Harper's cook book encyclopædia

done to be eaten, it may be removed for the family dinner, and any addition to the broth made. Pearl barley, rice, or oatmeal, with a carrot, a turnip, an onion or leek, may be added, the vegetables being cut neatly. Season to taste. Warm up the meat, and serve in a separate dish, or with the broth. Pearl barley should be boiled separately for a few minutes, and then strained, and boiled with the broth. Time to simmer meat, an hour and a half. Nouilles (Noodles), Soup of. — Take three pints of any nicely seasoned soup ; put it on the fire, and when it is boiling drop the nouilles gradually in with one hand, and with the other stir them gently with a wooden spoon, to keep them from getting into lumps. They will swell considerably in the liquid. Serve as hot as possible. Time to boil the nouilles, ten minutes. Macaroni, spaghetti, or vermicelli may be substituted for the noodles. Okra Soup. — To one gallon of water cut up two double handfuls of okra ; half an hour afterwards add one handful of lima beans, pieces of small, tender squashes, some fresh meat, or a fowl, boiled till well done. One hour before you take it up put in five large tomatoes, or a pint of small ones, peeled and sliced, and when almost done put in a lump of butter rolled in flour. Season with salt and pepper. Do not let it be too thick. Put it on early, and only let it simmer. Onion Soup, Brown. — Take about two dozen small onions — such as would be used for pickling — peel them carefully, sprinkle a little sugar on them, and fry them till nicely browned in a little hot butter. Pour over them two pints of clear brown gravy soup, nicely seasoned and strongly flavored with onions. Let all boil up together, and serve very hot. If preferred, this soup may be thickened by stirring into it a table- Onion Soup, Maigre Oyster Soup spoonful of ground rice or flour mixed smoothly with a small quantity of cold water. Time, about ten minutes to brown the onions. Onion Soup, Maigre. — Mince half a dozen medium-sized onions very finely. Put them into a stewpan over a gentle fire with 3 ozs. of dissolved butter, dredge a little flour over them, and move them about until they are tender and lightly browned. Add two pints of boiling water, and a seasoning of salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg. Beat two eggs briskly for a minute or two, boil the soup, let it cool half a minute, then stir it in among the eggs, and serve immediately. Time, half an hour. Ox-tail Soup, Clear. — Cut a fine, fresh ox-tail into pieces an inch long, and divide the thick part into four. Wash these pieces, and throw them into boiling water for a quarter of an hour ; then drain, and wipe them with a soft cloth. Put them into a stewpan with two carrots, an onion stuck with three cloves, a sprig of parsley, a small piece of thyme, two or three sticks of celery, half a blade of mace, a teaspoonful of salt, six or eight peppercorns, and a quart of water or clear stock. Boil, remove the scum carefully as it rises, then draw the saucepan to the side of the fire, and simmer very gently until the meat is tender. Lift out the pieces of oxtail, strain the soup, and, if it is not clear and bright, clarify it. Or, turn three carrots and two turnips into any small shapes that may be preferred, or into thin shreds an inch long, being careful only that they are all of the same size.