This is a company soup. If you live where wild ducks are abundant, it will afford an agreeable variety occasionally to make soup of some of them. If you suspect them to be sedgy or fishy, (you can ascertain by the smell when drawing or cleaning them,) parboil each duck, with a carrot put into his body. Then take out the carrot and throw it away. You will find that the unpleasant flavor has left the ducks, and been entirely absorbed by the carrots. To make the soup—cut up the ducks, season the pieces with a little salt and pepper, and lay them in a soup-pot. For a good pot of soup you should have four wild ducks. Add two or three sliced onions, and a table-spoonful of minced sage. Also a quarter of a pound of butter divided into four, and each piece rolled in flour. Pour in water enough to make a rich soup, and let it boil slowly till all the flesh has left the bones,—skim it well. Thicken it with boiled or roasted chestnuts, peeled, and then mashed with a potato beetle. A glass of Madeira or sherry will be found an improvement, stirred in at the last, or the juice and grated peel of a lemon. In taking it up for the tureen, be careful to leave all the bones and bits of meat in the bottom of the pot.
VENISON SOUP.—
Take a large fine piece of freshly killed venison. It is best at the season when the deer are fat and juicy, from having plenty of wild berries to feed on. I do not consider winter-venison worth eating, when the meat is poor and hard, and affords no gravy, and also is black from being kept too long. When venison is fresh and in good order it yields a fine soup, allowing a small quart of water to each pound of meat. When it has boiled well, and been skimmed, put in some small dumplings made of flour and minced suet, or drippings. Also, boiled sweet potatos, cut into round thick slices. You may add boiled sweet corn cut off the cob; and, indeed, whatever vegetables are in season. The soup-meat should boil till all the flesh is loose on the bones, and the bits and shreds should not be served up.
The best pieces of buffalo make good soup.
GAME SOUP.—
Take partridges, pheasants, grouse, quails, or any of the birds considered as game. You may put in here as many different sorts as you can procure. They must all be fresh killed. When they are cleaned and plucked, cut them in pieces as for carving, and put them into a soup-pot, with four calves' feet and some slices of ham, two sticks of celery, and a bundle of sweet herbs chopped small, and water enough to cover the whole well. Boil and skim well, till all the flesh is loose from the bones. Strain the liquid through a sieve into a clean pot, then thicken it with fresh butter rolled in flour. Add some force-meat balls that have been already fried; or else some hard-boiled yolks of eggs; some currant jelly, or some good wine into which a half-nutmeg has been grated; the juice of two oranges or lemons, and the grated yellow peel of one lemon. Give the soup another boil up, and then send it to table, having bread rolls to eat with it.
This is a fine soup for company. Venison soup may be made in this manner. Hare soup also.