Beef Stock Soup.
5 lbs. of beef, and as many of bones; 2 carrots; 2 onions, sliced and fried in dripping; 2 turnips; bunch of herbs; 7 quarts of water; 2 teaspoonfuls essence of celery, or 3 stalks of the green plant, with the tops cut off; pepper and salt; dice of fried bread; 1 large spoonful of tomato catsup.
Cut up the meat, and chop the vegetables. Put with the herbs and cracked bones into a pot, and pour on two quarts of water. Heat slowly, and after it has boiled one hour, skim well, and add the other five quarts—also cold. Cook steadily four or five hours longer, then strain, rubbing the vegetables to pieces. There should be at least five quarts of liquid. If, in the boiling, it has lost too much, you should have replenished the pot with boiling water. Take out two quarts for to-day’s soup. Return meat and bones to the fire, and pour the rest of the soup over them with another quart of cold water. Cover very closely and simmer at the back of the range two hours longer. Then set away in an earthenware vessel, having seasoned it, and when cold, put on ice. You will now have made soup-stock for three days.
Cool the portion kept out for to-day; take off all the fat, season and re-heat it. Boil gently and skim well. Stir in the catsup, and pour upon the fried bread already put into the tureen.
Boiled Ham.
Wash a ham thoroughly, scrubbing off all the rusty parts with the dust. Put on in plenty of cold water, and boil twenty minutes to the pound. Let it get almost cold in the water. If possible, do this on Friday, and do not skin until perfectly cold on Saturday. The fat will then be white and prettily pitted, and the skin leave it easily. Twist frilled paper about the shank, and lay in a bed of curled fresh parsley. Carve in thin slices.
Onion Tomato Sauce.
2 quarts of ripe tomatoes; 1 onion, chopped; 1 tablespoonful of chopped parsley; 2 teaspoonfuls sugar; pepper and salt to taste; 1 tablespoonful of butter rolled in flour.
Pare the tomatoes, and slice thin. Stew with the onion half an hour; then pulp through a colander; return to the saucepan with the seasoning, and when again hot, stir in the parsley and floured butter. Boil gently three minutes.
Squash au Gratin.
Boil and mash, as usual, pressing out the water. Beat up with a good bit of butter, season with pepper and salt; finally whip in two or three tablespoonfuls of milk and a raw egg. Pour into a buttered pudding dish; strew thickly with fine crumbs and bake in a quick oven to a light brown.
Stripped Potatoes.
Peel and cut potatoes lengthwise into strips. Lay in ice-water half an hour. Dry between two clean towels, and fry to a pale brown in hot, salted lard. Shake in a heated colander to clear them of the fat, and turn into a dish lined with a napkin.
Whole Peach Pie.
Pare ripe peaches without removing the stones. Have your pie-dishes ready lined with a good paste, fill with the peaches; strew these with sugar, and cover with crust. Bake in a steady oven. Sift sugar over it, and eat fresh, with cream poured upon each slice.