SOLDIERS' SOUP
(Soupe à la Bataille)
Wash well and chop fine a small white cabbage or lettuce (cos preferred), 1 carrot, 1 turnip, 3 leeks, 1 head of celery. Let these vegetables take colour for about three minutes in 2 ozs. of good fat or butter. Add 3 quarts of water and a pinch of salt; let it boil. Add five raw potatoes cut like the vegetables, a handful of green French beans cut up, the same quantity of green peas. Cook over a good fire for two hours. The soup should be quite smooth; if it is not so, beat it well with a whisk; if too much reduced add more water. Season to taste; at the last add a little chopped chervil. A bone of ham or the remains of bacon improve this soup immensely.
STSCHI
(Russian)
Cut up a cabbage, heat in butter, and moisten with 3 tablespoons of stock. Add 2 lbs. of beef brisket, cut into large dice, 3 pints of water, and cook 1½ hours. Chop up 2 onions, 2 leeks, and a parsnip in small dice, add 2 tablespoons of sour cream and 1 tablespoon of flour. Add this mixture to the soup about ½ hour before serving. Small buckwheat cakes are served with it.