The Cooking Manual of Practical Directions for Economical Every-Day Cookery

to cool uncovered, and all the fat removed, and saved to clarify for drippings; the stock is then ready to heat and use for soup, or gravy. When stock has been darkened and clouded by careless skimming and fast boiling, it can be clarified by adding to it one egg and the shell, mixed first with a gill of cold water, then with a gill of boiling soup, and stirring it briskly into the soup until it boils; then remove it to the back of the fire where it will not boil, and let it stand until the white and shell of the egg have collected the small particles clouding the soup; then strain it once or twice, until it looks clear. 2. =Flavoring, thickening, and coloring soups.=--The flavor of soup stock may be varied by using in it a little ham, anchovy, sausage, sugar, or a calf's foot. Herbs in the sprig, and whole spices should be used in seasoning, as they can easily be strained out. All delicate flavors, and wine, should be added to soup just before serving it, unless the contrary is expressly directed in the receipt, because boiling would almost entirely evaporate them: one gill of wine is usually allowed to every three pints of soup. Soups which precede a full dinner should be less rich than those which form the bulk of the meal. Corn starch, arrow root, and potato flour are better than wheat flour for thickening soup. The meal of peas and beans can be held in suspension by mixing together dry a tablespoonful of butter and flour, and stirring it into the soup; a quarter of a pint of peas, beans, or lentils, is sufficient to make a quart of thick soup. Two ounces of macaroni, vermicelli, pearl barley, sago, tapioca, rice, or oatmeal, are usually allowed for each quart of stock. If you wish to darken soup use a teaspoonful of caramel; but avoid burnt flour, carrot, and onion, as all these give a bad flavor. Caramel can be made from the following receipt; melt half a pound of loaf