Produced by Julia Miller, fh and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
MISS LESLIE'S
NEW
COOKERY BOOK.
One Volume, 652 pages, bound. Price $1.25.
T. B. Peterson, No. 102 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, has just
published MISS LESLIE'S "NEW COOKERY BOOK." It comprises new and
approved methods of preparing all kinds of Soups, Fish, Oysters, Beef,
Mutton, Veal, Pork, Venison, Ham and Bacon, Poultry and Game, Terrapins,
Turtle, Vegetables, Sauces, Bread, Pickles, Sweetmeats, Plain Cakes,
Fine Cakes, Pies, Plain Desserts, Fine Desserts, Preparations for the
Sick, Puddings, Confectionery, Rice, Indian Meal Preparations of all
kinds, Miscellaneous Receipts, etc. etc. Also, lists of all articles in
season suited to go together for breakfasts, dinners, and suppers, to
suit large or small families, and much useful information and many
miscellaneous subjects connected with general housewifery.
This work will have a very extensive sale, and many thousand copies will
be sold, as all persons that have had Miss Leslie's former works, should
get this at once, as _all the receipts in this book are new_, and have
been fully tried and tested by the author since the publication of her
former books, _and none of them whatever are contained in any other work
but this_. It is the most complete Cook Book published in the world; and
also the latest and best, as in addition to Cookery of all kinds and
descriptions, its receipts for making cakes and confectionery are
unequalled by any other work extant.
This new, excellent, and valuable Cook Book is published by T. B.
Peterson, under the title of "MISS LESLIE'S NEW COOKERY BOOK," and is
entirely different from any other work on similar subjects, under any
other names, by the same author. It is an elegantly printed duodecimo
volume, of 652 pages; and in it there will be found _hundreds of
Receipts_--all useful--some ornamental--and all invaluable to every
lady, miss, or family in the world.
Read what the Editors of the Leading Newspapers say of it.
_From the Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper._
"This is a large, well-bound volume of near seven hundred
pages, and includes in it hundreds of receipts never before
published in any of Miss Leslie's other works, accompanied by a
well-arranged index, by which any desired receipt may be turned
to at once. The receipts are for cooking all kinds of meats,
poultry, game, pies, &c., with directions for confectionery,
ices, and preserves. It is entirely different from any former
work by Miss Leslie, and contains new and fresh accessions of
useful knowledge. The merit of these receipts is, that they
have all been tried, and therefore can be recommended
conscientiously. Miss Leslie has acquired great reputation
among housekeepers for the excellence of her works on cookery,
and this volume will doubtless enhance it. _It is the best book
on cookery that we know of_, and while it will be useful to
matrons, to young housewives we should think it quite
indispensable. By the aid of this book, the young and
inexperienced are brought nearly on a footing with those who
have seen service in the culinary department, and by having it
at hand are rendered tolerably independent of _help_, which
sometimes becomes very refractory. The best regulated families
are sometimes taken a little by surprise by the untimely
stepping in of a friend to dinner--to such, Miss Leslie is the
friend indeed, ready as her book is with instructions for the
hasty production of various substitutes for meals requiring
timely and elaborate preparation."
_From the Philadelphia Daily News._
"To the housekeeper, the name of Miss Leslie is a guaranty that
what comes from her hand is not only orthodox, but good; and to
the young wife about to enter upon the untried scenes of
catering for a family, _Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_ may be
termed a blessing. It presents receipts, (and practical ones
too,) for preparing and cooking all kinds of soups, fish,
oysters, meats, game, cakes, pastry, and indeed everything
which enters into the economy of housekeeping. Their
recommendations are that they are all practical, and the novice
of the culinary art may enter upon her important duties with
'_Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_' by her side, with perfect
confidence that the 'soup' will not be spoiled, and that the
dinner will be what is designed. How many disappointments could
be avoided, how many domestic difficulties prevented, and how
many husbands made happy, instead of miserable, by the use of
this '_vade mecum_,' we shall not pretend to say; but as we
have a sincere regard for every lady who reads the _News_, our
advice to them all is, by all means to buy _Miss Leslie's New
Cookery Book_. Mr. Peterson has done admirably in getting up
this work: it is handsomely and substantially bound in cloth,
gilt, and does credit to his business skill; the low price at
which the work is sold, when we take the size of it into
consideration, One Dollar and Twenty-five cents only, will
doubtless give it an immense sale."
