Chapter 8

Five large carrots, two turnips, three large mealy potatoes, seven onions, three heads of celery; slice them all thin, with a handful of sweet herbs; put them into one gallon of water, with bones of beef, or a piece of mutton; let them simmer gently till the vegetables will pulp through a sieve. Add cayenne pepper, salt, a pint of milk, or half a pint of cream, with a small piece of butter beaten up with flour.

_Rabbit Soup._

One large rabbit, one pound of lean ham, one onion, one turnip, and some celery, two quarts of water; let them boil till the rabbit is tender. Strain off the liquor; boil a pint of cream, and add it to the best part of the rabbit pounded; if not of the thickness you wish, add some flour and butter, and rub it through a sieve. It must not be boiled after the cream is added.

_Root Soup._

Potatoes, French turnips, English turnips, carrots, celery, of each six roots; pare and wash them; add three or four onions; set them on the fire with the bones of a rump of beef, or, if you have no such thing, about two pounds of beef, or any other beef bones. Chop them up, and put them on the fire with water enough to cover them; let them stew very gently till the roots are all tender enough to rub through a sieve. This done, cut a few roots of celery small, and put it to the strained soup. Season it with pepper and salt, and stew it gently till the celery is tender; then serve it with toast or fried bread. A bundle of herbs may be boiled in it, just to flavour it, and then taken out.

_Scotch Leek Soup._

You make this soup to most advantage the day after a leg of mutton has been boiled, into the liquor from which put four large leeks, cut in pieces. Season with pepper and salt, and let it boil gently for a quarter of an hour. Mix half a pint of oatmeal with cold water till quite smooth; pour this into the soup; let it simmer gently half an hour longer; and serve it up.

_To brown or colour Soup._

To brown soup, take two lumps of loaf-sugar in an iron spoon; let it stand on the stove till it is quite black, and put it into soup.

_Seasoning for Soups and Brown Sauces._

Salt a bullock's liver, pressing it thoroughly with a great weight for four days. Take ginger and every sort of spice that is used to meat, and half a pound of brown sugar, a good quantity of saltpetre, and a pound of juniper-berries. Rub the whole in thoroughly, and let it lie six weeks in the liquor, boiling and skimming every three days, for an hour or two, till the liver becomes as hard as a board. Then steep it in the smoke liquor that is used for hams, and afterwards hang it up to smoke for a considerable time. When used, cut slices as thin as a wafer, and stew them down with the jelly of which you make your sauce or soup, and it will give a delightful flavour.

_Soup._ No. 1.

A quarter of a pound of portable soup, that is, one cake, in two quarts of boiling water; vegetables to be stewed separately, and added after the soup is dissolved.

_Soup._ No. 2.

Take a piece of beef about a stone weight, and a knuckle of veal, eight or ten onions, a bunch of thyme and parsley, an ounce of allspice, ten cloves, some whole pepper and salt; boil all these till the meat is all to pieces. Strain and take off the fat. Make about a quart of brown beef gravy with some of your broth; then take half a pound of butter and a good handful of flour mixed together, put it into a stewpan, set it over a slow fire, keeping it stirring till very brown; have ready what herbs you design for your soup, either endive or celery; chop them, but not too small; if you wish for a fine soup add a palate and sweetbreads, the palate boiled tender, and the sweetbreads fried, and both cut into small pieces. Put these, with herbs, into brown butter; put in as much of your broth as you intend for your soup, which must be according to the size of your dish. Give them a boil or two, then put in a quart of your gravy, and put all in a pot, with a fowl, or what you intend to put in your dish. Cover it close, and, let it boil an hour or more on a slow fire. Should it not be seasoned enough, add more salt, or what you think may be necessary: a fowl, or partridge, or squab pigeons, are best boiled in soup and to lie in the dish with it.

_Soup._ No. 3.

Cut three pounds of beef and one pound of veal in slices and beat it. Put half a pound of butter and a piece of bacon in your pan, brown it, and sprinkle in half a spoonful of flour. Cut two onions in; add pepper and salt, a bit of mace, and some herbs, then put in your meat, and fry it till it is brown on both sides. Have in readiness four quarts of boiling water, and a saucepan that will hold both water and what is in your frying-pan. Cover it close; set it over a slow fire and stew it down, till it is wasted to about five pints; then strain it off, and add to it what soup-herbs you like, according to your palate. Celery and endive must be first stewed in butter; and peas and asparagus first boiled, and well drained from the butter, before you put it to the soup. Stew it some time longer, and skim off all the fat; then take a French roll, which put in your soup-dish; pour in your soup, and serve it up. Just before you take it off the fire, squeeze in the juice of a lemon.

