SOUPS, STOCKS
If the vegetables are used for flavouring only, they may remain in the soup all the time it is cooking. If, on the other hand, they are intended to be dished in the soup they should be put in only in time to be cooked thoroughly.
Every kitchen should contain in a cupboard always a bottle of cooking sherry, a bottle of mushroom catsup, one of Worcester sauce, one of tomato (bottled) sauce, some fresh lemons, vinegar, the best salad oil, a packet of sweet herbs, bovril, nutmeg, cloves, and spice.
The object in adding sugar is to clear the soup or stock and will be found as effective as eggshells.
In preserving stocks for soups, gravies, etc., care should be taken never to allow the receptacle containing it to be covered—after it is strained—except with a perforated meat cover.
Stock cannot be kept for more than two days without being reboiled. Never neglect to dash cold water into it while still boiling or the object of settling the solid particles and raising the fat will not be attained.
Take one pound of leg of beef not fat. One pound makes about a pint of good beef tea. Cut the meat several times across, taking care not to cut it through. Sprinkle with a half teaspoonful of salt, put into a stone jar or saucepan with one piece of loaf sugar, add one and a half pints of cold water and place in a steady oven to cook for two hours. Always put it into the oven as soon as it is prepared as the salt otherwise would draw the juice out of the meat. Directly it is cooked, dash about one tablespoonful of cold water into it. Place in a cold place for the fat to rise, remove with a sheet of white paper the fat which will have risen to the top and make hot as required.
This can apply to either the short ends of cutlet bones, the shank end of a leg of mutton, or the scrag end of the neck. Remove the fat and place, with an onion (not cut), into a saucepan a turnip cut into small pieces, a pinch of salt, one piece of loaf sugar, and if no fresh parsley is obtainable a pinch of mixed sweet herbs that have been rinsed in cold water. (If herbs are used they must be added as soon as the broth boils; if fresh parsley it should never be added till it is within ten minutes of being ready to serve.) Moresalt may be added to taste. Bring to a boil quickly and then put a quarter teacupful of washed pearl barley into it and boil gently for three and a half hours. Strain and serve.
It will be noticed that some of the soup will boil away and a little hot water will have to be added. This broth can be made with the remains of cold potatoes added instead of the barley, in which case it requires to be stirred through a cullender so as to avoid any pieces of potato remaining whole.
Take the remains of any cold chicken, giblets, feet, and put into an earthenware saucepan with one piece of loaf sugar, a pinch of salt, one small onion (whole), cover with cold water. Keep boiling gently for three hours adding from time to time a little water to keep the saucepan about half full. Strain through a cullender and put in the larder to get cool, after adding a little cold water to make the fat rise to the top.
If for pea soup, take the bone of a ham, or the small bones of a piece of pickled pork and add about a quart of cold water and one onion. Have ready two large teacupfuls of split peas (that have soaked for two hours). Boil steadily for three or four hours,stirring from time to time to prevent burning. Strain through a cullender and serve with fried bread, very hot. Proceed in the same way for lentil soup, only in that case the bones of either beef or veal may be used instead of pork.
Have ready one pint of white beans boiled soft in water with a piece of common soda the size of a pea. Put them into a saucepan with remains of cold meat—beef, mutton, or veal—one uncut onion, one turnip, pepper and salt to taste, and if not objected to, a few cold potatoes. Boil gently about three hours, then pass the whole through a fine cullender to strain the skins from the beans. Replace in a saucepan and bring to a boil; then serve very hot. Have ready some slices of stale bread about half an inch thick cut into dice. Have a little beef (or veal) dripping, bring to a boil in an enamel frying pan and drop the bread in while it boils, fry till a light brown and quite crisp. Serve in a hot dish with a strainer under. This bread is good for either pea, lentil, haricot, or potato soup.