_From the Philadelphia Saturday Courier._
"With such a book as _Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_,
published by Mr. Peterson, it is inconceivable what a vast
extent of palate is destined to be astonished, and what a
gastronomic multitude is to be made happy, by the delicious
delicacies and substantial dishes so abundantly provided. Miss
Leslie has in previous works shown how great an adept she has
been in all culinary matters, and in all that relates to the
comforts and the social enjoyment of the table around which
cluster the good things of life. Literature is very good in its
way; but such dishes as Miss Leslie gives a foretaste of, come
up to a more delicious standard. Her authorship is exquisite,
and is destined to diffuse the very essence of good taste among
the fortunate people who sit down to good dinners and suppers,
not one of whom will rise from the table without a blessing on
_Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_. And every taste is sure to be
pleased, for all the receipts in this book are new, and to be
found nowhere else, _and it is the best Cook Book ever
published_--one which, with its hundreds of receipts, ought to
be in the hands of every woman who has the slightest
appreciation of convenience, comfort and economy."
_From the Philadelphia Daily Sun._
"About one thousand new receipts, never before printed, appear
in this work, all of which have been tried before they are
recommended by the author. All kinds of cooking and pastry;
rules for the preparation of dinners, breakfasts, and suppers;
appropriate dishes for every meal; and a vast quantity of other
useful information, are embraced in the book. It is very
comprehensive, and is furnished with an index for the use of
the housewife. By the aid of Miss Leslie's peculiar happy
talent in giving culinary directions, our girls can acquire a
branch of useful information which is generally sadly neglected
in their education, and thus become fitted for their duties as
wives. One great advantage in _Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_,
is the economy which it teaches in the management of a
household, as regards the preparations for the table. Peterson
has done this book up in beautiful style, and it will be sent
to any part of the Union, postage paid, upon the receipt of One
Dollar and Twenty-five Cents. Those who know how much of the
happiness of home depends upon well-cooked viands, neatly
served up, will thank the accomplished authoress for this
valuable contribution to domestic science."
_From the Philadelphia Saturday Evening Gazette._
"Miss Leslie's 'New Receipts for Cooking' is perhaps better
known than any similar collection of receipts. The very elegant
volume before us, entitled '_Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_,'
is designed as a sequel and continuation to it, and should be
its companion in every family, as the receipts are all new, and
in no instance the same, even when their titles are similar. It
contains directions for plain and fancy cooking, preserving,
pickling; and commencing with soups, gives entirely new
receipts for every course of an excellent dinner, to the
jellies and confectionery of the dessert. Our readers are not
strangers to the accuracy and minuteness of Miss Leslie's
receipts, as, since the first number of the Gazette, she has
contributed to our housekeepers' department. The new receipts
in this volume are admirable. Many of them are modified from
French sources, though foreign terms and designations are
avoided. The publisher has brought it out in an extremely
tasteful style, and no family in the world should be without
it."
_From the Pennsylvania Inquirer._
"Mr. T. B. Peterson has just published '_Miss Leslie's New
Cookery Book_.' This will be a truly popular work. Thousands of
copies will very soon be disposed of, and other thousands will
be needed. It contains directions for cooking, preserving,
pickling, and preparing almost every description of dish: also
receipts for preparing farina, Indian meal, fancy tea-cakes,
marmalades, etc. We know of a no more useful work for
families."
