Boil six whitings, and a large eel; or the latter, and half a thornback, being well cleaned, with as much water as will cover them. Skim clean, and put in whole pepper, mace, ginger, parsley, an onion, a little thyme, and three cloves. Boil to a mash. Pick fifty crawfish, or a hundred prawns, pound the shells, and a little roll, after having boiled them with a little water, vinegar, salt and herbs. Pour this liquor over the shells in a sieve, then pour the other soup, clear from the sediment; chop a lobster, and add to it, with a quart of good beef gravy. Add the tails of the crawfish or the prawns, and some flour and butter; and season as necessary.
Portable Soup. A very useful thing.
Boil one or two knuckles of veal, one or two shins of beef, and a pound or more of fine juicy beef, in as much water only as will cover them. When the bones are cracked, out of which take the marrow, put any sort of spice you like, and three large onions. When the meat is done to rags, strain it off, and put in a very cold place. When cold, take off the cake of fat (which will make crust for servants’ pies), put the soup into a double bottom tin saucepan, set it on a pretty quick fire, but do not let it burn. It must boil fast, and uncovered, and be stirred constantly for eight hours; Put into a pan, and let it stand in a cold place a day; then pour it into a round soup China dish, and set the dish into a stewpan of boiling water on a stove, and let it boil, and be occasionally stirred, till the soup become thick and ropy; then it is enough. Pour it into the little round part at the bottom of cups or basons to form cakes; and when cold, turn them out on flannel to dry, and wrap them in it. Keep them in tin canisters. When to be used, melt in boiling water: and if you wish the flavour of herbs or any thing else, boil it first, and having strained the water, melt the soup in it.
This is very convenient for a bason of soup or gravy in the country, or at sea, where fresh meat is not always at hand.
Clear Gravy.
Slice beef thin: broil a part of it, over a very clear quick fire, just enough to give colour to the gravy, but not to dress it: put that, and the raw into a very nicely tinned stewpan, with two onions, a clove, or two Jamaica and black peppers, and a bunch of sweet herbs: cover it with hot water; give it one boil, and skim it well two or three times: then cover it and simmer till quite strong.
To draw Gravy that will keep a week.
Cut thin lean beef: put it in a fryingpan without any butter: set it on a fire covered, but take care it does not burn: let it stay till all the gravy that comes out of the meat be dried up into it again; then put as much water as will cover the meat, and let that stew away. Then put to the meat a small quantity of water, herbs, onions, spice, a bit of lean ham: simmer till it is rich, then keep it in a cool place. Remove the fat only when going to be used.
A rich Gravy.
Cut beef in thin slices, according to the quantity wanted: slice onions thin, and flour both: fry them of a light pale brown, but on no account suffer them to go black: put them into a stewpan, and pouring boiling water on the browning in the fryingpan, boil it up, and pour on the meat. Put to it a bunch of parsley, thyme, savory, and a small bit of knotted marjorum, and the same of tarragon, some mace, Jamaica and black peppers, a clove or two, and a bit of ham or gammon. Simmer till you have all the juices of the meat; and be sure to skim the moment it boils, and frequently after. If for a hare, or stewed fish, anchovy should be added.