If veal alone is used, and fowl or chicken boiled in it and taken out when enough done, and the liquor strained, and the fowl or chicken put to the clear liquor, with vermicelli, you will have a fine white soup; and the addition of the juice of a lemon is a great improvement.

The French cooks put in chervil and French turnips, lettuce, sorrel, parsley, beets, a little bit of carrot, a little of parsnips, this last must not boil too long--all to be strained off: to be sent up with celery, endive (or peas) or asparagus, and stuffed cucumbers.

_Soup without Meat._

Take two quarts of water, a little pepper, salt, and Jamaica pepper, a blade of mace, ten or twelve cloves, three or four onions, a crust of bread, and a bunch of sweet herbs; boil all these well. Take the white of two or three heads of endive, chopped, but not too small. Put three quarters of a pound of butter in a stewpan that will be large enough to hold all your liquor. Set it on a quick fire till it becomes very brown; then put a little of your liquor to prevent its turning, or oiling; shake in as much flour as will make it rather thick; then put in the endive and an onion shred small, stirring it well. Strain all your liquor, and put it to the butter and herbs; let it stew over a slow fire almost an hour. Dry a French roll, and let it remain in it till it is soaked through, and lay it in your dish with the soup. You may make this soup with asparagus, celery, or green peas, but they must be boiled before you put them to the burnt butter.

_Soup for the Poor._

Eight pails of water, two quarts of barley, four quarts of split peas, one bushel of potatoes, half a bushel of turnips, half a bushel of carrots, half a peck of onions, one ounce of pepper, two pounds of salt, an ox's head, parsley, herbs, boiled six hours, produce one hundred and thirty pints. Boil the meat and take off the first scum before the other ingredients are put in.

_Another._

To feed one hundred and thirty persons, take five quarts of Scotch barley, one quart of Scotch oatmeal, one bushel of potatoes, a bullock's head, onions, &c., one pound and half of salt.

_Soup and Bouilli_

may be made of ox-cheek, stewed gently for some hours, and well skimmed from the fat, and again when cold. Small suet dumplings are added when heated for table as soup.

_Soupe à la Reine, or Queen's Soup._

Soak a knuckle of veal and part of a neck of mutton in water; put them in a pot with liquor, carrots, turnips, thyme, parsley, and onions. Boil and scum it; then season with a head or two of celery; boil this down; take half a pound of blanched almonds, and beat them; take two fowls, half roasted, two sweetbreads set off; beat these in a mortar, put them in your stock, with the crumbs of two French rolls; then rub them through a tamis and serve up.

_Another._

For a small terrine take about three quarters of a pound of almonds; blanch, and pound them very fine. Cut up a fowl, leaving the breast whole, and stew in consommé. When the breast is tender, take it out, (leaving the other parts to stew with the consommé) pound it well with the almonds and three hard-boiled yolks of eggs, and take it out of the mortar. Strain the consommé, and put it, when the fat is skimmed off, to the almonds, &c. Have about a quarter of a pint of Scotch barley boiled very tender, add it to the other ingredients, put them into a pot with the consommé, and stir it over the fire till it is boiling hot and well mixed. Rub it through a tamis, and season it with a little salt; it must not boil after being rubbed through.

_Soupe Maigre._ No. 1.

Take the white part of eight loaved lettuces, cut them as small as dice, wash them and strain them through a sieve. Pick a handful of purslain and half a handful of parsley, wash and drain them. Cut up six large cucumbers in slices about the thickness of a crown-piece. Peel and mince four large onions, and have in readiness three pints of young green peas. Put half a pound of fresh butter into your stewpan; brown it of a high colour, something like that of beef gravy. Put in two ounces of lean bacon cut clean from the rind, add all your herbs, peas, and cucumbers, and thirty corns of whole pepper; let these stew together for ten minutes; keep stirring to prevent burning. Put one gallon of boiling water to a gallon of small broth, and a French roll cut into four pieces toasted of a fine yellow brown. Cover your stewpan, and let it again stew for two hours. Add half a drachm of beaten mace, one clove beaten, and half a grated nutmeg, and salt to your taste. Let it boil up, and squeeze in the juice of a lemon. Send it to table with all the bread and the herbs that were stewed in it.

