Clam Soup.
50 clams; 1 quart of hot water; 2 tablespoonfuls of butter; 1 tablespoonful of flour; 1 teaspoonful chopped onion, and same of mixed thyme and parsley; 2 cups of hot milk; salt and cayenne; 2 blades of mace.
Cut the hard parts off from the clams, putting the soft halves on ice. Strain off all the liquor, and put with the hard bits over the fire, with a quart of hot water, the onion, herbs, and mace. Simmer forty minutes. Heat the milk in another vessel—not forgetting the pinch of soda; stir in the butter, cut up in the flour, and set in hot water until the soup is ready. At the end of the forty minutes, strain the clam broth, leaving out the hard parts. Put in the soft, season with salt and cayenne, and let them just boil. Pour into the tureen, add the milk and butter, and set the tureen in hot water five minutes before serving.