La cuisine creole

One large leek, two carrots, one bunch of parsley, two turnips and a potato, will be enough for one pot of soup. One head of celery, two leeks, two turnips, and five or six small potatoes will be enough another time. Six tomatoes skinned, the juice strained from the seeds, a leek, a bunch of parsley, and six potatoes will answer for another style ; a carrot, some eabbage, toma- toes, and potatoes will do another time. Okra alone is vegetable enough for a gombo, unless onion is liked with it. Green peas, lettuce, and new potatoes are enough for spring lamb soup. Vermicelli and macaroni are for chicken, lamb or veal soup, with the addition of onion if liked. It is well to prépare the vegetables when the méat is put over the fire to boil; allow a quart of water to a pound of méat. Trim and scrape carrots, then eut or grate them. Wash parsley and eut it small. Pare tur- nips and eut them in slices a quarter of an inch thick. Cut leeks in thick slices. Cut celery in half lengths ; the délicate green leaves give a fine flavor to the soup. LA CUISINE CREOLE. 8 Pour boiling water on tomatoes, which wîU cause the skins to peel off easily ; when cool, squeeze out the seeds, and reserve the juice for use în soup. Shave cabbage in thin slices. Slîce okra for gombo or ochra soup. Pare the potatoes, shell the peas, and eut ofif green corn f rom the cob, for ail thèse add fine flavor to soup. To color soup brown, use browned flour or a lîttle burnt sugar. Spinach leaves give a fine green color. Pound the leaves, tie them în a cloth, and squeeze out ail the juice, which, add to the soup flve minutes before serving. This is also used to give color to mock-turtle soup. You may color soup red by putting in the strained juice of tomatoes, or the whole tomato, if it is run through a sieve ; grated carrot gives a fine amber color ; okra gives a pale green. For white soups, which are made of veal, lamb, and chicken, white vegetables are best, such as rice, pearl barley, vermicelli, and macaroni ; the thickening should then be made of unbrowned flour. STOCK FOB SOUP. stock in its composition is not confined to any set rules for any particular proportions. AU cook book» give particular as well as gênerai, directions for its manufacture; but ail cooks know that the most economical plan is to hâve a gênerai stock-pot, where, or into which, you can throw any pièces of beef or any pièce of méat from which gravy can be extracted — bones, skin, brisket or tops of ribs, ox-cheek, ham, trim- 4 LA CUISINE CREOLE. mings of turkey and other fowls, pièces of mutton, ba- con, veal, game, etc., etc. In fact, anythîng that wîll become a jelly will assîst in making stock. To this medley of ingrédients add pepper, sait, spices, herbs, carrots eut small, onions, and curry, if wished, etc., and stew ail to a rich consistency over a slow fire, and then remove to cool. When cool, or rather cold, every particle of fat must be removed and stock poured clear of ail sédiment ; it is now ready for use. When very rich soup is desired, the jelly from a cow-heel, or lump of butter roUed in flour, must be added to the stock. TO CLARIFY STOCKS OR SOUPS. The whites of two eggs to about four quarts of stock or soup ; two pints and a half of cold water. Whisk the whites of two f resh eggs with half a pint of water for ten minutes ; then pour in very gently the four .quarts of boiling stock or soup, stirring it ail the time. Place the stewpan over the fire, and skim the mixture till clear before allowing it to boil. When on the point of boiling, stir rapidly ; then place it a little back from the fire, and let it settle till the whites of the eggs be- come separated. Strain it through a fine cloth placed over a sieve, and it will be clear and god. STOCK FOR GRAVIES.