_Soupe Maigre._ No. 2.

Take of every vegetable you can get, excepting cabbage, in such quantity as not to allow any one to predominate; cut them small and fry them brown in butter; add a little water, and thicken with flour and butter. Let this stew three hours very gently; and season to your taste. The French add French rolls.

_Soupe Maigre._ No. 3.

Half a pound of butter, put in a stewpan over the fire, and let it brown. Cut two or three onions in slices, two or three heads of celery, two handfuls of spinach, a cabbage, two turnips, a little parsley, three cabbage lettuces, a little spice, pepper and salt. Stew all these about half an hour; then add about two quarts of water, and let it simmer till all the roots are tender. Put in the crust of a French roll, and send it to table.

_Soupe Maigre._ No. 4.

Cut three carrots, three turnips, three heads of celery, three leeks, six onions, and two cabbage lettuces in small pieces; put them in your stewpan with a piece of butter, the size of an egg, a pint of dried or green peas, and two quarts of water, with a little pepper and salt. Simmer the whole over the fire till tender; then rub it through a sieve or tamis; add some rice, and let it simmer an hour before you serve it up.

_Soupe Maigre._ No. 5.

Take three carrots, three turnips, three heads of celery, three leeks, six onions, two cabbage lettuces; cut them all in small pieces, and put them in your stewpan, with a piece of butter about the size of an egg, and a pint of dried or green peas, and two quarts of water. Simmer them over the fire till tender, then rub through a sieve or tamis. Add some rice, and let it simmer an hour before you serve it up.

_Soupe Santé, or Wholesome Soup._

Take beef and veal cut in thin slices; put sliced turnips, carrots, onions, bacon, in the bottom of your stewpan; lay your meat upon these, and over it some thin thyme, parsley, a head or two of celery. Cover the whole down; set it over a charcoal fire; draw it down till it sticks to the bottom; then fill up with the above stock. Let it boil slowly till the goodness is extracted from your meat; then strain it off. Cut and wash some celery, endive, sorrel, a little chervil, spinach, and a piece of leek; put these in a stewpan, with a bit of butter. Stew till tender, then put this in your soup; give it a boil up together, and skim the fat off. Cut off the crust of French rolls; dry and soak them in some of your soup; put them into it, and serve your soup.

_Spanish Soup._

Put the scrag end of a neck of veal, two calves' feet, two pounds of fresh beef, one old fowl, into a pot well tinned, with six quarts of water, and a little salt, to raise the scum, which must be very carefully taken off. Let these boil very gently two hours and a half, till the water is reduced to four quarts; then take out all the meat, strain the broth, and put to it a small quantity of pepper, mace, cloves, and cinnamon, finely pounded, with four or five cloves of garlic. A quarter of an hour afterwards add eight or ten ounces of rice, with six ounces of ham or bacon, and a drachm of saffron put into a muslin bag. Observe to keep it often stirred after the rice is in, till served up. It will be ready an hour and a half after the saffron is in. You should put a fowl into it an hour before it is ready, and serve it up whole in the soup.

This soup will keep two or three days.

_Turnip Soup._

Make a good strong gravy of beef or mutton; let it stand till cold; take off all the fat; pare some turnips and slice them thin; stew them till tender, then strain them through a sieve; mix the pulp with the gravy, till of a proper thickness:--then add three quarters of a pint of cream; boil it up, and send it to table.

_Veal Soup._

Take a knuckle of veal, and chop it into small pieces; set it on the fire with four quarts of water, pepper, mace, a few herbs, and one large onion. Stew it five or six hours; then strain off the spice, and put in a pint of green peas until tender. Take out the small bones, and send the rest up with the soup.

_Vegetable Soup._ No. 1.

Take a quart of beef jelly and the same quantity of veal jelly: boil it, have some carrots and turnips, cut small, previously boiled in a little of the jelly; throw them in, and serve it up hot.