_From the Public Ledger._
"As every woman, whether wife or maid, should be qualified for
the duties of a housekeeper, a work which gives the information
which acquaints her with its most important duties, will no
doubt be sought after by the fair sex. This work is '_Miss
Leslie's New Cookery Book_.' Get it by all means."
_From the Boston Evening Traveler._
"We do not claim to be deeply versed in the art of cookery; but
a lady, skilled in the art, to whom we have submitted this
work, assures us that there is nothing like it within the
circle of her knowledge; and that having this, a housekeeper
would need no other written guide to the mysteries of
housekeeping. It contains hundreds of new receipts, which the
author has fully tried and tested; and they relate to almost
every conceivable dish--flesh, fish, and fowl, soups, sauces,
and sweetmeats; puddings, pies, and pickles; cakes and
confectionery. There are, too, lists of articles suitable to go
together for breakfasts, dinners and suppers, at different
seasons of the year, for plain family meals, and elaborate
company preparations; which must be of great convenience.
Indeed, there appears to be, as our lady friend remarked,
everything in this book that a housekeeper needs to know; and
having this book she would seem to need no other to afford her
instruction about housekeeping."
MISS LESLIE'S
NEW
COOKERY
BOOK.
"As every woman, whether wife or maid, should be qualified for
the duties of a housekeeper, a work which gives the information
which acquaints her with its most important duties will no
doubt be sought after by the fair sex. This work is '_Miss
Leslie's New Cookery Book_.' Get it by all means."--_Public
Ledger._
PHILADELPHIA:
T. B. PETERSON NO. 102 CHESTNUT STREET.
1857.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
ELIZA LESLIE,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United
States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
PREFACE.
I have endeavored to render this work a complete manual of domestic
cookery _in all its branches_. It comprises an unusual number of pages,
and the receipts are all practical, and _practicable_--being so
carefully and particularly explained as to be easily comprehended by the
merest novice in the art. Also, I flatter myself that most of these
preparations (if faithfully and liberally followed,) will be found very
agreeable to the general taste; always, however, keeping in mind that
every ingredient must be of unexceptionable quality, and that good
cooking cannot be made out of bad marketing.
I hope those who consult this book will find themselves at no loss,
whether required to prepare sumptuous viands "for company," or to
furnish a daily supply of nice dishes for an excellent family table; or
plain, yet wholesome and palatable food where economy is very expedient.
ELIZA LESLIE.
_Philadelphia, March 28th, 1857._
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Tested and Arranged by Miss Leslie.
Wheat flour one pound of 16 ounces is one quart.
Indian meal one pound 2 ounces is one quart.
Butter, when soft one pound 1 ounce is one quart.
Loaf sugar, broken up, one pound is one quart.
White sugar, powdered, one pound 1 ounce is one quart.
Best brown sugar, one pound 2 ounces is one quart.
Eggs ten eggs weigh one pound.
LIQUID MEASURE.
Four large table-spoonfuls are half a jill.
Eight large table-spoonfuls are one jill.
Two jills are half a pint.
A common-sized tumbler holds half a pint.
A common-sized wine-glass holds about half a jill.
Two pints are one quart.
Four quarts are one gallon.
About twenty-five drops of any thin liquid will fill a
common-sized tea-spoon.
Four table-spoonfuls will generally fill a common-sized
wine-glass.
Four wine-glasses will fill a half pint tumbler, or a large
coffee-cup.
A quart black bottle holds in reality about a pint and a half;
sometimes not so much.
A table-spoonful of salt is about one ounce.
DRY MEASURE.
Half a gallon is a quarter of a peck.
One gallon is half a peck.
Two gallons are one peck.
Four gallons are half a bushel.
Eight gallons are one bushel.
Throughout this book, the pound is avoirdupois weight--sixteen
ounces.
GENERAL CONTENTS.
