Stew Soup

Cut the beef up in small pieces, add the other ingredients, and boil gently for 2½ hours.

Cut the meat in small pieces, as also the vegetables, and add them, with the peas, to the water. Boil gently for 3 hours; thicken with the oatmeal, boil for another ¼ hour, stirring all the time, and season with pepper and salt.

Cut up the turkey in small pieces, and put it in the stock; let it simmer slowly until the bones are quite clean. Take the bones out, and work the soup through a sieve; when cool, skim well. Mix the rice‑flour or arrowroot to a batter with a little of the soup; add it with the seasoning and sauce, or ketchup. Give one boil, and serve.

Cut off the head of the turtle the preceding day.

In the morning open the turtle by leaning heavily with a knife on the shell of the animal's back, cutting it all round.

Turn it upright on its end so that all the water runs out, then cut the flesh off along the spine with a knife sloping toward the bones, avoiding the gall.

Wash the flesh clean and let it drain.

Place a large vessel of boiling water on the fire and put the shells in; when they come off easily, remove them and prick them all with a knife.

Boil the back and belly until the bones can be taken off, without overcooking the softer parts, which will be boiled again in the soup.

When the bones come off easily, lay them on earthen dishes singly to cool.

Keep the liquor in which the softer parts were blanched and let the bones stew thoroughly in it, as this liquor will be used to moisten all sauces.

Lay slices of ham on the bottom of a very large stewpan, then the knuckles of veal, then the inside flesh of the turtle and the members.

Moisten with the water in which the shell was boiled and draw it down thoroughly.

Check doneness by inserting a knife; if no blood appears, moisten again with the liquor in which the bones boiled.

Add a large bunch of sweet herbs (sweet basil, sweet marjoram, lemon thyme, winter savory, 2–3 bay leaves, common thyme, a handful of parsley and green onions, and a large onion with 6 cloves) and let the whole be thoroughly done.

Probe the members to see if they are done; if so, drain and set aside until the soup is finished.

When the flesh is completely done, strain it through a silk sieve and make a very thin white roux; turtle soup should not be thickened much.

When the flour is sufficiently cooked on a slow fire and has a good colour, moisten it with the liquor, keeping it over the fire until it boils.

Ensure the sauce is neither too thick nor too thin; then skim off the white scum and all fat and oil that rise to the surface.

Cut the softer parts into pieces about one or two inches square and add them to the soup, which should simmer gently.

When done, skim off all fat and froth and remove all herb leaves from the stock.