about ½ lb. bones; tie up the meat neatly with string, and put
both into a 6-quart saucepan; fill it up with sufficient water to
come well over the meat and bones, and set it on the fire; remove
carefully with a skimmer the scum that will rise as the water gets
warm, but do not allow it to boil. Add at intervals during the
process about 1 pint cold water in small quantities; this will have
the effect of checking the ebullition, and will help the scum to
rise. When the scum is all removed, put in about 1 oz. salt, a small
handful of whole pepper and allspice, 1 onion, stuck with 12 cloves,
1 onion toasted almost black before the fire or on the hob, 1 leek,
and three carrots of average size cut in 2 inch lengths, 2 turnips
of average size each cut in four, and a _bouquet garni_--i.e. 2 bay
leaves, 2 or 3 sprigs each of thyme and marjoram, a clove of garlic,
and a small handful of parsley, all tied together into a small
faggot. The above vegetables should not be put in all at once, but
gradually, so as not to check the gentle simmering; now skim for the
last time, and place by the side of the fire to simmer gently for at
least 4 hours. According to the season, all or some of the following
vegetables may be added: A head of celery cut in 2 in. lengths, a
couple of tomatoes, a couple of parsnips, a handful of chervil. At
the time of serving, strain the broth and skim off all the fat, add
the least bit of sugar (not burnt sugar) and more salt if necessary;
make the broth boiling hot, and pour it into the soup tureen over
small slices of toasted bread, adding, according to taste, a portion
of the vegetables cut in thin slices. To serve the meat, having
removed the string, garnish it with some of the vegetables, or with
mashed potatoes, spinach, &c.
_Poultry Soup._--Remains of any kind of poultry will do for this. Cut
all the meat off the bones, free it from skin, and pound it smooth
in a mortar. Soak a slice or two of bread, without crust, in as
much milk as it will absorb; add it, with the yolks of 2 or 3 eggs,
to the pounded meat, and pass all through a sieve. While preparing
the above, let the broken-up bones boil in some good meat broth.
Strain this, and mix with it the pounded meat. Give it one boil up,
and serve with Hühner Klösse. In boiling up the bones, any kind of
seasoning may be added, such as herbs, vegetables, lemon peel, salt,
and pepper. See also Chicken Soup.
_Pumpkin Soup (de potiron)._--Peel the pumpkin and cut into pieces
(removing the seeds). Put it into boiling water with some salt, and
leave it to boil until reduced to a pulp thin enough to pass through
a strainer. Melt a piece of butter in a saucepan with a wine glass of
cream. Add the pulp, when strained, with salt and pepper to taste,
and a pinch of flour. Let the whole simmer for ¼ hour, thicken with
the yolk of an egg, and serve.
_Quenelle Soup._--Put into a saucepan a gill of water, a pinch of
salt, and a small piece of butter; when the water boils stir in as
much flour as will form a paste, put the mixture away to get cold.
Take ½ lb. lean veal, cut it into small pieces, and pound in a
mortar; add 3 oz. butter and 2 oz. of the paste, and thoroughly mix
the whole in the mortar, adding during the process the yolks of 2 and
the white of 1 egg, salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to taste; pass
the mixture through a sieve, work a little cream into it, and, by
means of 2 teaspoons, shape it in pieces the size of an olive; lay
these carefully in a saucepan, pour in at the side sufficient boiling
stock to cover them, and let them cook gently for a few minutes. Have
the tureen ready filled with well-flavoured clear stock, boiling
hot; slip the quenelles into it (with or without the stock they were
boiled in), and serve.
_Rice Soup (au riz)._--(_a_) Pick over carefully 6 oz. best Carolina
rice, wash in 3 waters, until no dirt remains, blanch in boiling
water, and then drain; put 1 qt. milk into a saucepan, and set it
over the fire; throw in the rice; let boil for 10 minutes and then
simmer; season with salt and white pepper, and add a small cupful of
cream just before serving. Send plain toast, not fried, to table with
it.
