Mock Turtle Soup (Potage de Fausse Tortue)

Ingredients

• £ calf’s head
• 1 lb. lean juicy beef
• 4 qts. cold water
• 3 oz. lean ham or a small ham bone
• A bunch of herbs
• Salt to taste
• 2 oz. butter
• 2 oz. cornflour
• A piece of carrot
• and turnip
• 2 onions
• 12 black peppercorns
• 6 cloves
• 1 blade of mace
• £ tea-sp. celery seed
• 1 glass of sherry or marsala
• Asqueeze of lemon juice
• Salt, cayenne pepper

Method

1. 1

   Wash the head well, removing the brains and tongue.

2. 2

   Soak the head in cold water with salt for at least half an hour.

3. 3

   Blanch it by boiling briefly, then wash again.

4. 4

   Remove gristle and tie the meat in muslin.

5. 5

   Chop bones and cut ham and beef into small pieces.

6. 6

   Put bones and meats in a saucepan with cold water, bring to boil, skim, add salt, and simmer for 3.5 hours.

7. 7

   Strain stock and cool.

8. 8

   Melt butter, fry vegetables and ham until browned, add cornflour, mix, pour in stock, stir until boiling.

9. 9

   Season, simmer for 1.5 hours, strain, reheat, add wine and lemon juice, serve with forcemeat balls and diced head.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Cookery for every household (1914) by Florence B. Jack, page 111. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

Mock Turtle Soup (Potage de Fausse Tortue) £ calf’s head. 1 lb. lean juicy beef. 4 qts. cold water. 3 oz. lean ham or a small ham bone. A bunch of herbs. Salt to taste. 2 oz. butter. 2 oz. cornflour. A piece of carrot and turnip. 2 onions. 12 black peppercorns. 6 cloves. 1 blade of mace. £ tea-sp. celery seed. 1 glass of sherry or marsala. Wash the head well, removing the brains and tongue, which are not used in the soup, but may be kept for some small savoury dish or entree. Take away all the gristle from the nostrils, and let the head soak in cold water, with a handful of salt in it, for half an hour at least. Then blanch it, that is, put it into a saucepan with cold water to cover it, bring it to the boil, pour the water away, and wash the head again in cold water. Remove the pieat from the bones and tie it in a piece of coarse muslin, chop up the bones and cut the ham and beef in small pieces. Put the bones and different meats into a large saucepan and pour on the cold water (there should be sufficient to well cover them). Bring slowly to the boil and skim well. Add a little salt and simmer gently, skimming occasionally, for 3£ hours. Then strain the stock through a hair sieve and stand until cold. Melt the butter in a saucepan, have the vegetables and ham cut into small pieces, and fry them in it with the herbs and spices. Let them get a nice light brown colour, and stir well to keep them from burning. Then add the cornflour, and mix it smoothly in. Remove all fat from the top of the stock, pour it into the sauce- pan, and stir until boiling. Add pepper and salt to taste, and simmer slowly for one and a half hours. Remove any scum that may rise. Strain through a hair sieve into a basin, rinse out the saucepan, and return the soup to it to reheat. Add the wine and lemon juice, and serve in it forcemeat balls (see Recipe 1288) and small pieces of the head cut into dice. Note. — The raw beef may be omitted from the ingredients if good stock is used instead of water. Time to cook, 5 to 6 hours. Cost, uncertain. Quantity, about 2 quarts. 145. Turkey Soup with Chestnuts (Potage de Dinde aux Marrons) Remains of roast tur- key. Some second stock. 1 or 2 oz. butter or dripping. A bunch of herbs. A small ham bono. 1 oz. cornflour or arrow- root. 1 table-sp. mush- room ketchup. 1£ to 2 doz. chestnuts. Salt. Pepper. A squeeze of lemon or orange juice. Reserve some of the meat from the turkey for serving in the soup, cut it in dice or fine shreds, and put this aside. Remove any stuffing from the bird, as this might give the soup too strong a flavour. Break up the rest of the remains in small pieces and chop the larger bones. Melt the butter or dripping in a saucepan and make it smoking hot. Put in the turkey remains, the ham bone, and bunch of herbs, and fry these a good brown colour. Add by degrees enough stock to cover the contents of the saucepan and bring to the boil. Then skim well, simmer slowly from 2 to 3 hours, and strain through a fine sieve into a basin. Remove all fat from the top of the stock and return it to the sauce- pan to reheat. If time permits, pound some of the meat from the bones and rub it through a sieve, moistening it from time to time with some of the liquid. Add this pur6e to the stock in the saucepan along with the arrowroot or cornflour broken to a smooth paste with the ketchup and stir over the fire until boiling. Season to taste, add the chestnuts shelled (see Recipe 1625) and the pieces of meat, and cook again 15 to 20 minutes until the chestnuts are soft, but not too broken. A little sherry or marsala may bo added if wished. Note. — If no stock is available for making the soup, water may be used, but in this case a few vegetables should be added to give flavour. Time to cook, about 3 hours. 146. Turtle Soup, from Dried Turtle (Potage Tortue) 1£ lb. knuckle of veal. l| lb. shin of beef. £ lb. sun-dried turtle. £ lb. lean ham. 4 qts. cold water. 1 carrot. 1 turnip. 2 or 3 sticks of celery. 2 onions. A bunch of herbs. 2 oz. butter. 2 oz. corn- flour or arrowroot. 1 glasssherry ormarsala. Asqueeze of lemon juice. Salt, cayenne pepper

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.