Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Winter Soup. — Break into small pieces the bones of a joint of dressed beef which weighed six or seven pounds before it was roasted. Put these into a stewpan, pour over them four quarts of cold water, or the liquor in which fresh beef or mutton has been boiled, and add two large onions sliced, a tea-spoonful of whole pepper, and a dessert- spoonful of salt. Bring the liquor to the boil, skim carefully, draw it back, and let it simmer gently till the bones are quite clean. Strain the liquor, let it go cold, and free it entirely from fat. Wash and scrape eight large carrots. Slice the red part only very thinly. Put the slices into a stewpan with three or four sticks of celery cut up small, and a turnip cut into dice. Place a large lump of dripping or fresh butter upon the vegetables, cover the saucepan closely, and steam the vegetables for quarter of an hour or more. Shake the saucepan occasionally to keep them from burning. Pour over them as much of the stock from the bones as will cover them, and let them simmer till quite tender. Rub them through a hair sieve. Add to the pulp as much stock as wiU make the soup of the consistency of thick cream ; let it boil again, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve very hot. Very small suet dumplings, lightly made and boiled separately in water, are sometimes served in winter soups. Time, four hours to simmer the bones. Probable cost, exclusive of the bones, lOd. Sufficient for ten or twelve persons. Winter Soup, Clear.— Make some clear soup, either from bones or from fresh meat {see Clear Soup). Cut the red part of two large carrots and a turnip into quarter-inch dice. Divide two white stalks of celery into shreds, and skin a dozen button-onions. Half boil the vegetables in salted water to which a little sugar has been added. Drain them, and put them into a stewpan with about three pints of the clear stock, boiling. Let them simmer tiU tender, and serve. Winter Squash. — The squash is a kind of gourd, which is cultivated in America as an article of food. To dress it, pare a large yellow squash, remove the strings and seeds from the inside, and cut it into small pieces. Put these into a stewpan, pour upon them as much hot water as will cover them, and simmer gently till tender. Drain them in a colander, and mash them till quite smooth. Season the mash with pepper and salt, and mix a slice of fresh butter into it. Put it into a tureen, dot it over with small spots of pepper, garnish with sprigs of parsley, and serve. Time to simmer the squash, half an hour or more. Winter Squash, (an American recipe). — Winter squashes are stewed in the same way as others, but they must remain on the fire a little longer. Gut up the squashes in pieces of an inch thick, having first pared the squash ; if old, extract the seeds and boil the pieces until they break, mash them with a spoon, boil them a little longer, and when they are done squeeze them through a colander. Mix them with a little salt aud a small quantity of butter. If kept in a dry place winter squashes will remain good all tiie winter, but if they are once frozen they lose their flavour and are apt to decay. They are richer and firmer than the summer kind.