Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/223

Rh very thin white roux (i.e., a preparation of butter and flour), for turtle soup must not be thickened very much. When the flour is sufficiently done on a slow fire, and has a good colour, moisten it with the liquor, keeping it over the fire until it boils. Ascertain that the sauce is neither too thick nor too thin; then draw the stewpan to the side of the stove and skim off the white scum, and all the fat and oil that rises to the surface of the sauce. By this time all the softer parts will be sufficiently cold; they must be cut about 1 or 2 inches square, and thrown into the soup, which must now be left to simmer gently. When done, skim off all the fat and froth. Take all the leaves of the herbs from the stock—sweet basil, sweet marjoram, lemon thyme, winter savory, 2 or 3 bay-leaves, common thyme, a handful of parsley and green onions, and a large onion cut in 4 pieces, with a few blades of mace. Put these in a stewpan, with about ¼ of a lb. of fresh butter, and let it simmer on a slow fire till quite melted, then pour in 1 bottle of good Madeira, adding a small piece of sugar, and let it boil gently for 1 hour. When done, rub it through a tammy-cloth, and add it to the soup. Let this boil till no white scum rises; then with a skimmer remove all the bits of turtle out of the sauce, and put them in a clean stewpan; when you have taken all out, pour the soup over the pieces of turtle, through a tammy-cloth, and proceed as follows:—

Quenelles à la Tortue.—Make some quenelles à la tortue, which do not require to be very delicate, being substitutes for eggs. Take from the fleshy part of a leg of veal about 1 lb., scrape off all the meat, without any sinews or fat. Soak about the same quantity of crumbs of bread in milk. When the bread is well soaked, squeeze it, and put it into a mortar with the veal, a small quantity of calf's udder, a little butter, the yolks of 4 eggs, boiled hard, a little cayenne pepper, salt and spices, and pound the whole very fine; then thicken the mixture with 2 whole eggs and the yolk of another. Next try this farce or stuffing, in boiling hot water, to ascertain its consistency; if it is too thin, add the yolk of an egg. When the farce is perfected, take half of it, and put into it some chopped parsley. Let the whole cool, then form it into the shape and size of the yolk of an egg; poach them in salt and boiling water, and when very hard drain on a sieve, and put it into the soup. Before serving, squeeze the juice of 2 or 3 lemons upon a little cayenne pepper and pour into the soup. The fins may be served as an entrée with a little turtle sauce; if not, on the following day you may warm the turtle in the bain marie, and serve the members entire, with a matelote sauce, garnished with mushrooms, cocks' combs, quenelles, etc. When either lemon-juice or cayenne pepper has been introduced no boiling must take place.

Note.—It is necessary to observe that the turtle prepared a day before it is used is generally preferable, the flavour being more uniform. Be particular, when you dress a very large turtle, to preserve the green fat in a separate stewpan (be cautious not to turn it a brown colour—the natural green of the