Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume Ii Part 224

=SOUP.= A strong decoction of flesh, properly seasoned with salts, spices, &c., for the table. The different tastes of people require more or less of the flavour of spices, salt, garlic, b.u.t.ter, &c., which can, therefore, never be ordered by general rules. If the cook has not a good taste, and attention to that of his or her employers, not all the ingredients which nature and art can furnish will give an exquisite flavour to the dishes.

The proper articles should be always at hand, and must be proportioned until the true zest be obtained. A variety of flavours may be given to different dishes served at the same time, or even to the same soup, by varying the condiments and spices. At a Parisian restaurant one cauldron is made to produce almost every imaginable variety of soup.

=Soup, Cabbage, Cheap.= Wash a large cabbage and cut it into narrow strips, throwing them into 1/2 a gallon of boiling water, containing 2 oz.

of b.u.t.ter. Let it boil for an hour and a half; then add half a pint of milk and flavour with pepper and salt. Serve when hot.

=Soup, Carrot.= INGREDIENTS REQUIRED.--4 quarts of liquor in which a leg of mutton or beef has been boiled, a few beef bones, 6 large carrots, 2 large onions, 1 turnip, seasoning of salt and pepper to taste, 3 lumps of sugar, and cayenne.

_Mode._ Put the liquor, bones, onions, turnips, pepper and salt into a stewpan, and simmer for 3 hours. Sc.r.a.pe and cut the carrots thin, strain the soup on them, and stew them till soft enough to pulp through a hair sieve or coa.r.s.e cloth; then boil the pulp with the soup, which should be of the consistency of pea soup. Add cayenne. Pulp only the red part of the carrot, and make this soup the day before it is wanted.

_Time._--4-1/2 hours. Seasonable from October to March. Sufficient for 8 persons.

=Soup, Celery.= INGREDIENTS.--9 heads of celery, 1 teaspoonful of salt, nutmeg to taste, 1 lump of sugar, 1/2 pint of strong stock, a pint of cream, and 2 quarts of boiling water.

_Mode._--Cut the celery into small pieces; throw it into the water, seasoned with the nutmeg, salt and sugar. Boil it till sufficiently tender; pa.s.s it through a sieve, add the stock and simmer it for half an hour. Now put in the cream, bring it to the boiling point, and serve immediately.

_Time._--1 hour.

=Soup, Giblet.= Scald and carefully clean 3 or 4 sets of goose or duck giblets; let them stew well, a pound or two of gravy beef, scrag of mutton, or the bone of a knuckle of veal, an ox-tail, or some shanks of mutton, with 3 onions, a large bunch of sweet herbs, a teaspoonful of white pepper, and a large spoonful of salt. Add 5 pints of water and simmer till the gizzards (which must be each in four pieces) are quite tender; skim nicely, and add a 1/4 pint of cream, 2 teaspoonfuls of mushroom powder, and 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter mixed with a dessert-spoonful of flour. Let it boil a few minutes, and serve with the giblets. Instead of cream, two gla.s.ses of sherry or Madeira, a large spoonful of ketchup, and some cayenne may be used for the seasoning. Add salt when the soup is in the tureen.

For the larger part of the above culinary preparations we are indebted to the excellent cooking manuals of Miss Acton and Mrs Beeton.

=Soup, a Good Family.= INGREDIENTS.--Remains of a cold tongue, 2 lbs. of shin of beef, any cold pieces of meat or beef bones, 2 turnips, 2 carrots, 2 onions, 1 parsnip, 1 head of celery, 4 quarts of water, 1/2 teacupful of rice, salt and pepper to taste.

_Mode._--Put all the ingredients in a stewpan, and simmer gently for 4 hours, or until all the goodness is drawn from the meat. Strain off the soup and let it stand till cold. The kernels and soft part of the tongue must be saved. When the soup is wanted for use, skim off all the fat, put in the kernels and soft parts of the tongue, slice in a small quant.i.ty of fresh carrot, turnip, and onion; stew till the vegetables are tender, and serve with toasted bread.

_Time._--5 hours. Seasonable at any time. Sufficient for 8 persons.