_Vegetable Soup._ No. 2.

Take two cabbage and two coss lettuces, one hard cabbage, six onions, one large carrot, two turnips, three heads of celery, a little tarragon, chervil, parsley, and thyme, chopped fine, and a little flour fried in a quarter of a pound of butter (or less will do). Then add three quarts of boiling water; boil it for two hours, stir it well, and add, before sending it to table, some crumbs of stale bread: the upper part of the loaf is best.

_Vegetable Soup._ No. 3.

Let a quantity of dried peas (split peas), or haricots, (lentils) be boiled in common water till they are quite tender; let them then be gradually passed through a sieve with distilled water, working the mixture with a wooden spoon, to make what the French call a _puré_: and let it be made sufficiently liquid with distilled water to bear boiling down. Then let a good quantity of fresh vegetables, of any or all kinds in their season, especially carrots, lettuces, turnips, celery, spinach, with always a few onions, be cut into fine shreds, and put it into common boiling water for three or four minutes to blanch; let them then be taken out with a strainer, added to and mixed with the _puré_, and the whole set to boil gently at the fire for at least two hours. A few minutes before taking the soup from the fire, let it be seasoned to the taste with pepper and salt.

The soup, when boiling gently at the fire, should be very frequently stirred, to prevent its sticking to the side of the pan, and acquiring a burnt taste.

_Vegetable Soup._ No. 4.

Cut two potatoes, one turnip, two heads of celery, two onions, one carrot, a bunch of sweet herbs; put them all into a stewpan; cover close; draw them gently for twenty minutes, then put two quarts of good broth, let it boil gently, and afterwards simmer for two hours. Strain through a fine sieve; put it into your pan again; season with pepper and salt, and let it boil up.

_Vegetable Soup._ No. 5.

Take four turnips, two potatoes, three onions, three heads of celery, two carrots, four cabbage lettuces, a bunch of sweet herbs, and parsley. The vegetables must be cut in slices; put them into a stewpan, with half a pint of water; cover them close; set them over the fire for twenty minutes to draw; add three pints of broth or water, and let it boil quickly. When the vegetables are tender rub them through a sieve. If you make the soup with water, add butter, flour, pepper, and salt. Let it be of the thickness of good cream, and add some fine crumbs of bread with small dumplings.

_Vermicelli Soup._

Break the vermicelli a little, throw it into boiling water, and let it boil about two minutes. Strain it in a sieve, and throw it into cold water: then strain and put it into a good clear consommé, and let it boil very slowly about a quarter of an hour. When it is going to table, season with a little salt, and put into it a little crust of French roll.

_West India Soup, called Pepper Pot._

A small knuckle of veal and a piece of beef of about three pounds, seven or eight pounds of meat in all; potherbs as for any other soup. When the soup is skimmed and made, strain it off. The first ingredient you add to the soup must be some dried ocre (a West India vegetable), the quantity according to your judgment. It is hard and dry, and therefore requires a great deal of soaking and boiling. Then put in the spawn of the lobsters you intend for your soup, first pounding it very fine, and mixing it by degrees with a little of your soup cooled, or it will be lumpy, and not so smooth as it should be. Put it into the soup-pot, and continue to stir some time after it is in. Take about two middling handfuls of spinach and about six hearts of the inside of very nice greens; scald both greens and spinach before you put them to the soup, to take off the rawness; the greens require most scalding. Squeeze them quite dry, chop and put them into the soup; then add all the fat and inside egg and spawn you can get from the lobsters, also the meat out of the tails and claws. Add the green tops only of a large bundle of asparagus, of the sort which they call sprew-grass, previously scalded; a few green peas also are very good. After these ingredients are in, the soup should no more than simmer; and when the herbs are sufficiently tender it is done enough. This soup is not to be clear, on the contrary thick with the lobster, and a perfect mash with the lobster and greens. You are to put in lobster to your liking; I generally put in five or six, at least of that part of them which is called fat, egg, and inside spawn, sufficient to make it rich and good. It should look quite yellow with this. Put plenty of the white part also, and in order that none of the goodness of the lobsters should be lost, take the shells of those which you have used, bruise them in a mortar, and boil them in some of the broth, to extract what goodness remains; then strain off the liquor and add it to the rest. Scoop some potatoes round, half boiling them first, and put into it. Season with red pepper. Put in a piece of nice pickled pork, which must be first scalded, for fear of its being too salt; stew it with the rest and serve it.

