Should simmer very gently, and its strength will be in proportion to the quantity of water. A good-sized chicken will make a quart of very good broth. As this is seldom made except for invalids, neither onion, carrot, nor turnip ought to be used. A bunch of parsley may be boiled in the broth, then taken out and chopped fine. Skim the fat off the broth, and serve the parsley in it.
Milk Soup.
Boil two quarts with a little salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Lay thin slices of toasted bread in a tureen, pour a little hot milk over them, and cover close that they may soak. Beat the yolks of five eggs, add them by degrees to the milk; stir it over the fire till it thickens, take it off instantly or it will curdle; pour it into the tureen upon the bread. You may stir into the boiling milk a ¼ lb. of sweet almonds, and a few bitter ones, all blanched. In France buttermilk is cooked in this way, and poured on thin slices of boiled apples, spread in a tureen.
Ox-Head Soup.
Put half an ox cheek into a tub of cold water, and let it soak two hours. Take it out, break the bones not already broken, and wash it well in lukewarm water. Then put it in a pot, cover with cold water, and let it boil; scum carefully, put in salt, one head of celery, one turnip, two carrots, two large onions (one burnt), a bay leaf, two dozen berries of black pepper, the same of allspice, a good handful of parsley, some marjoram, savory, and lemon thyme; cover the soup kettle close, and set it over a slow fire. As the liquor is coming to a boil, scum will rise, take that off, and let the soup stew gently by the fire three hours. Then take out the head, pour the soup through a fine sieve into a stone-ware pan, and set both by till the next day. Cut the meat into small pieces, skim all fat from the top of the liquor, and put about two quarts of it, all the meat, and a head of celery cut up and fried with an onion, into a clean saucepan, and simmer it half an hour. Cayenne may be added, a glass of white wine, or a table-spoonful of brandy.
Giblet Soup.
Scald two sets of fresh giblets, and pick them very clean. Cut off the noses, split the heads, and divide the gizzards and necks into small pieces; crack the bones of the legs, put all into a stewpan, and cover them with cold water. When it boils scum well, and put in three sprigs each of lemon thyme, winter savory, or marjoram, and a little bunch of parsley; also twenty berries of allspice, and the same of black pepper, in a muslin bag; let this stew very gently, till the gizzards are tender, which will be in about an hour and a half. Lift out the giblets with a skimmer, or spoon with holes, into a tureen, and keep it, covered, by the fire. Melt 1½ oz. of fresh butter in a clean saucepan, stir in enough flour to make a paste, and pour in, by degrees, a ladleful of the giblet liquor, and the rest by degrees, and boil it ten minutes, stirring all the time. Skim and strain the soup through a fine sieve into a bason. Rince the stewpan, return the soup into it, and add a glass of Port wine, a tablespoonful of mushroom catsup, and a little salt. Give it one boil up, put the giblets in to get hot, and serve it.—You may make this much better by using plain stock in place of water, and a ham bone. You may add a pint of Madeira also; squeeze a small Seville orange into the tureen, and add three lumps of sugar and a little cayenne.
Soup Maigre.
Cut the white part of eight-loaved lettuces small as dice, wash and drain them, also a handful of purslain, the same of parsley. Cut six large cucumbers into pieces the size of a crown piece, peel and mince four large onions, and have three pints of young peas. Put ¾ lb. of fresh butter into a stewpan, brown it of a high colour, and put in all the vegetables, with thirty whole peppers, and stew it ten minutes, stirring all the time, to prevent burning. Add a gallon of boiling water, and one or two French rolls, cut in three pieces, and toasted of a light brown. Cover the stew-pan, and let the soup stew gradually two hours. Put in ½ drachm of beaten mace, two cloves bruised, nutmeg and salt to your taste; boil it up, and just before you serve, squeeze the juice of one lemon into it: do not strain it.—Soup may be made of any, and of every sort of vegetable, in the same manner, but they must be thoroughly cooked. Cream is an improvement, and French rolls, if not stewed in the soup, may be cut in slices, toasted, and put into the tureen before the soup.
Stock for Fish Soup.