=Soup, Gravy.= INGREDIENTS.--4 lbs. of shin of beef, a piece of the knuckle of veal weighing 4 lbs., a few pieces of tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs of meat or poultry, 3 slices of nicely flavoured lean ham, 1/4 lb. of b.u.t.ter, 2 onions, 4 carrots, 1 turnip, nearly a head of celery, 1 blade of mace, 6 cloves, a bunch of savoury herbs, seasoning of salt and pepper to taste, 3 lumps of sugar, 5 quarts of boiling soft water. It can be flavoured with ketchup, Leamington sauce, or Harvey's sauce and a little soy.

_Mode._--Slightly brown the meat and ham in the b.u.t.ter, but do not let them burn. When this done, pour to it the water, put in the salt, and as the sc.u.m rises take it off; when no more appears, add all the other ingredients, and let the soup simmer slowly by the fire for 6 hours without stirring it any more from the bottom; take it off, and pa.s.s it through a sieve. When perfectly cold and settled all the fat should be removed, leaving the sediment untouched, which serves nicely for thick gravies, hashes, &c. The flavourings should be added when the soup is heated for table.

_Time._--7 hours. Seasonable all the year. Sufficient for 12 persons.

=Soup, Green Pea.= INGREDIENTS.--3 pints of green peas, 1/4 lb. of b.u.t.ter, 2 or 3 thin slices of ham, 4 onions sliced, 4 shredded lettuces, the crumb of 2 French rolls, 2 handfuls of spinach, 1 lump of sugar, 2 quarts of medium stock.

_Mode._--Put the b.u.t.ter, ham, 1 quart of the peas, onions and lettuces, to a pint of stock and simmer for an hour; then add the remainder of the stock, with the crumb of the French rolls, and boil for another hour. Now boil the spinach, squeeze it very dry, and rub it, with the soup, through a sieve, to give the preparation a good colour. Have ready a pint of young peas boiled; add them to the soup, put in the sugar, give one boil, and serve.

_Time._--2-1/2 hours. Seasonable from June to the end of August.

Sufficient for six persons.

? It will be well to add, if the peas are not quite young, a little more sugar; where economy is essential, water may be used instead of stock for this soup, boiling in it likewise the peash.e.l.ls, and using rather a larger quant.i.ty of vegetables.

=Soup, Hare.= Cut down a hare into joints, and put it into a soup-pot or large stewpan, with about a pound of lean ham, in thick slices, 3 moderately sized mild onions, 3 blades of mace, a f.a.ggot of thyme, sweet marjoram and parsley, with about 3 quarts of good beef stock. Let it stew very gently for full three hours from the time of its first beginning to boil, and more if the hare be old. Strain the soup, and pound together very fine, the slices of ham and all the flesh of the back, legs, and shoulders of the hare, and put this meat into a stewpan with the liquor, in which it was boiled, the crumb of two French rolls, and half a pint of port wine. Set it on the stove to simmer twenty minutes; then rub it through a sieve, place it again on the stove till very hot, but do not let it boil; season it with salt and cayenne, and send it to table directly.

INGREDIENTS.--Hare, 1; ham, 12 to 16 oz.; onions, 3 to 6; mace, 3 blades; f.a.ggot of savoury herbs; beef stock, 3 quarts; 2 hours. Crumb of 2 rolls; port wine, 1/2 pint; little salt and cayenne; 20 minutes.

=Soup, Hare, a less Expensive.= Pour on two pounds of neck or shin of beef, and a hare well washed and carved into joints, one gallon of cold water, and when it boils and has been thoroughly skimmed, add 1-1/2 oz. of salt, 2 onions, 1 large head of celery, 3 moderate-sized carrots, a tablespoonful black peppercorns, and 6 cloves.

Let these stew gently for 3 hours, or longer, should the hare not be perfectly tender. Then take up the princ.i.p.al joints, cut the meat from them, mince, and pound it to fine paste, with the crumb of 2 penny rolls (or 2 oz. of crumb of household bread), which has been soaked in a little of the boiling soup, and then pressed very dry in a cloth; strain, and mix smoothly with it the stock from the remainder of the hare; pa.s.s the soup through a strainer, season it with cayenne, and serve it when at the point of boiling; if not sufficiently thick, add to it a tablespoonful of arrow-root, moistened with a little broth, and let the soup simmer for an instant afterwards. Two or 3 gla.s.ses of port wine, and 2 dozen of small forcemeat b.a.l.l.s may be added to this soup with good effect.

