Roast beef gravy.—After the roast has been taken from the
pan, pour out all but 11⁄2 tablespoonfuls of the melted fat. Stir in 1 heaping tablespoonful of flour and brown very slightly. Add one cup of cold water and stir constantly until thickened. Add 1⁄2 teaspoonful salt. Strain.
3. Bouillon.
| Shin of beef | 6 pounds |
| Cold water | 3 quarts |
| Peppercorns | 1⁄2 teaspoonful |
| Cloves | 6 |
| Bay leaf | 1⁄2 |
| Thyme | 3 sprigs |
| Marjoram | 1 sprig |
| Parsley | 2 sprigs |
| Carrot Turnip Onion | 1⁄2 cup each cut in dice |
| Celery Salt | 1 tablespoonful |
Wipe beef and cut the lean meat in inch cubes. Brown one third of the meat in fat cut from meat or marrow from a marrow bone. Put remaining two thirds with bone and fat in soup kettle, add water and let stand for thirty minutes. Place on back of range, add browned meat, and heat gradually to the boiling point. Cover and cook slowly six hours, keeping below the boiling point during cooking. Add the vegetables and seasonings, cook one and one half hours, strain and cool as quickly as possible. This is called soup stock.
To clarify bouillon.—When stock is cold, remove fat which has hardened on top and put quantity to be cleared into a stew pan. Allow white and shell of one egg to each quart of stock. Put over fire and stir constantly until boiling point is reached. Boil two minutes. Set back on stove and let simmer twenty minutes. Remove scum and strain through double thickness of cheesecloth.
4. General directions for meat soups.
Soup making is an art that is well worth cultivating. The expert soup maker will obtain delicious flavors by adding bits of many kinds of left overs—almost anything that is found in the refrigerator in the way of fruit, vegetables, and pieces of meat. With the coming of the gas stove, many people have given up soup making. These various left overs add much to the flavor of the soup and can be used in a thickened soup which is like the bouillon strained and thickened. The thickening may be flour, arrowroot, cold cereal, sago, tapioca, or rice. Spaghetti, vermicelli,
and fancy forms of paste are sometimes served. Vegetables may be cut into dice or fancy shapes and served in the clear soup. A great variety is possible in flavoring and serving soup if one will take the trouble to make it an art.
Soup meat may be served in a soup of the old-fashioned kind, thickened and containing vegetables. In such a soup some fat is left, and the total result is a dish that makes a meal when served with bread.