Hare Soup

Is one of the best ways of dressing an old hare, which, when it is so tough as to defy the teeth in any other form, will make excellent soup.

Cut off the legs and shoulders, and divide the body crossways, stew it very gently in a gallon of water, with two ounces of lean ham or bacon, four carrots, two onions, with four cloves stuck in them, two blades of pounded mace, and a bundle of sweet herbs, till the whole is tender: the time this will take, depends very much upon the age of the hare, and how long it has been kept before it is dressed; as a general rule, say three hours: when it is quite tender, take the meat off the back, cut it into small pieces, and lay it aside; cut the rest of the meat off the legs and shoulders, mince it, pound it in a mortar, and rub it through a hair sieve, to make thickening for the soup; put in the meat of the back, season with a little nutmeg and salt, a glass of port wine, and a few grains of Cayenne pepper.

Observations

Cold roast hare will make excellent soup. Chop it in pieces, and stew it in three quarts of water for about an hour, and manage it as in the above receipt; the stuffing of the hare will be a very agreeable substitute for sweet herbs and seasoning.

Partridge Soup

If you have two or three birds that are too old to send up as roasts, pick and draw them, cut them into three or four pieces, and put them into a large stew pan with a quarter of a pound of lean ham, a large carrot, a turnip, two onions, two heads of celery, a dozen corns of allspice, and the same of black pepper, two blades of mace, and two or three cloves finely pounded: pour in a pint of cold water, set the stewpan over a quick fire, and watch it till the water has all boiled away; take care it does not burn: when the partridges and ham have taken a good browning, add two quarts of boiling water, or beef or veal broth is better, if you have it; let it stew slowly for two hours, then strain it through a sieve into a clean stewpan. Take three whites and shells of eggs, beat them well with a pint of cold water, and pour it into the soup, set it on the fire, and just when it is going to boil take it off, and set it on one side of the fire for ten minutes, strain through a tammis, or very fine napkin, season it with Cayenne pepper and salt, make it hot, and send it up (in a side dish) with the crusts of two French rolls cut into bits as big as a sixpence.

Soup Without Water

Cut into thin slices six pounds of lean beef, and the same of veal, put them into a stone jar with a dozen large turnips, peeled, washed, and cut in slices, two onions, and a little salt; cover the jar very close, so that no steam can evaporate, and set it on some hay (to keep the jar steady) in a large saucepan half full of boiling water, keep a kettle of water boiling, to fill this up as it wastes, set it over a slow fire to boil gently for five hours; strain your soup through a silk sieve into a clean stewpan; have ready boiled a carrot, a turnip, and an onion, cut neatly into small dice; put them into the soup, let them get warm in it, and send up hot, with toasted bread cut into little pieces on a plate.

Observations

This is certainly the very quintessence of meat, and "ne plus ultra" of rapidly restorative and immediately assimilating nourishment, but it can only be served at those tables where the mistress of the mansion never looks at the butcher's bill.