Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/247

Rh pint of milk, 2 ozs. of butter, 1½ ozs. of flour, 1 carrot, ½ a turnip, 1 or 2 strips of celery, 3 or 4 shallots, or 1 small onion, a bouquet-garni (parsley, thyme, bay-leaf), 1 teaspoonful of anchovy essence, salt and pepper, small quenelles of whiting or other white fish.

Method.—Slice the vegetables and fry them in the butter until pale brown, then stir in the flour, add the stock, and stir until it boils. Remove the shell of the lobster, cut the meat from the claws into dice or cubes, and set it aside until wanted. Add the bouquet-garni, the rest of the lobster, and the pounded shell to the stock, simmer for ½ an hour; then take out the shell and rub the rest through a fine sieve. Return to the saucepan, add the milk, and when near boiling point put in the quenelles, anchovy-essence, and necessary seasoning. Place the dice of lobster in the tureen, and pour in the soup.

Time.—1½ hours. Average Cost, 2s. 9d. to 3s. Seasonable from April to October. Sufficient for 6 persons.

Ingredients.—1 lb. knuckle of veal, 1 lb. of plaice, 2 ozs. of butter, 1½ ozs. of flour, ½ a pint of milk, ¼ a pint of cream, 18 oysters, 1 onion, 1 bay-leaf, 1 teaspoonful of anchovy essence, salt and pepper.

Method.—To 1 quart of cold water add the veal cut into small pieces, the onion and bay-leaf. Simmer gently for 3 hours, then strain, and when cold remove the fat. Fillet the plaice, remove the black skin, and simmer the fish in 1 quart of cold water for about 1 hour, or until it is reduced to shreds, then rub through a fine sieve. Simmer the beards of the oysters in ½ a pint of the fish stock, add the liquor from the oysters, strain, and put aside. Mix together the veal and fish stock, and bring to boiling point. Melt the butter in a stewpan, stir in the flour, cook for 2 or 3 minutes, then pour in the hot stock and stir until it boils. Now add the milk, oyster liquor, anchovy-essence, and season to taste. If the oysters are large, cut them in halves, and put them into the boiling soup just before serving, but they must not be allowed to cook. Stir in the cream at the last moment.

Time.—2 hours, after veal stock is made. Average Cost, 3s. 6d. Seasonable from September to April. Sufficient for 10 persons.

Ingredients.—1 skate, weighing from 1½ to 2 lb., 1 onion sliced, 1 strip of celery in small pieces, 1 bay-leaf, 2 ozs. of vermicelli, 2 yolks of eggs, ¼ of a pint of cream, salt and pepper, 3 pints of water.

Method.—Clean the skate thoroughly, and let it hang at least a day, and in cold weather even longer. When ready to use, remove the skin,