PAGE
SOUPS, 33
FISH, 77
SHELL-FISH, 108
BEEF, 138
MUTTON, 173
VEAL, 188
PORK, 216
HAM AND BACON, 235
VENISON, 252
POULTRY AND GAME, 265
SAUCES, 309
VEGETABLES, 343
BREAD, PLAIN CAKES, ETC., 401
PLAIN DESSERTS, 444
FINE DESSERTS, 469
FINE CAKES, 516
SWEETMEATS, 543
PICKLES, 568
PREPARATIONS FOR THE SICK, 581
MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS, 595
WORTH KNOWING, 645
ANIMALS
FIGURES EXPLANATORY OF THE PIECES INTO WHICH THE FIVE LARGE ANIMALS ARE
DIVIDED BY THE BUTCHERS.
[Illustration: _Beef._]
1. Sirloin.
2. Rump.
3. Edge Bone.
4. Buttock.
5. Mouse Buttock.
6. Leg.
7. Thick Flank.
8. Veiny Piece.
9. Thin Flank.
10. Fore Rib: 7 Ribs.
11. Middle Rib: 4 Ribs.
12. Chuck Rib: 2 Ribs.
13. Brisket.
14. Shoulder, or Leg of Mutton Piece.
15. Clod.
16. Neck, or Sticking Piece.
17. Shin.
18. Cheek.
[Illustration: _Veal._]
1. Loin, Best End.
2. Fillet.
3. Loin, Chump End.
4. Hind Knuckle.
5. Neck, Best End.
6. Breast, Best End.
7. Blade Bone.
8. Fore Knuckle.
9. Breast, Brisket End.
10. Neck, Scrag End.
[Illustration: _Mutton._]
1. Leg.
2. Shoulder.
3. Loin, Best End.
4. Loin, Chump End.
5. Neck, Best End.
6. Breast.
7. Neck, Scrag End.
_Note._--A Chine is two Loins; and a Saddle is two Loins and two
Necks of the Best End.
[Illustration: _Pork._]
1. Leg.
2. Hind Loin.
3. Fore Loin.
4. Spare Rib.
5. Hand.
6. Spring.
[Illustration: _Venison._]
1. Shoulder.
2. Neck.
3. Haunch.
4. Breast.
5. Scrag.
MISS LESLIE'S
NEW
COOKERY BOOK.
SOUPS.
It is impossible to have good soup, without a sufficiency of good meat;
thoroughly boiled, carefully skimmed, and moderately seasoned. Meat that
is too bad for any thing else, is too bad for soup. Cold meat recooked,
adds little to its taste or nourishment, and it is in vain to attempt to
give poor soup a factitious flavor by the disguise of strong spices, or
other substances which are disagreeable or unpalatable to at least one
half the eaters, and frequently unwholesome. Rice and barley add to the
insipidity of weak soups, having no taste of their own. And even if the
meat is good, too large a proportion of water, and too small a quantity
of animal substance will render it flat and vapid.
Every family has, or ought to have, some personal knowledge of certain
poor people--people to whom their broken victuals would be acceptable.
Let then the most of their cold, fresh meat be set apart for those who
can ill afford to buy meat in market. To them it will be an important
acquisition; while those who indulge in fine clothes, fine furniture,
&c., had best be consistent, and allow themselves the nourishment and
enjoyment of freshly cooked food for each meal. Therefore where there is
no absolute necessity of doing otherwise, let the soup always be made of
meat bought expressly for the purpose, and of one sort only, except when
the flavor is to be improved by the introduction of ham.
In plain cooking, every dish should have a distinct taste of its natural
flavor predominating. Let the soup, for instance, be of beef, mutton, or
veal, but not of all three; and a chicken, being overpowered by the
meat, adds nothing to the general flavor.