_White Soup._ No. 1.

Take two chickens; skin them; take out the lungs and wash them thoroughly; put them in a stewpan with some parsley. Add a quart of veal jelly, and stew them in this for one hour over a very slow fire. Then take out the chickens, and put a penny roll to soak in the liquor; take all the flesh of the chickens from the bones, and pound it in a mortar, with the yolk of three eggs boiled hard. Add the bread (when soaked enough) and pound it also with them; then rub the whole finely through a sieve. Add a quart more jelly to the soup, and strain it through a sieve; then put the chicken to the soup. Set a quart of cream on the fire till it boils, stirring it all the time; when ready to serve, pour that into the soup and mix it well together. Have ready a little vermicelli, boiled in a little weak broth, to throw into the soup, when put into the terrine.

_White Soup._ No. 2.

Have good stock made of veal and beef; then take about a pound of veal, and the like quantity of ham, cut both into thin slices, and put them into a stewpan, with a pint of water and two onions cut small. Set it on the fire and stew it down gently, till it is quite dry, and of a rather light brown colour; then add the stock, and let it all stew till the veal and ham are quite tender. Strain it off into the stewpot; add a gill or more of cream, some blanched rice boiled tender, the quantity to your own judgment, the yolks of six eggs beaten up well with a little new milk: let the soup be boiling hot before the eggs are added, which put to it by degrees, keeping it stirring over a slow fire. Serve it very hot: to prevent curdling, put the soup-pot into a large pot of boiling water, taking care that not the least drop of water gets in, and so make it boiling hot.

_White Soup._ No. 3.

Cut one pound of veal, or half a fowl, into small pieces; put to it a few sweet herbs, a crust of bread, an ounce of pearl barley well washed. Set it over a slow fire, closely covered; let it boil till half is consumed; then strain it and take off the fat. Have ready an ounce of sweet almonds blanched, pound them in a marble mortar, adding a little soup to prevent their oiling. Mix all together. When you send it up, add one third of new milk or cream, salt and pepper to taste.

_White Soup._ No. 4.

Take a knuckle of veal, and put water according to the quantity of soup you require; let it boil up and skim it; then put in three ounces of lean bacon or ham, with two heads of celery, one carrot, one turnip, two onions, and three or four blades of mace, and boil for three or four hours. When properly boiled, strain it off, taking care to skim off all the fat; then put into it two ounces of rice, well boiled, half a pint of cream beaten up, and five or six yolks of eggs. When ready to serve, pour the soup to the eggs backward and forward to prevent it from curdling, and send it to table. You must boil the soup once after you add the cream, and before you put it to the eggs. Three laurel leaves put into it in summer and six in winter make a pleasant addition, instead of sweet almonds.

_White Soup._ No. 5.

Make your stock with veal and chicken, and beat half a pound of almonds in a mortar very fine, with the breast of a fowl. Put in some white broth, and strain off. Stove it gently, and poach eight eggs, and lay in your soup, with a French roll in the middle, filled with minced chicken or veal, and serve very hot.

_White Soup._ No. 6.

Take a knuckle of veal; stew it with celery, herbs, slices of ham, and a little cayenne and white pepper; season it to your taste. When it is cleared off, add one pound of sweet almonds, a pint of cream, and the yolks of eight eggs, boiled hard and finely bruised. Mix these all together in your soup; let it just boil, and send it up hot. You may add a French roll; let it be nicely browned.

The ingredients here mentioned will make four quarts.

_White Soup._ No. 7.

Stock from a boiled knuckle of veal, thickened with about two ounces of sweet almonds, beaten to a paste, with a spoonful of water to prevent their oiling; a large slice of dressed veal, and a piece of crumb of bread, soaked in good milk, pounded and rubbed through a sieve; a bit of fresh lemon-peel and a blade of mace in the finest powder. Boil all together about half an hour, and stir in about a pint of cream without boiling.

BROTHS.

_Broth for the Poor._

A good wholesome broth may be made at a very reasonable rate to feed the poor in the country. The following quantities would furnish a good meal for upwards of fifty persons.