Good Gravy Soup

1 lb. beef, 1 pound veal, 1 lb. mutton, 6 quarts water, 1 crust of bread, 1 carrot, 1 onion, a little summer savory, 4 cloves, pepper and a blade of mace.

Cut the meat in small pieces and put into the water, with the crust of bread toasted very crisp. Peel the carrot and onion, and, with a little summer savory, pepper, 4 cloves and a blade of mace, put in the stewpan. Cover it and let it stew slowly until the liquid is reduced to 3 qts. Then strain it, take off the fat, and serve with sippets of toast.

White Soup

3 potatoes, 3 leeks, or a few green onions, 3 quarts water or stock, a small teacupful sago, 1 pint milk, 2 oz. butter.

Boil the potatoes and onions in the stock until quite tender, then mash them through a sieve with a little of the stock. Return the whole to the saucepan, add the milk. Sprinkle in the sago gradually, stirring well. When the sago has boiled clear and tender, stir in the butter and serve. If water be used instead of stock, 1/2 tea-spoonful of salt should be added with the potatoes and leeks, and pepper to taste.

Potato Soup

2 lbs. potatoes, a pinch of celery seed, a sprig of parsley, 2 quarts white stock, pepper and salt to taste.

Boil or steam the potatoes very dry, mash them very finely with a fork, and add them gradually to the boiling stock. Pass through a sieve, add the seasoning, and simmer 5 minutes, adding 1 oz. of butter and 1/2 pint of milk. Serve with fried bread or toast.

Oyster Soup a la Reine

2 or 3 doz. small oysters, some pale veal stock, mace, cayenne, 1 pint boiling cream.

Two or 3 dozen small oysters to each pint of soup should be prepared. Take the beards and simmer them separately in a little very pale veal stock 30 minutes. Heat 2 quarts of the stock, flavor with mace and cayenne, and add the strained stock from the oyster beards. Simmer the fish in their own liquor, add to it the soup and 1 pint of boiling cream. Put the oysters in a tureen, pour over the soup and serve. If not thick enough thicken with arrowroot or butter mixed with flour.

Milk Soup with Vermicelli

Salt, 5 pints boiling milk, 5 oz. fresh vermicelli.

Throw a small quantity of salt into 5 pints of boiling milk, and then drop lightly into it 5 oz. of good fresh vermicelli; keep the milk stirred as this is added, to prevent its gathering into lumps, and continue to stir it very frequently from 15 to 20 minutes, or until it is perfectly tender. The addition of a little pounded sugar and powdered cinnamon makes this a very palatable dish. For soup of this description, rice, semolina, sago, cocoa-nut, sago and macaroni may all be used, but they will be required in rather smaller proportions to the milk.

Celery Soup

The white part of 3 heads of celery, 1/2 lb. rice, 1 onion, 1 quart stock, 2 quarts milk, pepper and salt, and a little roux.

Cut up the celery and onions very small, boil them in the stock until quite tender, add the milk and the rice, and boil together until quite a pulp, add pepper and salt and a little roux, strain through a fine hair sieve or a metal strainer, and boil a few minutes, taking care it does not burn. Serve some small croutons or fried bread with it.

A Delicate and Delicious Soup

Three carrots, 2 turnips, 2 onions, 3 leeks, 1 stick of celery, 2 oz. butter, a little mutton broth, seasoning to taste.

Cut up the vegetables small and fry them in the butter till tender and of a light brown color. Add enough to keep them from burning, and stew them for an hour. Then rub through a sieve with a little more broth. Stew for a few minutes longer; salt and cayenne to taste.

If properly done the soup will be as thick as cream.

Onion Soup

Water that has boiled a leg or neck of mutton, 1 shank bone, 6 onions, 4 carrots, 2 turnips, salt.

Into the water that has boiled a leg or neck of mutton put the carrots and turnips and shank bone, and simmer 2 hours, then strain it on six onions, first sliced and fried a light brown, simmer 3 hours, skim carefully, and serve. Put into it a little roll or fried bread.

Eel Soup

3 lbs. eels, 1 onion, 1 oz. butter, 3 blades mace, 1 bunch sweet herbs, 1/4 oz. pepper-corns, salt, 2 tablespoonfuls flour, 1/4 pt. cream, 2 qts. water.

Wash the eels, cut them into thin slices and put them in the stewpan with the butter; let them simmer for a few minutes, then pour the water to them, and add the onion cut in small slices, the herbs, mace and seasoning. Simmer till the eels are tender, but do not break the flesh. Remove them carefully, mix flour smoothly to a batter with the cream, bring it to a boil, pour over the eels, and serve.

Mulligatawney Soup

One chicken (or 3 rabbits), 3 small onions, butter, curry powder, 1/2 lemon, cloves.

Cut up a good-sized chicken as for a fricassee; cut 3 small onions in slices, put a tablespoonful of butter in a frying-pan, add the chicken and onion, and stir till a nice brown; mix well with these a tablespoonful of curry powder, 4 whole cloves, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, and salt to taste. Put all in the soup kettle with 2 qts. of water, bring slowly to a boil, skim and let it simmer gently for 2 hours. Three rabbits may be used in place of the chicken, if preferred.

Corn Soup

One can green corn, 1 pt. milk, flour, butter, 1 egg.

Take one can of green corn and put it on the back of the stove with 2 qts. of hot water; let it cook gently 1/2 hour, then put where it will cook more rapidly. When the corn is tender, put in 1 pt. of milk, season to taste, let it boil up, then add 2 tablespoonfuls of flour mixed with 3 of butter. If you like you may, after removing the soup from the fire, stir in one well-beaten egg, beating rapidly to prevent curdling.