(_b_) Pick and wash a handful of rice, boil it in salted water till
the grains just burst; drain the water off, and leave the saucepan
at the side of the fire, covered with a damp cloth. At the time of
serving, put as much rice as is wanted into the saucepan in which the
soup (well flavoured and clarified stock) is being made hot, and as
soon as it boils send it up to table. Grated Parmesan cheese to be
handed round with it.
(_c_) The rice must be well washed, first in cold then in warm water;
2 oz. is enough for 5 half-pints of soup. Boil the rice 2 hours at
least, either with some of the soup or with water sufficient to boil
it to a jelly; then add it to the soup. In the latter case have the
yolks of 2 or 3 eggs in the tureen.
(_d_) Boil some rice as in (_b_); pass through a hair sieve; add as
much white stock as may be necessary; make quite hot, and stir in off
the fire 1 gill cream beaten up with the yolk of an egg and strained.
Serve with small dice of bread fried in butter.
(_e_) Use water and milk in equal parts instead of stock.
(_f_) Mix rice flour with either milk and water or white stock cold;
then make it hot, and when it has boiled finish the soup as in (_d_).
_Rice and Carrot Soup (Crécy au riz)._--Make 1 qt. vegetable stock
boiling hot, then strew lightly into it 4 heaped tablespoonfuls
Bousquin’s _Riz Crécy_; let gently simmer for ½ hour. Then stir in,
off the fire, the yolk of an egg beaten up with a little milk or
cream; add half a pat of butter, and serve.
_Rice and Pea Soup (de riz aux pois)._--Having prepared the soup as
in (_b_) add to it at the time of serving a cupful of very young
green peas boiled in salted water and thoroughly drained.
_Rice and Sorrel Soup (de riz à l’oseille)._--Boil some rice in
water; when half done drain off all the water, and finish cooking the
rice in some clear stock; then add, according to taste, more or less
sorrel finely shredded, boiled in salted water till done and strained.
_Rice and Tomato Soup (de riz aux tomates)._--In 1 qt. vegetable
stock boil a handful or more of rice; as soon as this is cooked (not
over done), draw the saucepan to the side of the fire, and add an
8_d._ bottle of _conserve de tomates_. As soon as the soup is quite
hot (it must not boil) put in a small pat of fresh butter, and serve.
_Sago Soup (au sagou)._--(_a_) Wash 5 oz. sago in warm water, set
it in a saucepan with 2 qt. milk, and simmer until the sago is
thoroughly dissolved; season with pepper and salt, and add a small
capful of cream before serving. Good clear stock is generally used
for both sago and tapioca soup; but they are even nicer made with
milk.
(_b_) The stock must be ready seasoned and quite boiling. Strew in
the sago by degrees, about the same proportion as in rice soup. Boil
¼ hour, and serve in the tureen with yolks of eggs.
_Savoy Cabbage Soup._--Take half a savoy cabbage, shred it very
finely, and set it to boil in stock free from fat and well flavoured;
parboil a teacupful of rice, and when the cabbage has boiled for 10
minutes throw it in to finish cooking with the cabbage; when both
are thoroughly done, put in a handful of grated Parmesan cheese, and
serve.
_Savoyard Soup._--Peel and slice a small quantify of young turnips,
put them into boiling water slightly salted. In another saucepan put
the crusts of a quartern loaf previously soaked for 3-4 minutes, in
the liquor of the _pot au feu_, and cut into pieces 1 in. square;
grate over them some Gruyère cheese, and put the saucepan over a
moderate fire till the crusts become dry and crisp; brown the turnips
in some grease from the _pot au feu_, put them on the top of the
_croûtons_, then reversing the saucepan put them all into a soup
tureen, having the turnips at the bottom and the crusts at the top.
Pour over them some good stock, and serve.
