art, they might have, for less expense, a warm dish, every day.MEAT, POULTRY, AND GAME SOUPS. BRILLA SOUP.
166. INGREDIENTS.--4 lbs. of shin of beef, 3 carrots, 2 turnips, a large sprig of thyme, 2 onions, 1 head of celery, salt and pep-per to taste, 4 quarts water.
Mode.--Take the beef, cut off all the meat from the bone, in nice square pieces, and boil the bone for 4 hours. Strain the liquor, let
it cool, and take off the fat; then put the pieces of meat in the cold liquor; cut small the carrots, turnips, and celery; chop the onions, add them with the thyme and seasoning, and simmer till the meat is tender. If not brown enough, colour it with browning.
Time.--6 hours. Average cost, 5d. per quart. Seasonable all the year.
Sufficient for 10 persons.
THYME.--This sweet herb was known to the Romans, who made use of it in culinary preparations, as well as in aromatic liqueurs. There are two species of it growing wild in Britain, but the garden thyme is a native of the south of Europe, and is more delicate in its perfume than the others. Its young leaves give an agreeable flavour to soups and sauces; they are also used in stuffings.
CALF'S-HEAD SOUP.
167. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 a calf 's head, 1 onion stuck with cloves, a very small bunch of sweet herbs, 2 blades of mace, salt and
white pepper to taste, 6 oz. of rice-flour, 3 tablespoonfuls of ketchup, 3 quarts of white stock, No. 107, or pot-liquor, or water.
Mode.--Rub the head with salt, soak it for 6 hours, and clean it thoroughly; put it in the stewpan, and cover it with the stock, or pot-liquor, or water, adding the onion and sweet herbs. When well skimmed and boiled for 1-1/2 hour, take out the head, and skim and strain the soup. Mix the rice-flour with the ketchup, thicken the soup with it, and simmer for 5 minutes. Now cut up the head into pieces about two inches long, and simmer them in the soup till the meat and fat are quite tender. Season with white pepper and mace finely pounded, and serve very hot. When the calf 's head is taken out of the soup, cover it up, or it will discolour.
Time.--2-1/2 hours. Average cost,1s. 9d. per quart, with stock No. 107.
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Seasonable from May to October.
Sufficient for 10 persons.
Note.--Forcemeat balls can be added, and the soup may be flavoured with a little lemon-juice, or a glass of sherry or Madeira. The
bones from the head may be stewed down again, with a few fresh vegetables, and it will make a very good common stock. GIBLET SOUP.
168. INGREDIENTS.--3 sets of goose or duck giblets, 2 lbs. of shin of beef, a few bones, 1 ox-tail, 2 mutton-shanks, 2 large onions, 2 carrots, 1 large faggot of herbs, salt and pepper to taste, 1/4 pint of cream, 1 oz. of butter mixed with a dessertspoonful of flour, 3 quarts of water.
Mode.--Scald the giblets, cut the gizzards in 8 pieces, and put them in a stewpan with the beef, bones, ox-tail, mutton-shanks, onions, herbs, pepper, and salt; add the 3 quarts of water, and simmer till the giblets are tender, taking care to skim well. When the giblets are done, take them out, put them in your tureen, strain the soup through a sieve, add the cream and butter, mixed with a dessertspoonful of flour, boil it up a few minutes, and pour it over the giblets. It can be flavoured with port wine and a little mushroom ketchup, instead of cream. Add salt to taste.
Time.--3 hours. Average cost,9d. per quart. Seasonable all the year.
Sufficient for 10 persons.
GRAVY SOUP.
169. INGREDIENTS.--6 lbs. of shin of beef, a knuckle of veal weighing 5 lbs., a few pieces or trimmings, 2 slices of nicely-flavoured lean, ham; 1/4 lb. of butter, 2 onions, 2 carrots, 1 turnip, nearly a head of celery, 1 blade of mace, 6 cloves, a hunch of savoury herb with endive, 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 (see SAUCES), Harvey's sauce, and a little soy.
Mode.--Slightly brown the meat and ham in the butter, but do not let them burn. When this is done, pour to it the water, and as the scum 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 let it settle; skim off all the fat you can, and pass it through a tammy. When perfectly cold, you can remove all the fat, and leave the sediment untouched, which serves very nicely for thick gravies, hashes,
&c.
Time.--7 hours. Average cost, 1s. per quart. Seasonable all the year.
Sufficient for 14 persons.
ENDIVE.--This plant belongs to the acetarious tribe of vegetables, and is supposed to have originally come from China and Japan. It was known to the ancients; but was not introduced to England till about the middle of the 16th century. It is consumed in large quantities by the French, and in London,--in the neighbourhood of which it is grown in abundance;--it is greatly used as a winter salad, as well as in soups and stews.
HARE SOUP. I.
170. INGREDIENTS.--A hare fresh-killed, 1 lb. of lean gravy-beef, a slice of ham, 1 carrot, 2 onions, a faggot of savoury herbs,
1/4 oz. of whole black pepper, a little browned flour, 1/4 pint of port wine, the crumb of two French rolls, salt and cayenne to
taste, 3 quarts of water.
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Mode.--Skin and paunch the hare, saving the liver and as much blood as possible. Cut it in pieces, and put it in a stewpan with all the ingredients, and simmer gently for 8 hours. This soup should be made the day before it is wanted. Strain through a sieve, put the best parts of the hare in the soup, and serve.
OR, II.
Proceed as above; but, instead of putting the joints of the hare in the soup, pick the meat from the bones, pound it in a mortar, and add it, with the crumb of two French rolls, to the soup. Rub all through a sieve; heat slowly, but do not let it boil. Send it to table immediately.
Time.-8 hours. Average cost, 1s. 9d. per quart. Seasonable from September to February. Sufficient for 10 persons.
[Illustration: HARE.]
THE COMMON HARE.--This little animal is found throughout Europe, and, indeed, in most of the northern parts of the world;
and as it is destitute of natural weapons of defence, Providence has endowed it with an extraordinary amount of the passion of fear. As if to awaken the vigilance of this passion, too, He has furnished it with long and tubular ears, in order that it may catch the remotest sounds; and with full, prominent eyes, which enable it to see, at one and the same time, both before and behind it. The hare feeds in the evenings, and sleeps, in its form, during the day; and, as it generally lies on the ground, its feet, both below and above,
are protected with a thick covering of hair. Its flesh, though esteemed by the Romans, was forbidden by the Druids and by the earlier Britons. It is now, though very dark and dry, and devoid of fat, much esteemed by Europeans, on account of the peculiarity of its flavour. In purchasing this animal, it ought to be remembered that both hares and rabbits, when old, have their claws rugged and blunt, their haunches thick, and their ears dry and tough. The ears of a young hare easily tear, and it has a narrow cleft in the lip; whilst its claws are both smooth and