Soup-meat that has been boiled long enough to extract the juices
thoroughly, becomes too tasteless to furnish, afterwards, a good dish
for the table; with the exception of mutton, which may be eaten very
well after it has done duty in the soup-pot, when it is much liked by
many persons of simple tastes. Few who are accustomed to living at
hotels, can relish hotel soups, which (even in houses where most other
things are unexceptionable), is seldom such as can be approved by
persons who are familiar with good tables. Hotel soups and hotel hashes,
(particularly those that are dignified with French names), are
notoriously made of cold scraps, leavings, and in some houses, are the
absolute refuse of the kitchen. In most cases, the sight of a hotel
stock-pot would cause those who saw it, to forswear soup, &c.
If the directions are _exactly_ followed, the soups contained in the
following pages will be found palatable, nutritious, and easily made;
but they require plenty of good ingredients.
We have heard French cooks boast of their soup being "delicate." The
English would call it "soup meagre." In such a country as America, where
good things are abundant, there is no necessity of imbibing the
flatulency of weak washy soups.
All soups should be boiled slowly at first, that the essence of the meat
may be thoroughly drawn forth. The lid of the pot should be kept close,
unless when it is necessary to remove it for taking off the scum, which
should be done frequently and carefully. If this is neglected, the scum
will boil back again into the soup, spoil it, and make it impure or
muddled. When no more scum arises, and the meat is all in rags, dropping
from the bones, it is time to put in the vegetables, seasoning, &c., and
not till then; and if it should have boiled away too much, then is the
time to add a little _hot_ water from another kettle. Add also a large
crust of bread or two. It may now be made to boil faster, and the
thickening must be put in. This is a table-spoonful or more of flour
mixed to a smooth paste with a little water, and enriched with a
tea-spoonful of good butter, or beef-dripping. This thickening is
indispensable to all soups. Let it be stirred in well. If making a rich
soup that requires wine or catchup, let it be added the last thing, just
before the soup is taken from the fire.
When all is quite done and thoroughly boiled, cover the bottom of a
tureen with small squares of bread or toast, and dip or pour the soup
into it, leaving all the bones and shreds of meat in the pot. To let any
of the sediment get into the tureen is slovenly and vulgar. Not a
particle of this should ever be found in a soup-plate. There are cooks
who, if not prevented, will put all the refuse into the tureen; so that,
when helped, the plates are half full of shreds of meat and scraps of
bone, while all the best of the soup is kept back for the kitchen. This
should be looked to. Servants who cannot reconcile it to their
conscience to steal money or any very valuable articles, have frequently
no hesitation in purloining or keeping to themselves whatever they like
in the way of food.
Soup may be colored yellow with grated carrots, red with tomato juice,
and green with the juice of pounded spinach--the coloring to be stirred
in after the skimming is over. These colorings are improvements both to
its look and flavor. It may be browned with scorched flour, kept ready
always for the purpose. Never put cloves or allspice into soup--they
give it a blackish ashy dirt color, and their taste is so strong as to
overpower every thing else. Both these coarse spices are out of use at
good tables, and none are introduced in nice cookery but mace, nutmeg,
ginger, and cinnamon.
The meat boiled in soup gives out more of its essence, when cut off the
bone, and divided into small pieces, always removing the fat. The bones,
however, should go in, as they contain much glutinous substance, adding
to the strength and thickness of the soup, which cannot be palatable or
wholesome unless all the grease is carefully skimmed off. Kitchen grease
is used chiefly for soap-fat.
In cold weather, good soup, if carefully covered and kept in a cool
place, and boiled over again for half an hour _without_ any _additional
water_, will be better on the second day than on the first.
It is an excellent way in winter to boil the meat and bones on the first
day, without any vegetables. Then, when very thick and rich, strain the
liquid into a large pan; cover it, and set it away till next morning--it
should then be found a thick jelly. Cut it in pieces, having scraped off
the sediment from the bottom--then add the vegetables, and boil them in
the soup.