_Scrap Soup._--Obtain from a butcher 6 lb. ends, trimmings, bits,
and bones, which he will sell at 7_d._ a lb. or less, if told that
it is for a soup kitchen. Place all in a very large saucepan, or,
better still, divide the quantity and put each half into a separate
saucepan, covering well with water. Throw in any vegetables, either
previously cooked or not, that can be had, a few herbs, cold
potatoes, crusts of bread, celery and lettuce stalks, and bacon
rinds. Simmer all down gently for 6 hours or longer, removing the
scum from time to time, and adding water when necessary. Strain
through the colander, and it is ready. This should make enough for 12
persons, allowing 1 pint to each, 1½ gal. water being used; 2 gal.
water, making it rather poorer, will extend the number to 16. Cost to
make 4_s._ = 4_d._ a head.
_Scotch Broth._--(_a_) Take ½ lb. Scotch barley, 5-6 lb. mutton (neck
or breast), put on the fire with 5 qt. water, and bring it slowly
to the boil. Add turnips, carrots, onions, or leeks, and celery cut
up small, with ½ pint dried green peas, ½ hour after the meat and
barley have boiled. The whole is then to be simmered 2½ hours longer.
The fat must be removed as it rises to the surface when boiling. If
preferred, the meat can be served as a separate course, with some
large vegetables round it.
(_b_) The liquor in which a sheep’s head has been boiled is most
useful for this soup. If wanted stronger, the remains of the head
can be boiled down in it again as for ordinary stock. Wash 1 oz.
pearl barley, and put it to 2 qt. stock; chop fine 2 small carrots,
2 turnips, 1 onion, 2 or 3 outside sticks of celery; add pepper and
salt to taste, and simmer till the vegetables are tender. Dried
vegetables in shreds answer very well for this, and can be bought at
about 1_s._ per lb., 1 lb. being sufficient for 8 qt. of stock.
_Semolina Soup (à la semoule)._--Have 1 qt. well-flavoured stock
boiling fast on the fire. Take in one hand some of the coarsest
semolina that can be procured, and slowly strew it in the stock,
which is to be continuously stirred with a spoon held with the other
hand. One handful will be sufficient for the above quantity of stock,
but more may be used according to the thickness the soup is desired
to be. Keep on stirring for a few minutes, when the soup will be seen
to thicken, and it is then ready. Parmesan cheese may be served with
it.
_Sheep’s Head Soup._--Let the head and pluck be well soaked in cold
water, and then put on in 4 qt. cold water; cut the pluck in pieces,
add ½ lb. pearl barley, 4 onions, 2 large carrots, 3 turnips, ¼ oz.
mixed cloves, mace, and peppercorns. Take off the head and heart
when done, then stew the pluck and other ingredients 2 hours longer;
thicken the soup with a little flour and butter; cut the head and
heart in pieces, and add forcemeat balls. ½ lb. lean beef is a great
improvement to this soup. A wineglassful of sherry, ketchup, and soy
to taste. Strain very carefully.
_Shrimp Soup (de crevettes)._--Take 1 pint shrimps, pound them in a
mortar with the juice of half a lemon and a piece of butter equal in
weight to them. When quite a smooth paste, pass it through a sieve,
and add pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg. Take as much breadcrumbs as
there is shrimp paste, soak them in stock. Melt a piece of butter
in a saucepan, amalgamate with it a heaped tablespoonful of flour,
mix the shrimp paste with the soaked breadcrumbs, and put both into
the saucepan. Stir well, adding more stock, until the soup is of the
desired consistency. Put the saucepan on the fire, stir the contents
till they boil, then draw it aside and carefully skim off all fat,
strain through a hair sieve, make the soup hot again. Stir in off the
fire the yolk of an egg, beaten up with a little milk or cream, and
serve.
_Sorrel Soup (a l’oseille)._--A good quantity of sorrel leaves
must be picked from the stems and washed, then put into a stewpan
with a piece of butter to steam. No water is requisite. Dredge in,
continually stirring, a tablespoonful or two of flour, unless the
soup is to be clear. Add enough soup, already seasoned and flavoured.
Serve with sippets or dice of toasted bread.
_Spinach Soup (aux épinards)._--Pick and wash quite clean a quantity
of spinach. Put it in a saucepan with sufficient salt, and when quite
done squeeze all the moisture out, and pass it through a hair sieve.
