Cookery for every household

A bunch of herbs or a bouquet garni, so often mentioned in connection with stocks and soups, consists of a sprig of thyme, parsley, marjoramand basil, a strip of lemon peel, a bay-leaf, &c., tied together with a piece of cotton or fine string. It is of course not absolutely necessary to have all this variety, one or other can always be omitted if not procurable. When fresh herbs cannot be had, a preparation of dried herbs can be substituted, and if in small pieces they should be tied in a piece of muslin. Any spices used, such as cloves, peppercorns, mace, allspice, &c., should also be tied in muslin ; and also celery seed when it is used as a substitute for fresh celery. A word might be said here about the adding of wine to soup or stock. This must also be done with caution. A little wine is a great improvement in many cases, but an overdose will utterly destroy the flavour of a good soup, while it will never make an otherwise poor soup anything else but poor. The addition of colouring matter is another thing to be guarded against, it is only in rare cases that this should be necessary. DIFFERENT KINDS OF STOCK The following are some of the different kinds of stock which can be made : — Brown Stock. — Made principally from beef and beef bones, with sometimes a little veal or some chicken or game bones added, and usually flavoured with vegetables. White Stock. — Made principally from white meat, such as veal, rabbit, chicken, or mutton, with sometimes a calf’s foot, a piece of calf’s head, or an ox foot added, and usually flavoured with vegetables. First and Second Stock. — First stock is the first boiling of the meat and vegetables. Second stock is produced by putting the meat and vegetables on to boil a second time with fresh water. Fish Stock, as its name implies, is made from fish or fish trimmings with vegetables added to give flavour. The addition of a few trimmings of shellfish are also an improvement. Game Stock. — Made from any kind of game or trimmings of game, with vegetables added to give flavour. Bone Stock. — Made from bones alone, with vegetables added to flavour. Vegetable Stock. — Made from vegetables alone, either dried or fresh, or a mixture of the two. It is used principally in the making of vegetarian soups and other vegetarian dishes. General Stock. — Made from miscellaneous scraps of meat, bones, and vegetables, and drawn from a stock pot. Meat Boilings or Pot Liquor is the name given to the water in which a joint of meat, fowl, or rabbit has been boiled. It is the simplest kind of stock. Directions for making the different kinds of stock are given below. Glaze. — This is stock which is so much reduced in quantity that it forms almost a solid substance when cold. It is a means of preserving any superfluous stock. First Stock for Clear and Brown Soups 3 lbs. beef (shin or sticking piece) or 2 lbs. beef and 1 lb. knuckle of veal. 3 qts. cold water. T carrot. 1 turnip. 2 small onions. 2 leeks. 2 or 3 sticks of celery, or J tea-sp. celery seed. A bunch of herbs. 1 doz. peppercorns. 6 cloves. 1 blade of mace. 1 dessert-sp. salt. A few scraps of lean ham or a small ham bone.