Soyer's standard cookery

This is a convent soup greatly in repute with invalid nuns. Cut an old fowl into joints and put them, together with the heart, gizzard, and liver, into two quarts of water, to which add two cups of barley, three onions, a carrot, a small bunch of thyme, parsley, and marjoram, and — if obtainable — a small handful of marshmallow root. Let the whole simmer gently for three hours, after which strain the broth and press the barley through a sieve. Add pepper and salt to taste, the yolk of one egg, and a tablespoonful of brandy. The whole should be reduced to about a quart, and will be found very nourishing. Lentil Soup. Take half a pint of French beans, two onions, two turnips, two carrots, and a leek, all sliced, with a cupful of spinach, a little celery, and some parsley, and fry the whole with two ounces of butter. Add the vegetables to three pints of milk, with which an ounce of flour has been mixed, a pint of stewed tomatoes, a blade of mace, and a pinch of baking soda. After simmering for two hours pass the whole through a sieve, add a little butter, a teaspoonful of sugar, and two tablespoonfuls of cooked rice. Serve very hot. Lentil Soup. (Another Method.) Cut three onions, a turnip, and the half of a carrot into very thin slices, which put into a stewpan, with a quarter of a pound of butter, a few sprigs of parsley, a sprig of thyme, and two bay-leaves, add also two pounds of leg of beef, cut into small dice; set the stewpan upon the fire, stirring with a wooden spoon, until its contents are fried rather brown, when add one quart of lentils, and three quarts of water; let the whole simmer until the lentils are very tender, when season with nearly an ounce of salt, and half that quantity of sugar; it is then ready to serve. To make a puree of lentils : — When the soup is made, strain off the broth, add a good spoonful of flour to the lentils, which mash with a wooden spoon against the side of the stewpan; then again put in the broth, boil all up together, keeping it stirred with a spoon; rub it through a hair sieve, again boil and skim, and it is ready; serve with a few croutons of bread, as directed for Palestine Soup. Haricot Soup. Boil until tender one pound of haricot beans, and then add one finely shredded cabbage, a slice of fat bacon, a red chili, and a little salt. Let the whole boil steadily for an hour, then add an onion sliced and fried in butter, with just a suspicion of garlic. The soup should be stirred frequently while cooking. Neapolitan Soup. Bring three pints of strong stock to the boil, and stir in two ounces of semolina and a little pepper and salt, letting the whole simmer for a quarter of an hour. Now beat the yolks of four eggs with a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan cheese and three teaspoonfuls of lemon juice. Add these to the soup and stir over the fire till the whole is blended; but be very careful that it does not boil, or the eggs will curdle. If a little cream is added, just before serving, the soup will be improved. Macaroni Soup.