Soup is economical food, and by a little attention may be made good with very small materials. It should never be made of meat that has been kept too long. If meat is old, or has become tainted in the least, the defect is peculiarly offensive in soup. All meat and bones for soup should be boiled a long time, and set aside until the next day in order that the fat may be entirely removed. Then add the vegetables, rice, and herbs, and boil it from an hour to an hour and a half. The water in which fresh meat is boiled should be saved for soup and broth; and the bones of roast beef should never be thrown away without boiling, as they make excellent soup, and if not used for this purpose, should be boiled in order to save the fat which they contain.

A Rich Soup.

The richest soups are made by using several kinds of meat together; as beef, mutton, and veal. A shank of each of these with very little meat upon it, should be boiled several hours the first day; and vegetables, with various kinds of spice, added the day it is to be served. Nice soups should be strained; and they are good with macaroni, added afterwards, and boiled half or three quarters of an hour. If you have the water, in which chickens have been boiled, the soup will be much better if the beef, mutton, and veal are boiled in this, instead of pure water.

Roast Beef Bone Soup.

Boil the bones at least three hours, or until every particle of meat is loose; then take them out and scrape off the meat and set aside the water; the next day take from it all the fat, cut up an onion, two or three potatoes and a turnip, and put into it. Add, half an hour before dinner, powdered sweet marjoram, catsup, and some salt. Boil it an hour.

Shank Soup.

When you buy a shank, have the butcher cut it into several pieces, and split open the thickest part of the bone. Boil it three or four hours and set it aside. The next day, take off the fat, and if you do not wish to eat the meat in the soup, take that out also; add vegetables, etc., as in the preceding receipt. To make a convenient use of the meat, see the receipt for minced meat.

Ox-tail Soup.

Take two tails, divide them at the joints, soak them in warm water. Put them into cold water in a gallon pot or stew-pan. Skim off the froth carefully. When the meat is boiled to shreds, take out the bones, and add a chopped onion and carrot. Use spices and sweet herbs or not, as you prefer. Boil it three or four hours.Soup of the remnants of Calf's Head.

Remove the fat from the water in which the head was boiled, and put into it the pieces left of the first day's dinner, cut up small. Add cloves, crackers, pepper, browned flour, curry powder, and, if you choose, catsup. Boil it an hour.

Mock-Turtle Soup.

Add to the foregoing ingredients, red wine, nutmeg, and mace; and force meat balls, made in the following way,—Chop some of the meat fine, and put with it an equal quantity of fine bread crumbs, onions chopped small, cayenne and black pepper, sweet marjoram and powdered clove. Beat two eggs and with them stir the ingredients together, and make into balls, and fry in butter enough to brown them; then put the balls and the butter into the soup.

Turkey Soup.

The remnants of a young turkey make good soup. Put all the bones, and little bits left of a dinner into about three quarts of water. If you have turkey gravy, or the remnants of chickens, add them also, and boil them two hours or more. Skim out the meat and bones, and set the water aside in a cool place till the next day. Then take all the fat from the top; take the bones and pieces of skin out from the meat and return it to the liquor. If some of the dressing has been left, put that in also, and boil all together a few minutes. If more seasoning is needed, add it to suit your taste.

White Soup.

Boil a knuckle of veal to shreds, add a quarter of a pound of vermicelli, half a pint of cream, and lemon peel and mace.

Pea Soup.

Take a pint of split peas, and when carefully picked over and washed, put them into a pint of water to soak over night. Three hours before dinner, put them into a pot with a quart more water, and about half a pound of pork (less if you wish the soup not very rich.) Boil it steadily, and be careful to stir it often, lest it should burn. It may need more water before dinner, and can be made of whatever thickness you prefer.

If you prefer to have the soup without pork (which makes it too rich for many persons), use the liquor in which beef or other fresh meat has been boiled instead of water, and use no pork. This is a very good way.

Vegetable Soup.

Take two turnips, two carrots, four potatoes, one large onion, one parsnip, and a few stalks of celery or some parsley. Cut them all very fine, or chop them in a tray; put them, with a spoonful of rice, into three quarts of water, and boil the whole three hours. Then strain the soup through a colander or coarse sieve, return it to the kettle, and put it over the fire. Add a piece of butter of the size of a nut, stir the soup till the butter is melted, dredge in a little flour, let it boil up and then serve it.

Mutton or Lamb Broth.

Take the water in which a leg of mutton or lamb was boiled on the previous day, take off the fat and boil it two hours with a turnip, an onion, and a carrot, cut small. Add some minced parsley and a spoonful of rice. All these, except the parsley, should be put in while the water is cold. Any little pieces of the neck, ribs, or shank will make excellent broth.

Veal Broth.

Take a knuckle, or if you have a large family, two knuckles of veal. Put them over the fire, at least three hours before dinner-time; use not more than two quarts of water for two knuckles, and skim it until it is no longer necessary. (Veal requires more attention in this respect than any other meat). When this is done, add a spoonful of rice. A quarter of an hour before it is to be served, put in some minced parsley, salt, and pepper. It is a very nutritious dish. Some persons add two or three slices of salt pork.

It is a good way, after having taken off cutlets from the large end of a leg of veal, to boil the entire piece that remains, with the knuckle. Boil it two hours or two hours and a half. Make broth of the liquor by putting in a small gill of rice, and some parsley; add the parsley about ten minutes before it is served.

Melt butter with cut parsley, to eat on the meat.

In families that like salt pork, a piece should be boiled separately to eat with the veal.