Begin this soup the day before it is wanted. Take a good piece of
fresh beef that has been newly killed: any substantial part will
do that has not too much fat about it: a fore leg is very good for
this purpose. Wash it well. Cut off all the meat, and break up the
bones. Put the meat and the bones into a large pot, very early in
the day, so as to allow eight or nine hours for its boiling.
Proportion the water to the quantity of meat--about a pint and a
half to each pound. Sprinkle the meat with a small quantity of
pepper and salt. Pour on the water, hang it over a moderate fire,
and boil it slowly; carefully skimming off all the fat that rises
to the top, and keeping it closely covered, except when you raise
the lid to skim it. Do not, on any account, put in additional
water to this soup while it is boiling; and take care that the
boiling goes steadily on, as, if it stops, the soup will be much
injured. But if the fire is too great, and the soup boils too
fast, the meat will become hard and tough, and will not give out
its juices.
After the meat is reduced to rags, and the soup sufficiently
boiled, remove the pot from the fire, and let it stand in the
corner for a quarter of an hour to settle. Then take it up, strain
it into a large earthen pan, cover it, and set it away in a cool
dry place till next day. Straining it makes it clear and bright,
and frees it from the shreds of meat and bone. If you find that it
jellies in the pan, (which it will if properly made,) do not
disturb it till you are ready to put it into the pot for the
second boiling, as breaking the jelly may prevent it from keeping
well.
On the following morning, boil separately, carrots, turnips,
onions, celery, and whatever other vegetables you intend to
thicken the soup with. Tomatas will greatly improve it. Prepare
them by taking off the skin, cutting them into small pieces, and
stewing them in their own juice till they are entirely dissolved.
Put on the carrots before any of the other vegetables, as they
require the longest time to boil. Or you may slice and put into
the soup a portion of the vegetables you are boiling for dinner;
but they must be nearly done before you put them in, as the second
boiling of the soup should not exceed half an hour, or indeed,
just sufficient time to heat it thoroughly.
Scrape off carefully from the cake of jellied soup whatever fat or
sediment may still be remaining on it; divide the jelly into
pieces, and about half an hour before it is to go to table, put it
into a pot, add the various vegetables, (having first sliced
them,) in sufficient quantities to make the soup very thick; hang
it over the fire and let it boil slowly, or simmer steadily till
dinner time. Boiling it much on the second day will destroy the
flavour, and render it flat and insipid. For this reason, in
making fine, clear beef soup, the vegetables are to be cooked
separately. They need not be put in the first day, as the soup is
to be strained; and on the second day, if put in raw, the length
of time required to cook them would spoil the soup by doing it too
much. We repeat, that when soup has been sufficiently boiled on
the first day, and all the juices and flavour of the meat
thoroughly extracted, half an hour is the utmost it requires on
the second.
Carefully avoid seasoning it too highly. Soup, otherwise
excellent, is frequently spoiled by too much pepper and salt.
These condiments can be added at table, according to the taste of
those that are eating it; but if too large a proportion of them is
put in by the cook, there is then no remedy, and the soup may by
some be found uneatable.
Many persons prefer boiling all the vegetables in the soup on the
first day, thinking that they improve its flavour. This may be
done in common soup that is not to be strained, but is
inadmissible if you wish it to be very bright and clear. Also,
unless you have a garden and a profusion of vegetables of your
own, it is somewhat extravagant, as when strained out they are of
no further use, and are therefore wasted.