Cassell's dictionary of cookery

add three quarts of boiling water, with two carrots, one turnip, three or four onions, all sliced, a head of celery, or half a dracl;m of pounded celery-seed, tied in muslin, a bunch of sweet herbs, and a dozen peppercorns. Bring the soup to a boil, remove the scum carefully as it rises, and add two tea-spoonfuls of salt, which will assist it in rising. When well skimmed, draw the saucepan to the side of the fire, and let its contents simmer gently, but continuously, for four- hours. Take it off, and strain the soup through a jelly-bag. Let it stand until the next day. Lift the fat off the top in a cake, and, when pouring the soup off to warm, be careful not to disturb the sediment. Strain it again, if necessary ; but if the directions have been followed, the soup will be clear and bright, with a brown tinge. It will look better if made without vegetables ; it will taste better with them. This soup forms the basis of all other kinds. If through any mischance it should not be clear, see directions for Clarifying Soup. It is better made the day before it is wanted, so that the fat can be entirely removed. Probable cost. Is. 4d. per quart. Sufficient for three quarts of soup. Gravy, Colouring and Flavouring. — In colouring gravies the same directions may be followed which have been given for colouring soups {see Colouring). When this is done, however, care must be taken that the flavour given by it is not sufficiently strong to be detected. When gravy is made from stock, all danger of this may be removed by combining the colouring and flavouring. Prepare the stock separately. Set it aside, and put a piece of butter about the size of a walnut into a saucepan, with two ounces of uncooked lean ham, chopped small, a shallot, finely minced, a sprig of thyme or marjoram, a sprig of parsley, and three cloves. Cover the pan closely, and let these stew slowly for half an hour. Shake the pan several times to prevent the meat burning, and when the side of the saucepan is brightly browned, add threequarters of a pint of unflavoured stock. Boil all together another half-hour, thicken, if necessary, with a tea-spoonful of flour, add salt and pepper, and strain before serving. Probable cost, 4d., exclusive of the stock. Sufficient for nearly three-quarters of a pint of gravy. Gravy, Cow-heel (clear). — Put a cowheel, which has been scalded and properly prepared, but not boiled, into a saucepan, with an onion, a sprig of thyme, a blade of mace, half a dozen peppercorns, and three pints of cold water. Skim it carefally, and, when the scum ceases to rise, cover the pan closely, and simmer gently by the side of the fire for three hours. Strain carefully, and put aside until cold; remove the fat from the top, and pour off the gravy, being careful to leave the sediment undistui'bed. Probable cost, one cow-heel, 6d. Sufficient for a pint and a half of gravy. Gravy, Eggs Poached in {see Eggs Poached in Gravy). Gravy, English, Brown. — Cut six ounces of lean ham into square pieces, and fry