Dilute the pulp thus obtained with as much well-flavoured stock as
will make it of the right consistency; make boiling hot, add a dash
of pepper, and at the time of serving put a pat of fresh butter in
the soup tureen.
_Spring Soup (jardinière, printanier)._--Cut some new carrots and
new turnips in the shape of peas; put them in separate saucepans
with enough stock to cover them, and a pinch of sugar; keep on
the fire till the stock has all boiled away, but mind they do not
catch or burn. Cook some peas and some asparagus points in the same
way. Have equal quantities of each of these vegetables. Cut out of
lettuces and sorrel leaves pieces the size of a sixpence; let them
have one boil in some stock. Put all the vegetables so prepared in
the soup tureen, add a few sprigs of chervil, pour over them some
well-flavoured consommé, and serve.
_Strawberry Soup._--Boil ripe strawberries, with some rusks or slices
of roll, in sufficient water until dissolved. Stir through a sieve;
add wine and sugar to taste; make a thickening of arrowroot or potato
flour, and boil the mass up again. When about to be served, add a
saucerful of ripe strawberries which have been sprinkled with plenty
of powdered sugar an hour or two previously. Any fruit soup can be
made according to the foregoing directions, adding or leaving out
certain flavours. Sponge cakes and macaroons may be served with any
fruit soups.
_Sweetbread Soup._--Put a sweetbread on the fire in cold water, with
a little salt. When it is warm, pour off the water and supply fresh
cold; repeat this a few times as fast as it becomes warm, which
process whitens the sweetbread. When it looks delicately white just
let it come to a simmer; then take it out and lay it in cold water.
Take off the outer skin, cut up the meat in small dice, and give it
a boil up in good white veal soup. If for brown soup, fry the little
pieces of sweetbread rapidly in butter, and drain them in a napkin.
They must only be coloured yellow.
_Tapioca Soup._--(_a_) Made as sago, only the tapioca must be soaked
for at least ½ hour in warm water before being put into the milk.
(_b_) To 1 qt. well-flavoured clear stock add 1 tablespoonful
tapioca; leave to boil nearly ½ hour, stirring occasionally until the
tapioca is cooked sufficiently.
(_c_) Mince an onion finely, fry it in plenty of butter till of a
golden colour; add pepper and salt to taste, and 1½ pint water; when
the water boils, strain and put it back into a clean saucepan with 2
tablespoonfuls tapioca; let it boil till almost dissolved, then serve.
_Tea Kettle Broth._--Cut a thin piece of bread and toast it crisply,
cut into small pieces and put in a basin, then add a little salt and
pepper, a piece of butter the size of a walnut, and half a teacupful
of thin cream; fill the basin with boiling water, and serve at once.
_Tomato Soup (de tomates)._--(_a_) Pour over 12 ripe tomatoes a small
quantity of weak stock, and stew very gently until quite tender. Mash
through a sieve, and add the required quantity of good strong stock:
add cayenne pepper to taste. Let all boil together for a few minutes,
and serve very hot.
(_b_) Cut ½ lb. lean raw ham into small pieces, and place in a
stewpan with some peppercorns, 2 oz. butter, 4 shallots, 2 bay
leaves, a few cloves, a blade of mace, and 2 sprigs of thyme; let
these fry until they are a light brown colour. Take either 24 ripe
tomatoes or an equal quantity of preserved tomatoes, squeeze well,
and add 1½ pint good well-flavoured white stock, and a small quantity
of white essence of mushrooms; mix with this the ham, &c., and
let all boil together over a quick fire to reduce to the desired
thickness. Then rub through a tammy, warm up again, and serve. Dice
of bread fried in butter should be handed round with this soup.
_Turnip Soup (de navets)._--Peel and slice the turnips, put them in a
stewpan with a piece of butter, a spoonful of sugar, and enough clear
broth to cook them soft. Work through a sieve, and add the purée
to a clear soup. Mix a tablespoonful or two of flour with a cup of
cream or milk, add this with salt and white pepper; let boil for 2-3
minutes before serving.
