Time.—41⁄2 hours. Seasonable in winter. Sufficient for 10 persons.
⁂ The bones of the head should be well stewed in the liquor it was first boiled in, and will make good white stock, flavoured with vegetables.
Soup, Ox-tail. A very inexpensive and nutritious soup may be made of ox-tails, but it will be insipid without the addition of a little ham, knuckle of bacon, or a pound or two of other meat.
Wash and soak 3 tails, pour on them a gallon of cold water, let them be brought gradually to boil, throw in 11⁄2 oz. of salt, and
clear off the scum carefully as soon as it forms upon the surface; when it ceases to rise, add four moderate-sized carrots, from 2 to 4 onions, according to the taste, a large faggot of savoury herbs, a head of celery, a couple of turnips, 6 or 8 cloves, and 1⁄2 a teaspoonful of peppercorns. Stew these gently from 3 to 31⁄2 hours, if the tails be very large; lift them out, strain the liquor, and skim off all the fat; divide the tails into joints, and put them into a couple of quarts or rather more of the stock; stir in when these begin to boil, a thickening of arrow-root or rice flour, mixed with as much cayenne and salt as may be required to flavour the soup well, and serve it very hot.
Ingredients.—Ox tails, 3; water, 1 gall.; salt 11⁄2 oz.; carrots, 4; onions, 2 to 4; turnips, 2; celery, 1 head; cloves, 8; peppercorns, 1⁄2 teaspoonful; faggot of savoury herbs; 3 to 31⁄2 hours. For a richer soup, 5 to 6 hours.
Soup, Ordinary Pea. Wash well a quart of good split peas, and float off such as remain on the surface of the water; soak them for one night, and boil them with a bit of soda the size of a filbert, in just sufficient water to allow them to break to a mash. Put them into from 3 to 4 quarts of good beef broth, and stew them in it gently for an hour; then work the whole through a sieve, heat afresh as much as may be required for table, season it with salt, or cayenne, or common pepper, clear it perfectly from scum, and send it to table with fried or toasted bread. Celery sliced and stewed in it will be found a great improvement.
Ingredients.—Peas, 1 quart; soaked one night, boiled in 2 quarts or rather more of water, 2 to 21⁄2 hours. Beef broth, 3 to 4 quarts; 1 hour. Salt and cayenne or pepper, as needed; 3 minutes.
Soup, Portable. Syn. Glaze. From skin of beef, or other like part; the soup being gently simmered until reduced to the consistence of a thin syrup, and then poured into small upright jelly-pots, with covers, or, upon flat dishes, to lie about 1⁄4 inch deep. The latter, when set, is divided into pieces, which are dried. Used to make extemporaneous soup and glazes. A similar article, prepared on the large scale, now generally forms part of every ship’s stores.
Soup, Potato. Mash to a smooth paste, 3 lbs. of good mealy potatoes, which have been steamed, or boiled very dry; mix with them, by degrees, 2 quarts of boiling broth, pass the soup through a strainer, set it again on the fire, add pepper and salt, and let it boil for five minutes. Take off entirely the black scum that will rise upon it, and serve it very hot, with fried or toasted bread. Where the flavour is approved, 2 oz. of onions minced and fried a light brown, may be added to the soup, and stewed in it for 10 minutes before it is sent to the table.