork, you find it quite tender and perfectly well cooked. Then serve it up in the tureen. This is a family soup.

RED CABBAGE SOUP.--Red cabbages for soup should either be quartered, or cut into shreds; it is made as above, of beef or mutton, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and a jill of strong tarragon vinegar, or a table-spoonful of mixed tarragon leaves, if in summer.

FINE CABBAGE SOUP.--Remove the outside leaves from a fine, fresh, large cabbage. Cut the stalk short, and split it half-way down so as to divide the cabbage into quarters, but do not separate it quite to the bottom. Wash the cabbage, and lay it in cold water for half an hour or more. Then set it over the fire in a pot full of water, adding a little salt, and let it boil slowly for an hour and a half, or more--skimming it well. Then take it out, drain it, and laying it in a deep pan, pour on _cold_ water, and let it remain till the cabbage is cold all through. Next, having drained it from the cold water, cut the cabbage in shreds, (as for cold-slaw,) and put it into a clean pot containing a quart and a pint of boiling milk into which you have stirred a quarter of a pound of nice fresh butter, divided into four bits and rolled in flour, adding a little pepper and a very little salt. Boil it in the milk till thoroughly done and quite tender. Then make some nice toast, cut it into squares, lay it in the bottom of a tureen, and pour the soup on it. This being made without meat is a good soup for Lent. It will be improved by stirring in, towards the last, two or three beaten eggs.

CAULIFLOWER SOUP.--Put into a soup-pot a knuckle of veal, and allow to each pound a quart of water. Add a set of calf's feet that have been singed and scraped, but not skinned; and the hock of a cold boiled ham. Boil it till all the meat is in rags, and the soup very thick, seasoning with cayenne and a few blades of mace, and adding, towards the last, some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. Boil in another pot, one or two fine cauliflowers. They are best boiled in milk. When quite done and very tender, drain them, cut off the largest stalks, and divide the blossoms into small pieces; put them into a deep covered dish, lay some fresh butter among them, and keep them hot till the veal soup is boiled to its utmost thickness. Then strain it into a soup-tureen, and put into it the cauliflower, grating some nutmeg upon it. This soup will be found very fine, and is an excellent white soup for company.

For Lent this soup may be made without meat, substituting milk, butter, and flour, and eggs, as in the receipt for fine cabbage soup. Season it with mace and nutmeg. If made with milk, &c., put no water on it, but boil the cauliflower in milk from the beginning. This can easily be done where milk is plenty.

FINE ONION SOUP.--Take a fine fresh neck of mutton, and to make a large tureen of soup, you must have a breast of mutton also. Let the meat be divided into chops, season it with a little salt, and put it in a soup-pot--allow a quart of water to each pound of mutton. Boil, and skim it till no more scum arises, and the meat drops in rags from the bones. In a small pot boil in milk a dozen large onions, (or more,) adding pepper, mace, nutmeg, and some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. The onions should previously be peeled and sliced. When they are quite soft, transfer them to the soup, with the milk, &c., in which they were cooked. Give them one boil in the soup. Then pour it off, or strain it into the tureen, omitting all the sediment, and bones, and shreds of meat. Make some nice slices of toast, dipping each in boiling water, and trimming off all the crust. Cut the toast into small squares, lay them in the bottom of the tureen, and pour the soup upon them. Where there is no objection to onions it will be much liked.

If milk is plenty use it instead of water for onion soup. White soups are always best when made with milk.

TURNIP SOUP.--For a very small family take a neck of mutton, and divide it into steaks, omitting all the fat. For a family of moderate size, take a breast as well as a neck. Put them into a soup-pot with sufficient water to cover them, and let them stew till well browned. Skim them carefully. Then pour on more water, in the proportion of a pint to each pound of meat, and add eight or ten turnips pared and sliced thin, with a very little pepper and salt. Let the soup boil till the turnips are all dissolved, and the meat in rags. Add, towards the last, some bits of butter rolled in flour, and in five minutes afterwards the soup will be done. Carefully remove all the bits of meat and bone before you send the soup to table. It will be found very good, and highly flavored with the turnips.

Onion soup may be made in the same manner. Parsnip soup also, cutting the parsnips into small bits. Or all three--turnips, onions and parsnips, may be used together.

PARSNIP SOUP.--The meat for this soup may either be fresh beef, mutton, or fresh venison. Remove the fat, cut the meat into pieces, add a little salt, and put it into a soup-pot, with an allowance of rather less than a quart of water to each pound. Prepare some fine large parsnips, by first scraping and splitting them, and cutting them into pieces; then putting them into a frying pan, and frying them brown, in fresh butter or nice drippings. When the soup has been boiled till the meat is all in rags, and well skimmed--put into it the fried parsnips and let them boil about ten minutes, but not till they break or go to pieces. Just before you put in the parsnips, stir in a table-spoonful of thickening made with butter and flour, mixed to a smooth paste. When you put it into the tureen to go to table, be sure to leave in the pot all the shreds of meat and bits of bone.

CARROT SOUP.--Take a good piece of fresh beef that has not been previously cooked. Remove the fat. It is of no use in making soup; and as it must all be skimmed off when boiling, it is better to clear it away before the meat goes into the pot. Season the beef with a very little salt and pepper, and allow a small quart of water to each pound. Grate half a dozen or more large carrots on a coarse grater, and put them to boil in the soup with some other carrots; cut them into pieces about two inches long. When all the meat is boiled to rags, and has left the bone, pour off the soup from the sediment, transferring it to a tureen, and sending it to table with bread cut into it.