_Turtle Soup (tortue)._--(_a_) Kill the turtle by cutting off its
head. Then put it in water for 12 hours; divide the shells, remove
the entrails, and carefully preserve the green fat, which should be
put into cold water to steep. Put the fins and flesh with the shells
cut into several pieces into boiling water for a few minutes, then
remove the thin outer skin from head, fins, &c. Put the finer parts
into some good stock and stew until quite soft, about 4 hours; remove
the bones, and put the meat to press between 2 dishes until quite
cold, when it must be cut up to put into the soup. Put the bones,
entrails, and coarser parts of the turtle into a stockpot with plenty
of ordinary stock, and with some onions, celery, mushrooms, a faggot
of herbs, parsley, pepper, and salt, add any trimmings, of meat or
poultry, and stew until reduced almost to a glaze, about 6 hours;
then add the stock in which the meat was stewed; strain, and clarify
the soup. Blanch the green fat, cut it up and put it with the cut-up
meat into the soup, simmer until quite hot, and then add the juice of
½ lemon, 2 glasses white wine, with cayenne pepper and salt to taste
to every 3 pints of soup, and serve.
(_b_) Dried.--Soak for 3 days, changing the water each day; then
boil for 12 hours in 1½ qt. very good stock, adding a burnt onion,
a little ham, and a glass of sherry or Marsala. If too strong with
that quantity of stock, a little more can be added each day while it
lasts. First-rate for delicate people.
_Vegetable Soup (bonne femme, brunoise, chiffonade, colbert,
faubonne, de légumes, paysanne, &c.)._--(_a_) Cut up any vegetables,
such as celery, carrots, turnips, or onions, or a judicious mixture
of all, into small neat pieces as near of a size and shape as
possible; place them in boiling water for about ¼ hour, then take
out and stew in a little fresh water with a small piece of butter
and salt. Into a larger stewpan put a good piece of butter with some
leeks, onions, carrots, turnips, a head of celery, all cut up small;
add a clove of garlic, if liked, and some thyme, parsley, or chervil.
Stew on the fire, without water, for 1½ hour, turning frequently
until well coloured; then add sufficient water for the stock, and
boil ½ hour. Strain, and add the reserved vegetables; serve hot with
small rounds of bread which have been well soaked in some of the
stock, and then placed in a buttered tin and dried in the oven.
(_b_) Pass through a hair sieve all the vegetables used to make
vegetable stock, melt a piece of butter in a saucepan, add a little
flour, mix well, then add the vegetable pulp; stir well, and moisten
with as much of the stock as may be necessary; let the soup boil,
stir into it off the fire the yolks of 2 eggs beaten up with a little
water and strained. Serve with sippets of bread fried in butter.
_Vegetable-marrow Soup (de courges)._--Remove the seeds from 2 or 3
vegetable marrows; cut into convenient pieces, and put to stew in
a saucepan with a small quantity of stock, and pepper, salt, and
grated nutmeg to taste. When quite done, pass through a hair sieve.
Take 2 pints of this pulp and 1 pint milk, boil together for ½ hour,
then gradually mix with 2 oz. butter, which have been previously
amalgamated in a saucepan with 1 oz. flour. Let the whole come to
boiling point, then serve.
_Vermicelli Soup._--Boil 2 oz. fine vermicelli in 1 pint stock free
from grease, to which add a good pinch of salt, when cooked (in
10-15 minutes), drain, and put into the soup tureen containing 1 qt.
well-flavoured clear stock, boiling hot. Grated Parmesan to be handed
round with the soup.
_Victoria Soup._--About 2 tablespoonfuls sago to 1 qt. of good stock;
boil gently; then 5 minutes before dinner-time take it off the fire,
and have ready the yolks of 2 eggs and ½ pint cream; beat them
together and add to the soup; stir all together and serve at once
with sippets of fried bread.
