Modern cookery for private families

minute. Six ounces of flour with seven of butter, made into a _roux_, or merely mixed together with a large knife, will be required to thicken a tureen of soup; as much as half a pound is sometimes used; these must be added by degrees, and carefully stirred round in the soup until smoothly blended with it, or they will remain in lumps. We would, however, recommend any other thickening rather than this unwholesome mixture. All the ingredients used for soups should be fresh, and of good quality, particularly Italian pastes of every kind (macaroni, vermicelli, &c.), as they contract, by long keeping, a peculiarly unpleasant, musty flavour. Onions, freed from the outer skin, dried gradually to a deep brown, in a slow oven, and flattened like Norfolk biffins, will keep for almost any length of time, and are extremely useful for heightening the colour and flavour of broths and gravies.[14] Footnote 14: The fourth part of one these dried onions (_des ognons brûlés_), of moderate size, is sufficient for a tureen of soup. They are sold very commonly in France, and may be procured in London at many good foreign warehouses. TO FRY BREAD TO SERVE WITH SOUP. Cut some slices a quarter of an inch thick from a stale loaf; pare off the crust and divide the bread into dice, or cut it with a small paste-cutter into any other form. For half a pound of bread put two ounces of the best butter into a frying-pan, and when it is quite melted, add the bread; keep it turned over a gentle fire until it is equally coloured to a very pale brown, then drain it from the butter, and dry it on a soft cloth, or on a sheet of paper placed before a clear fire upon a dish, or upon a sieve reversed. SIPPETS À LA REINE. Having cut the bread as for common sippets, spread it on a dish, and pour over it a few spoonsful of thin cream, or of good milk: let it soak for an hour, then fry it in fresh butter