POTATO SOUP.--Pare and slice thin half a dozen fine potatos and a small onion. Boil them in three large pints of water, till so soft that you can pulp them through a cullender. When returned to the pot add a very little salt and cayenne, and a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, divided into bits, and boil it ten minutes longer. When you put it into the tureen, stir in two table-spoonfuls or more of good cream. This is a soup for fast-days, or for invalids.

CHESTNUT SOUP.--Make, in the best manner, a soup of the lean of fresh beef, mutton, or venison, (seasoned with cayenne and a little salt,) allowing rather less than a quart of water to each pound of meat, skimming and boiling it well, till the meat is all in rags, and drops from the bone. Strain it, and put it into a clean pot. Have ready a quart or more of large chestnuts, boiled and peeled. If roasted, they will be still better. They should be the large Spanish chestnuts. Put the chestnuts into the soup, with some small bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. Boil the soup ten minutes longer, before it goes to table.

PORTABLE SOUP.--This is a very good and nutritious soup, made first into a jelly, and then congealed into hard cakes, resembling glue. If well made, it will keep for many months in a cool, dry place, and when dissolved in hot water or gravy, will afford a fine liquid soup, very convenient to carry in a box on a journey or sea voyage, or to use in a remote place, where fresh meat for soup is not to be had. A piece of this glue, the size of a large walnut, will, when melted in water, become a pint bowl of soup; or by using less water, you may have it much richer. If there is time and opportunity, boil with the piece of soup a seasoning of sliced onion, sweet marjoram, sweet basil, or any herbs you choose. Also, a bit of butter rolled in flour.

To make portable soup, take two shins or legs of beef, two knuckles of veal, and four unskinned calves' feet. Have the bones broken or cracked. Put the whole into a large clean pot that will hold four gallons of water. Pour in, at beginning, only as much water as will cover the meat well, and set it over the fire, to heat gradually till it almost boils. Watch and skim it carefully while any scum rises. Then pour in a quart of cold water to make it throw up all the remaining scum, and then let it come to a good boil, continuing to skim as long as the least scum appears. In this be particular. When the liquid appears perfectly clear and free from grease, pour in the remainder of the water, and let it boil very gently for eight hours. Strain it through a very clean hair sieve into a large stoneware pan, and set it where it will cool quickly. Next day, remove all the remaining grease, and pour the liquid, as quickly as possible, into a three-gallon stew-pan, taking care not to disturb the settlings at the bottom. Keep the pan uncovered, and let it boil as fast as possible over a quick fire. Next, transfer it to a three-quart stew-pan, and skim it again, if necessary. Watch it well, and see that it does not burn, as that would spoil the whole. Take out a little in a spoon, and hold it in the air, to see if it will jelly. If it will not, boil it a little longer. Till it jellies, it is not done.

Have ready some small white ware preserve pots, clean, and quite dry. Fill them with the soup, and let them stand undisturbed till next day. Set, over a slow fire, a large flat-bottomed stew-pan, one-third filled with boiling water. Place in it the pots of soup, seeing it does not reach within two inches of their rims. Let the pots stand uncovered in this water, hot, but without boiling, for six or seven hours. This will bring the soup to a proper thickness, which should be that of a stiff jelly, when hot; and when cold, it should be like hard glue. When finished turn out the moulds of soup, and wrap them up separately in new brownish paper, and put them up in boxes, breaking off a piece when wanted to dissolve the soup.

Portable soup may be improved by the addition of three pounds of nice lean beef, to the shins, knuckles, calves' feet, &c. The beef must be cut into bits.

If you have any friends going the overland journey to the Pacific, a box of portable soup may be a most useful present to them.

PEPPER-POT.--Have ready a small half pound of very nice white tripe, that has been thoroughly boiled and skinned, in a pot by itself, till quite soft and tender. It should be cut into very small strips or mouthfuls. Put into another pot a neck of mutton, and a pound of lean ham, and pour on it a large gallon of water. Boil it slowly, and skim it. When the scum has ceased to rise, put in two large onions sliced, four potatos quartered, and four sliced turnips. Season with a very small piece of red pepper or capsicum, taking care not to make it too hot. Then add the boiled tripe. Make a quart bowlful of small dumplings of butter and flour, mixed with a very little water; and throw them into the pepper-pot, which should afterwards boil about an hour. Then take it up, and remove the meat before it is put into the tureen. Leave in the bits of tripe.

NOODLE SOUP.--This soup may be made with either beef or mutton, but the meat must be fresh for the purpose, and not cold meat, re-cooked. Cut off all the fat, and break the bones. If boiled in the soup they improve it. To each pound of meat allow a small quart of water. Boil and skim it, till the meat drops from the bone. Put in with the meat, after the scum has ceased to rise, some turnips, carrots and onions, cut in slices, and boil them till all to pieces. Strain the soup, and return the liquid to a clean pot. Have ready a large quantity of noodles, (in French _nouillés_,) and put them into the strained soup; let them boil in it ten minutes. The noodles are composed of beaten eggs, made into a paste or dough, with flour and a very little fresh butter. This paste is rolled out thin into a square sheet. This sheet is then closely rolled up like a scroll or quire of thick paper, and then with a sharp knife cut round into shreds, or shavings, as cabbage is cut for slaw. These cuttings must be dredged with flour to prevent their sticking. Throw them into the soup while boiling the second time, and let it boil for ten minutes longer.