Soyer's standard cookery

Let the whole simmer very gently for ten minutes — or until the oysters are done — and serve hot. Frog Soup. Take a quart and a half of good white stock and add to it a small sliced onion, a pinch of parsley, one and a half ounces of flour with pepper and salt to taste. After simmering gently for an hour strain the soup and add to it a glass of dry sherry and about a dozen frogs' legs previously fried to a golden tint in butter. Let the whole simmer for another half-hour. Blend the yolks of two eggs thoroughly in a cup of hot milk with a little butter, and add to the soup, which should be served as hot as possible. Fish Soup. Take about two pounds of any large fresh fish and cut it into moderate-sized pieces. Slice finely one small onion, a small carrot, half a stick of celery, and half a dozen button mushrooms. Next take a large stewpan and put into it two ounces of butter and three tablespoonfuls of olive oil. As soon as these are blended, add a sliced onion and a tablespoonful of chopped parsley and fry them. Next add the other vegetables and the pieces of fish, being careful that they are quite dry. Sprinkle with pepper and salt, and fry till the fish is slightly browned. Now add three or four sliced tomatoes and about two quarts of boiling water, and let the whole simmer until the fish is thoroughly cooked, skimming carefully from time to time. When the soup has cooled a little, strain it, and after removing the fish bones rub both the fish and vegetables through a sieve and put them back into the broth. Let the whole simmer for another ten minutes before serving. Slice a small French roll and bake it in the oven till moderately brown. Put these slices into the tureen and pour the soup over them. Grated Parmesan cheese is usually served with this soup. Fish Broth. Save the water in which any large fish has been boiled, add the scraps left from the fish, and simmer the whole until it is reduced to a quart. After straining, add six potatoes, a carrot and a leek, all sliced, some parsley, and a bay leaf. Let it simmer again for half an hour and then add twelve oysters, a tablespoonful of sherry, a pint of hot white stock, and a little pepper and salt. Cook gently for ten minutes more — or until the oysters are done — and serve as hot as possible. Lobster Soup. Fry an ounce of chopped ham, a minced onion, and a minced carrot with a little parsley and thyme in one ounce of butter. Place this in a quart and a half of white stock together with a pint of any white wine and three pounds of boiled lobster chopped up small. After simmering for an hour strain the whole, add a sliced hard-boiled egg, a little butter, and two cupfuls of boiled rice. Make very hot and serve with sippets of toast. Lenten Broth. This is a favorite dish in many of the Austrian convents. Cut two pounds of any fish into pieces of moderate size and cook for two hours in a quart of water with a carrot, onion, turnip, two sticks of celery, and a small bunch of any herbs that are liked.