INGREDIENTS.--Beef, 2 lbs.; hare, 1; water, 1 gall.; salt, 1-1/2 oz.; onions, 2; celery, 1 head; carrots, 3; bunch of savoury herbs; peppercorns, 1 teaspoonful; cloves, 6; 3 hours or more. Bread, 2 oz.; cayenne, arrow-root (if needed) 1 tablespoonful.

=Soup, Haricot Bean.= Take a quart of haricot beans and let them soak all night in cold water. Then pour on them 2-1/2 pints of cold water, add 1 onion, and put on the fire, and when the liquid begins to boil, let them continue to boil for 3 hours. Then remove from the fire and strain through a wire sieve, after which return to the saucepan, and season with pepper and salt; next add 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter and a little milk. Then just boil up, and serve. An economical and nutritious soup for the poor.

=Soup, Julienne.= INGREDIENTS.--1/2 pint carrots, 1/2 pint of turnips, 1/2 pint of onions, 2 or 3 leeks, 1/2 head of celery, 1 lettuce, a little sorrel and chervil, if liked, 2 oz. b.u.t.ter, 2 quarts of medium stock.

_Mode._--Cut the vegetables into strips about 1-1/4 in. long, and be particular they are all the same size, or some will be hard, whilst the others will be done to a pulp. Cut the lettuce, sorrel, and chervil into larger pieces; fry the carrots in the b.u.t.ter, and pour the stock boiling to them. When this is done, add all the other vegetables thereto, and stew gently for nearly an hour. Skim off all the fat, pour the soup over thin slices of bread cut round, about the size of a shilling, and serve.

_Time._--1-1/2 hour. Seasonable all the year. Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.

? In summer, green peas, as asparagus tops, French beans, &c., can be added. When the vegetables are very strong, instead of frying them in b.u.t.ter at first, they should be blanched, and afterwards simmered in the stock.

=Soup, Macaroni.= Throw 4 oz. of fine, fresh, mellow Naples macaroni into a pan of fast-boiling water, with about 1 oz. of fresh b.u.t.ter, and a small onion stuck with 3 or 4 cloves (the onion must be omitted for white soups). When it has swelled to its full size, and become tender, drain it well, cut it into half-inch lengths, and slip it into a couple of quarts of clear gravy soup; let it simmer for a few minutes, when it will be ready for table. Observe that the macaroni should be boiled quite tender; but it should by no means be allowed to burst, nor to become pulpy. Serve grated Parmesan cheese with it.

INGREDIENTS.--Macaroni, 4 oz.; b.u.t.ter, 1 oz.; 1 small onion; 5 cloves; 3/4 hour, or more. In soup 5 to 10 minutes.

=Soup, Mock Turtle.= INGREDIENTS.--Half a calf's head, 1/4 lb. b.u.t.ter, 1/4 lb. lean ham, 2 tablespoonfuls of minced parsley, a little minced lemon thyme, sweet marjoram, basil, 2 onions, a few chopped mushrooms (when obtainable), 2 shalots, 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, 2 gla.s.ses of madeira or sherry, forcemeat b.a.l.l.s, cayenne, salt and mace to taste, the juice of one lemon and 1 Seville orange, 1 dessert-spoonful of pounded sugar, 3 quarts of best strong stock.

_Mode._--Scald the head with the skin on, remove the brain, tie the head up in a cloth, and let it boil for an hour. Then take the meat from the bones, cut it into small square pieces, and throw them into cold water.

Now take the meat, put it into a stewpan, and cover it with stock; let it boil gently for an hour, or rather more, if not quite tender, and set it on one side. Melt the b.u.t.ter in another stewpan, and add the ham, cut small, with the herbs, parsley, onions, shalots, mushrooms, and nearly a pint of stock; let these simmer slowly, for 2 hours, and then dredge in as much flour as will dry up the b.u.t.ter. Fill up with the remainder of the stock, add the wine, let it stew gently for 10 minutes, rub it through a sieve, and put it to the calf's head; season with cayenne, and, if required, a little salt; add the juice of the orange and lemon; and when liked, 1/4 teaspoonful of pounded mace, and the sugar. Put in the forcemeat b.a.l.l.s, simmer 5 minutes, and serve very hot.

_Time._--4-1/2 hours. Seasonable in winter. Sufficient for 10 persons.

? The bones of the head should be well stewed in the liquor it was first boiled in, and will make good white stock, flavoured with vegetables.

=Soup, Ox-tail.= A very inexpensive and nutritious soup may be made of ox-tails, but it will be insipid without the addition of a little ham, knuckle of bacon, or a pound or two of other meat.

