Wash the lamb, and put it into the four quarts of cold water. When the scum rises take it off carefully with a skimmer. After having pared and chopped the vegetables, put them into the soup. Carrots require the most boiling, and should be put in first; onions require the least boiling, and are to be put in the last.
This soup requires about three hours to boil.
Plain Calf’s Head Soup.
Boil the head and feet in just water enough to cover them; when tender take out the bones, cut in small pieces, and season with marjoram, thyme, cloves, salt, and pepper.
Put all into a pot, with the liquor, and four spoonfuls of thin batter, stew gently an hour, then, just as you take it up, add two or three glasses of Port wine, and the yolks of eggs boiled hard.
An Excellent Simple Mutton Soup.
Put a piece of the fore quarter of mutton into salted water, enough to more than cover it, and simmer it slowly two hours. Then peel a dozen turnips, and six tomatoes, and quarter them, and boil them with the mutton till just tender enough to eat. Thicken the soup with pearl barley. Some add sliced tomatoes, or the juice and rind of a lemon. Use half a tea-cup of rice if you have no pearl barley.
Pea Soup.
Soak dry peas over night, putting a quart of water to each quart of peas. Next morning boil them an hour in this water, and ten minutes before the hour expires put in a teaspoonful of saleratus. Change them to fresh water, put in a pound of salt pork, and boil three or four hours, till the peas are soft. Green peas need no soaking, and must boil not more than an hour. When taken up, add butter.