Take the remains of any cold roast or boiled fowls, salt and pepper to taste; a whole onion, half arasher of very lean bacon, one piece of loaf sugar, one quart of water. Put all together into a saucepan and bring to a boil, keeping the meat or bones covered. Boil two hours. Take one and a half flat tablespoonfuls of flour, one ounce of fresh butter, and put the butter and flour into a smooth china or earthenware bowl (enamel bowl will do), work the two together with a tablespoon till a perfectly smooth paste is made, then pour the soup through a cullender on to the paste, stirring all the time; add a little milk and if possible a little fresh cream. Replace the soup in the saucepan, put it back on the stove and stir one way till it boils, when it is ready to serve.
Take a rabbit and wash it in a little water with a pinch of salt, then cut it up. Put it into a stone saucepan with one quart to three pints cold water, salt and pepper to taste, one piece of loaf sugar, one onion whole (or three or four spring onions), one carrot, about half a pound of gravy beef, and the remains of any cold game. Boil gently for three hours, strain, and place in the saucepan again, bring to a boil, thicken with flour and butter mixed as for chicken soup, bring to a boil while stirring. Strain and serve. If not dark enough add teaspoonful of bovril.
Take the remains of cold veal, the bottom ends of asparagus, one onion, salt and pepper, one piece of loaf sugar, and two pints of cold water. Let it boil gently for three hours. Have ready, well mixed into a smooth paste, two tablespoonfuls of flour with one and a half ounces of fresh butter. Strain the soup, while still boiling, through a strainer on to the paste, stir gently till perfectly smooth, add half a teacupful of cream and a little milk. Care should be taken that the soup is not too thick or thin. Replace in the saucepan and stir gently over a clear fire till it boils. It is then ready to serve and should be perfectly smooth.
Take the remains of cold chicken, beef, or veal; add two pounds of fresh tomatoes cut into slices, one onion, pepper and salt, five pieces of sugar. Put all into a stone saucepan and boil gently two hours (in about a quart of water); have ready the same mixture of butter and flour as for asparagus soup, strain the tomato soup on to it, add the half teacupful of cream and a little milk, put back into the saucepan and stir till it boils. This should be about a quart of soup.
It will be noticed that most of these recipes are made with the remains of cold meat instead of buying especially to make the soup, and in this way most things can be used up without any waste.
Soak a fresh ox tail in cold water for two hours. Then cut at each joint, remove all the fat, and lay in three pints of cold water in a saucepan with a pinch of salt, two pieces of loaf sugar, and a teaspoonful of mushroom catsup. Boil for three hours, then add one sliced carrot and a finely cut onion; boil for another half hour. The soup is then ready to be served with the meat in it.
Proceed in the same manner as for the clear soup, adding a good teacupful of strong beef stock. Put in whole an onion and a carrot with a teaspoonful of Worcester sauce. Boil for three hours, then dash in a cupful of cold water and remove from the fire to stand in a cool place. Carefully remove all the fat and the vegetables. Bring the soup to a boil again and add a carrot cut into oblong pieces, boil for another half hour, thicken with a little carefully mixed flour and water, and serve with the meat in it.
Take one pound of lean gravy beef not cut up, put it into a saucepan with one piece of loaf sugar, an onion (whole), a little pepper and salt, and three pints of water. Boil for two hours. Dash a teacupful of cold water in to cause the fat to rise. Allow it to cool, skim the fat, and strain the soup into another saucepan. Put in one carrot, cut into slices and then into tiny strips, half a turnip, in strips, and a few green peas. These last may be from a bottle if it is impossible to obtain the fresh. Boil for half an hour and serve the soup with the vegetables in it. This soup will turn out perfectly clear if the directions are carefully followed.
Remove all the fat; put the bone in a saucepan with about a quart of water, a piece of loaf sugar (to clear it), salt, pepper, one carrot cut into narrow strips, one onion sliced, and a little cut cabbage. Boil steadily for an hour and a half. Remove the bone and then serve the soup with the vegetables in it.