MUSHROOM SOUP.--Cut a knuckle of veal, or a neck of mutton, (or both, if
they are small,) into large pieces, and remove the bones. Put it into a
soup-pot with sufficient water to cover the whole, and season with a
little salt and cayenne. Let it boil till the meat is in rags, skimming
it well; then strain off the soup into another pot. Have ready a large
quart, or a quart and a pint of freshly-gathered mushrooms--cut them
into quarters, having removed the stalks. Put them into the soup, adding
a quarter of a pound (or more) of fresh butter, divided into bits and
rolled in flour. Boil the whole about half an hour longer--try if the
mushrooms are tender, and do not take them up till they are perfectly
so. Keep the pot lid closely covered, except when you remove the lid to
try the mushrooms. Lay at the bottom of the tureen a large slice of
buttered toast, (cut into small squares,) and pour the soup upon it.
This is a company soup.
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.
CHICKEN SOUP.--Cut up two large fine fowls, as if carving them for the
table, and wash the pieces in cold water. Take half a dozen thin slices
of cold ham, and lay them in a soup-pot, mixed among the pieces of
chicken. Season them with a very little cayenne, a little nutmeg, and a
few blades of mace, but no salt, as the ham will make it salt enough.
Add a head of celery, split and cut into long bits, a quarter of a pound
of butter, divided in two, and rolled in flour. Pour on three quarts of
milk. Set the soup-pot over the fire, and let it boil rather slowly,
skimming it well. When it has boiled an hour, put in some small round
dumplings, made of half a pound of flour mixed with a quarter of a pound
of butter; divide this dough into equal portions, and roll them in your
hands into little balls about the size of a large hickory nut. The soup
must boil till the flesh of the fowls is loose on the bones, but not
till it drops off. Stir in, at the last, the beaten yolks of three or
four eggs; and let the soup remain about five minutes longer over the
fire. Then take it up. Cut off from the bones the flesh of the fowls,
and divide it into mouthfuls. Cut up the slices of ham in the same
manner. Mince the livers and gizzards. Put the bits of fowl and ham in
the bottom of a large tureen, and pour the soup upon it.
This soup will be found excellent, and may be made of large old fowls,
that cannot be cooked in any other way. If they are so old that when
the soup is finished they still continue tough, remove them entirely,
and do not serve them up at all.
Similar soup may be made of a large old turkey. Also, of four rabbits.
DUCK SOUP.--Half roast a pair of fine large tame ducks, keeping them
half an hour at the fire, and saving the gravy, the fat of which must be
carefully skimmed off. Then cut them up; season them with black pepper;
and put them into a soup-pot with four or five small onions sliced thin,
a small bunch of sage, a thin slice of cold ham cut into pieces, a
grated nutmeg, and the yellow rind of a lemon grated. Add the gravy of
the ducks. Pour on, slowly, three quarts of boiling water from a kettle.
Cover the soup-pot, and set it over a moderate fire. Simmer it slowly
(skimming it well) for about four hours, or till the flesh of the ducks
is dissolved into small shreds. When done, strain it through a tureen,
the bottom of which is covered with toasted bread, cut into square dice
about two inches in size.
FRENCH WHITE SOUP.--Boil a knuckle of veal and four calves' feet in five
quarts of water, with three onions sliced, a bunch of sweet herbs, four
heads of white celery cut small, a table-spoonful of whole pepper, and a
_small_ tea-spoonful of salt, adding five or six large blades of mace.
Let it boil very slowly, till the meat is in rags and has dropped from
the bone, and till the gristle has quite dissolved. Skim it well while
boiling. When done, strain it through a sieve into a tureen, or a deep
white-ware pan. Next day, take off all the fat, and put the jelly (for
such it ought to be) into a clean soup-pot with two ounces of
vermicelli, and set it over the fire. When the vermicelli is dissolved,
stir in, gradually, a pint of thick cream, while the soup is quite hot;
but do not let it come to a boil after the cream is in, lest it should
curdle. Cut up one or two French rolls in the bottom of a tureen, pour
in the soup, and send it to table.