Drain off the oyster juice, add the stock, boil it for one minute, and skim it well. Then drop in the oysters and cook one minute, or till the edges begin to curl, and it is done. This soup is not thickened at all; but if you like you may add two tablespoonfuls of cream.
MEAT SOUPS
You can make meat soup, or stock, out of almost any kind of meat, cooked or raw, with bones or without. Many cooks never buy fresh meat for it, and others think they must always have it. It is best to learn both ways.
PLAIN MEAT SOUP
5 lbs. of shin of beef.
5 quarts of water.
1 small tablespoonful of salt.
1 head of celery, cut up.
1 onion.
1 carrot.
1 turnip.
1 sprig of parsley.
2 bay-leaves.
6 whole cloves.
Cut the meat off the bone. Put the bone in a clean saucepan first, and then the meat on top, and pour in the water; cover, and let this stand on the back of the stove an hour, then draw it forward and let it cook. This will bring scum on the water in half an hour, and you must carefully pour in a cup of cold water and skim off everything which rises to the top. Cover the saucepan tightly, and cook very slowly indeed for four hours; then put in the cut-up vegetables and cook one hour more, always just simmering, not boiling hard. Then it is done, and you can put in the salt, and strain the soup first through a heavy wire sieve, and then through a flannel bag, and set it away to get cold, and you will have a strong, clear, delicious stock, which you can put many things in to have variety.
CLEAR VEGETABLE SOUP
Slice one carrot, one turnip, and one potato, and cut them either into small, even strips, or into tiny cubes, or take a vegetable cutter and cut out fancy shapes. Simmer them about twenty minutes in a little water. Meanwhile, take two pints of soup stock and heat it. Sprinkle a little salt over the vegetables and drain them; put them in the soup-tureen and pour the hot soup over.
SPLIT PEA SOUP
1 pint of split peas.
1½ quarts of boiling water.
1 quart of soup stock.
1 small teaspoonful of salt.
3 shakes of pepper.