Wash and soak 3 tails, pour on them a gallon of cold water, let them be brought gradually to boil, throw in 1-1/2 oz. of salt, and clear off the sc.u.m carefully as soon as it forms upon the surface; when it ceases to rise, add four moderate-sized carrots, from 2 to 4 onions, according to the taste, a large f.a.ggot of savoury herbs, a head of celery, a couple of turnips, 6 or 8 cloves, and 1/2 a teaspoonful of peppercorns. Stew these gently from 3 to 3-1/2 hours, if the tails be very large; lift them out, strain the liquor, and skim off all the fat; divide the tails into joints, and put them into a couple of quarts or rather more of the stock; stir in when these begin to boil, a thickening of arrow-root or rice flour, mixed with as much cayenne and salt as may be required to flavour the soup well, and serve it very hot.

INGREDIENTS.--Ox tails, 3; water, 1 gall.; salt 1-1/2 oz.; carrots, 4; onions, 2 to 4; turnips, 2; celery, 1 head; cloves, 8; peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoonful; f.a.ggot of savoury herbs; 3 to 3-1/2 hours. For a richer soup, 5 to 6 hours.

=Soup, Ordinary Pea.= Wash well a quart of good split peas, and float off such as remain on the surface of the water; soak them for one night, and boil them with a bit of soda the size of a filbert, in just sufficient water to allow them to break to a mash. Put them into from 3 to 4 quarts of good beef broth, and stew them in it gently for an hour; then work the whole through a sieve, heat afresh as much as may be required for table, season it with salt, or cayenne, or common pepper, clear it perfectly from sc.u.m, and send it to table with fried or toasted bread. Celery sliced and stewed in it will be found a great improvement.

INGREDIENTS.--Peas, 1 quart; soaked one night, boiled in 2 quarts or rather more of water, 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Beef broth, 3 to 4 quarts; 1 hour.

Salt and cayenne or pepper, as needed; 3 minutes.

=Soup, Portable.= _Syn._ GLAZE. From skin of beef, or other like part; the soup being gently simmered until reduced to the consistence of a thin syrup, and then poured into small upright jelly-pots, with covers, or, upon flat dishes, to lie about 1/4 inch deep. The latter, when set, is divided into pieces, which are dried. Used to make extemporaneous soup and glazes. A similar article, prepared on the large scale, now generally forms part of every ship's stores.

=Soup, Potato.= Mash to a smooth paste, 3 lbs. of good mealy potatoes, which have been steamed, or boiled very dry; mix with them, by degrees, 2 quarts of boiling broth, pa.s.s the soup through a strainer, set it again on the fire, add pepper and salt, and let it boil for five minutes. Take off entirely the black sc.u.m that will rise upon it, and serve it very hot, with fried or toasted bread. Where the flavour is approved, 2 oz. of onions minced and fried a light brown, may be added to the soup, and stewed in it for 10 minutes before it is sent to the table.

INGREDIENTS.--Potatoes, 3 lbs.; broth, 2 quarts; 5 minutes. (With onions, 2 oz.) 10 minutes.

=Soup, Spanish Onion.= Peel two large Spanish onions and cut them into rings; fry them with a little dripping in a stewpan. When the onions have browned, add 2-1/2 pints of boiling water, and let them boil for two hours and a half; add pepper and salt to flavour, and a little vinegar. Thicken with oatmeal or bread crumbs (oatmeal is the more nourishing); let the mixture boil for another half hour, and serve. A good cheap wholesome soup.

=Soup, Turnip, Cheap.= Wash and wipe the turnips, pare and weigh them; allow 1-1/2 lb. for every quart of soup, cut them in slices about 1/4 inch thick. Melt 4 oz. of b.u.t.ter in a clean stewpan, and put in the turnips before it begins to boil; stew them gently 3/4 hour, taking care that they shall not brown, then have the proper quant.i.ty of soup ready boiling, pour it on them and let them simmer in it for 3/4 hour. Pulp the whole through a coa.r.s.e sieve or soup strainer, put it again on the fire, keep it stirred until it has boiled three or four minutes, take off the sc.u.m, add salt or pepper if required, and serve it very hot.

INGREDIENTS.--Turnips, 3 lbs.; b.u.t.ter, 4 oz.; 3/4 hour. Soup, 2 quarts; 3/4 hour. Last time, 3 minutes.