_White Soup._--Flavour some stock delicately with onion, parsley,
mace, bay leaf, lemon peel, thyme, button mushrooms, white
peppercorns, and salt. Take equal parts of this and new milk, and
thicken slightly with arrowroot. Just before serving, stir in the
yolk of an egg beaten up, with a little cold milk or stock. A smaller
proportion of cream may be used instead of the milk, if preferred.
Serve in a sauce tureen, and be sure to have it and the soup plate
well warmed. To vary this soup, a few small dice of sweetbread or the
white meat from a chicken, or a little of the meat from a calf’s foot
and a few egg balls, may be added. _Egg balls._--Mix with the yolk of
1 hard-boiled egg 1 teaspoonful grated tongue or pounded ham, and 1
saltspoonful minced boiled parsley; season with cayenne and nutmeg.
Bind with the yolk of a raw egg, form the paste into balls the size
of a small marble, and poach them gently for 2 minutes in milk. Put
them hot into the tureen.
See also Chicken, Milk, Onion, Palestine, Potato, Rice, and
Vegetable-marrow Soups, and Veal Stock.
=Fish.=--The first consideration with regard to fish is freshness,
as nothing deteriorates more rapidly with keeping. When economy must
be practised, fish may be bought at lower rates in the evening, and
will keep perfectly well till next day, even in hot weather, by being
moistened with vinegar, which treatment is by some people considered
to improve the flavour.
Before proceeding to give a catalogue of recipes for cooking various
fish, it will be useful to introduce some general remarks on dressing
and cooking fish as a class.
_Dressing._--(_a_) When fish are scaly they must be “scaled” very
lightly and carefully with a knife, then well washed with salt and
water to remove all slime. The gills and fins should be cut off; then
the fish must be opened, and the insides removed, followed by well
cleaning inside and out with a linen cloth. If to be fried, they are
ready for flouring.
(_b_) If no scales, proceed as in (_a_) without scaling.
(_c_) If to be boiled, the wiping may be omitted, but they must be
washed with salt and water inside and out.
(_d_) All cooking must be thorough.
_Baking._--This is a good way of cooking any flavourless fish. (_a_)
Cut it in slices or pieces and make a mound of it on a flat dish,
sprinkling between each layer chopped herbs and parsley, cayenne and
lemon juice. Melt 1 oz. butter in a pan, add 1 oz. flour and 1 gill
milk, and stir till very thick; squeeze in a little lemon and pour it
over the fish. Cover the whole with browned breadcrumbs and cook in a
good oven till the fish is done. Keep a few crumbs back to sprinkle
over any cracks, and serve on the dish it is baked in. For the lemon
juice and the crumbs Parmesan cheese can be substituted.
(_b_) Scald and then chop a small piece of onion and a few sprigs
of parsley. Butter a baking tin and sprinkle half the mixture over
and half under a thick slice of white fish. Cover the whole with
browned breadcrumbs and pour round a little stock or water with a
dessertspoonful of ketchup or vinegar. Bake for 10-15 minutes, and
serve hot or cold, garnished with parsley and cut lemon, and the
liquor poured round. Baking is the most economical way of cooking
fish, because it does not destroy the flavour, and sauce is not
necessary as when boiled.
_Boiling._--(_a_) The common way of boiling fish is to draw them, cut
out their gills, scale them--if scaly--and wipe clean. Put into a
fish kettle, with salt, fennel, a bundle of sweet herbs, enough water
with a little vinegar to cover the fish. When quite boiling, put in
the fish, and let it boil slowly; when perfectly done, pour off the
water and serve in a hot dish with parsley and butter.
(_b_) The liquor in which fish is to be boiled should be boiling ¼
hour before the fish are put in; these latter must be boiled very
gently, or they will fall to pieces.
(_c_) The liquor in which fish has been boiled should never be thrown
away, as excellent soup can be made of it with a few cheap additions.
_Broiling._--(_a_) After the fish is scaled, &c., notch it 2 or
3 times on the back, strew some salt on, and broil, basting with
butter, and turning frequently.