RABBIT SOUP.
Ingredients.—2 large rabbits, or 3 small ones; a faggot of savoury herbs, ½ head of celery, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 1 blade of mace, salt and white pepper to taste, a little pounded mace, ½ pint of cream, the yolks of 2 eggs boiled hard, the crumb of a French roll, nearly 3 quarts of water. Mode.—Make the soup with the legs and shoulders of the rabbit, and keep the nice pieces for a dish or entrée. Put them into warm water, and draw the blood; when quite clean, put them into a stewpan, with a faggot of herbs, and a teacupful, or rather more, of veal stock or water. Simmer slowly till done through, add the three quarts of water, and boil for an hour. Take out the rabbit, pick the meat from the bones, covering it up to keep it white; put the bones back in the liquor, add the vegetables, and simmer for two hours; skim and strain, and let it cool. Now pound the meat in a mortar, with the yolks of the eggs, and the crumb of the roll previously soaked; rub it through a tammy, and gradually add it to the strained liquor, and simmer for 15 minutes. Mix arrowroot or rice-flour with the cream (say 2 dessertspoonfuls), and stir in the soup; bring it to a boil, and serve. This soup must be very white, and instead of thickening it with arrowroot or rice-flour, vermicelli or pearl barley can be boiled in a little stock, and put in five minutes before serving. Time.—Nearly 4 hours. Average cost, 1s. per quart. Seasonable from September to March. Sufficient for 10 persons.