Practical household cookery

Fry for ten minutes in a stewpan with two ounces of butter, eight ordinary-sized carrots, one onion, and two heads of celery, all shred fine ; also a pint of fresh haricot beans ; after which, add one quart of good broth ; salt and pepper to taste. Let it boil for an hour and a half ; then pass the vegetables through a fine sieve by rubbing in the usual way ; pour the purée back to the stewpan with the remainder of the broth, to which another quart must be added, and about an ounce of sugar. Let it again boil gently for half an hour, without forgetting to stir the purée ; then pour it into a soup-tureen, with a few slices of bread cut thin. If this soup should be required "maigre,''t use plain water instead of broth, and before serving take the yolks of four eggs and two ounces of butter; whisk these well, and pour it into the soup-tureen as in No. 22. 25. FISH BROTH. Fish with plenty of bone (the flesh of which is generally firm) is the best for soup ; and the greater the variety used * Crofttons are slices of cmmlM of bread out in small dice and fried ID claiified butter to a nice golden colour, t ** Maigre " means food made without meat of any kind. the better the broth. Fry in a stewpan with two ounces of butter until nicely browned, two carrots, one onion, and half a head of celery, all sliced fine ; then add the different sorts of fish previously deaned and cut into pieces four inches long, with three pints of boiling water; salt and white pepper to taste. Boil fast on a good fire for about forty minutes ; skim carefully all fat and scum from the top, and pass the broth through a fine cloth. This broth must be clear and of a golden colour. Should it not, however, be so, it can easily be clarified with about a quarter of a pound of uncooked fish (the flesh only) and the whites of two eggs whisked, &a, as in No. 2 broth ; and if wanting in colour, pour a few drops of caramel and stir well before serving. 26. ANOTHER FISH BROTH. Prepare everything as in No. 25 ; but instead of using plain water, take the water in which any vegetables may have been cooked (the more vegetables the better), and clarify in the same manner if necessary. 27. FROG BROTH. I know well beforehand the expressions of disgust that will be felt in reading the heading of this broth ; nevertheless, do not be led astray by an uneducated palate or a prejudiced opinion. Frogs are considered a delicacy in France, are quite as much appreciated in Italy and in Germany, and are reared on a very large scale in America; therefore, why should they not be cultivated and eaten iu Great Britain ? The mode of preparing this broth is as follows : — Put two ounces of fresh butter in a stewpan and fry to a nice brown ; two carrots, two onions, three spring onions if in season. and the head of half a celery, all shred finely; also two pounds of fresh frogs properly skinned and cleaned. When the whole is nicely hrown pour three pints of boiling water over it ; salt and white pepper to taste ; boil gently for forty minutes ; then pass the broth through a fine cloth, and serve with a few crodtons fried in butter. Whoever partakes of this broth will ask for it again. 28. FROG PUR^E SOUP.