SOLDIERS' SOUP
(Soupe à la Bataille)
Wash well and chop fine a small white cabbage or lettuce (cos preferred), 1 carrot, 1 turnip, 3 leeks, 1 head of celery. Let these vegetables take colour for about three minutes in 2 ozs. of good fat or butter. Add 3 quarts of water and a pinch of salt; let it boil. Add five raw potatoes cut like the vegetables, a handful of green French beans cut up, the same quantity of green peas. Cook over a good fire for two hours. The soup should be quite smooth; if it is not so, beat it well with a whisk; if too much reduced add more water. Season to taste; at the last add a little chopped chervil. A bone of ham or the remains of bacon improve this soup immensely.