Put in the bones and pack the meat around them. Place your kettle on the back of the range before adding the water, so that there need be no heav}^ weight to lift. Allow one quart of fresh cold water to every pound of meat and bone ✪ Stock ; one fourth less water if your stock is to be made altogether of cooked meats, or if you use a digester. Cover the kettle, and after the water is quite' red, and the juices are well drawn out, draw the kettle forward and let it heat slowl}', and simmer^ or boil slowl}^, but never boil hard. The scum, which soon rises on the surface, is the albu- men and juices of the meat which have been drawn out and mixed with the cold water. They coagulate, or har- den, as the water heats, and, being lighter than the water, rise to the surface in the form of scum. It has usually been considered essential, in making soup, to remove every particle of this scum ; but the practice is wholly unnecessary and wasteful. We learn, in the article on Boiling, the three distinct purposes and methods of cooking meat in water ; and yet in skimming a soup we act directly con- trary to the general principle there explained. If the kettle be clean, the water pure, and the meat well cleansed from any impurities on its outer surface, what can there be in the meat not suitable to eat, any more than in roast beef, or steak, or boiled mutton ? In making beef tea we are directed by the highest scientific authorities to remove the fat, cut the meat small, soak it in cold water, heat gradu- ally, and never skim, as the scum or thickened material in the water is the very thing desired. Soup is only another form of beef tea, and the fat which is objectionable can better be removed when the stock is cold. These juices and soluble parts of the meat should be retained ; they increase, rather than diminish, the flavor, and all the sedi- ment which is fine enough to go through the strainer should be used. In any thickened soup it is so mingled with the other ingredients as not to be unpleasant to the e3^e. And for those who wish clear soups, which are not as nutritious, this sediment can easily be removed in the clearing. 126 The Boston Cook Book. In a criticism which so decidedly rejects a prevailing custom, it may be well to remarli that the method of pre- paring soups which is recommended in the preceding paragraph has been successfully proved in the Boston Cooking School for the last three years. The French, who regard skimming as very important in making their Pot- au-feu^ remove the meat as soon as tender, and serve it as bouilli^ or boiled beef. As it has not been cut in small pieces, and is heated quickly, some of the juices are re- tained in the meat, and it is nourishing and palatable. Their Pot-au-feu is more like our beef stew than like soup stock. In the preparation of the stock, the next step is to add the seasoning, which may be used in these proportions : For every quart of water ^ one even teaspoonful of salt, two peppercorns or half a saltspoonful of ground pepper^ two cloves^ two allspice berries, one fourth of a saltspoonful of celery seed or a bit of celery root^ a sprig of parsley, a teaspoonful of mixed herbs, and a tablespoonful of each vegetable✪ Beef Stock .

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Put in the bones and pack the meat around them. Place your kettle on the back of the range before adding the water, so that there need be no heavy weight to lift. Allow one quart of fresh cold water to every pound of meat and bone ; one fourth less water if your stock is to be made altogether of cooked meats, or if you use a digester. Cover the kettle, and after the water is quite red, and the juices are well drawn out, draw the kettle forward and let it heat slowly, and simmer or boil slowly, but never boil hard. The scum, which soon rises on the surface, is the albumen and juices of the meat which have been drawn out and mixed with the cold water. They coagulate, or harden, as the water heats, and, being lighter than the water, rise to the surface in the form of scum. It has usually been considered essential, in making soup, to remove every particle of this scum ; but the practice is wholly unnecessary and wasteful. We learn, in the article on Boiling, the three distinct purposes and methods of cooking meat in water ; and yet in skimming a soup we act directly contrary to the general principle there explained. If the kettle be clean, the water pure, and the meat well cleansed from any impurities on its outer surface, what can there be in the meat not suitable to eat, any more than in roast beef, or steak, or boiled mutton ? In making beef tea we are directed by the highest scientific authorities to remove the fat, cut the meat small, soak it in cold water, heat gradually, and never skim, as the scum or thickened material in the water is the very thing desired. Soup is only another form of beef tea, and the fat which is objectionable can better be removed when the stock is cold. These juices and soluble parts of the meat should be retained ; they increase, rather than diminish, the flavor, and all the sediment which is fine enough to go through the strainer should be used. In any thickened soup it is so mingled with the other ingredients as not to be unpleasant to the eye. And for those who wish clear soups, which are not as nutritious, this sediment can easily be removed in the clearing. The Boston Cook Book. In a criticism which so decidedly rejects a prevailing custom, it may be well to remark that the method of preparing soups which is recommended in the preceding paragraph has been successfully proved in the Boston Cooking School for the last three years. The French, who regard skimming as very important in making their Pot-au-feu, remove the meat as soon as tender, and serve it as bouilli, or boiled beef. As it has not been cut in small pieces, and is heated quickly, some of the juices are retained in the meat, and it is nourishing and palatable. Their Pot-au-feu is more like our beef stew than like soup stock. In the preparation of the stock, the next step is to add the seasoning, which may be used in these proportions : For every quart of water, one even teaspoonful of salt, two peppercorns or half a saltspoonful of ground pepper, two cloves, two allspice berries, one fourth of a saltspoonful of celery seed or a bit of celery root, a sprig of parsley, a teaspoonful of mixed herbs, and a tablespoonful of each vegetable .

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Mrs. Lincoln's Boston cook book