chicken, free it from skin and bones; pound the meat in a mortar with breadcrumbs, season with salt and nutmeg, moisten with all the stock, and rub through a fine sieve. Return to the stewpan. Peel and pound the almonds, boil in milk and pass through a tammy. Add this to the soup together with the butter just before serving. Serve the soup with a garnish of small chicken quenelles, also a handful of freshly cooked peas or asparagus points.
Average Cost.—6s. 10d. Sufficient for 8 persons. Seasonable at any time.
81.—RABBIT SOUP WITH SORREL. (Fr.—Potage de Lapin à l'Oseille.)
Ingredients.—3 quarts of water, 1 rabbit, ½ a lb. of shin of beef, 2 ozs. of lean bacon, 1 onion, 1 small carrot, a few leaves of sorrel, 10 peppercorns, 2 cloves, 2 blades of mace, 2 ozs. of butter, 1½ ozs. of flour, 1 dessertspoonful of finely-chopped parsley, 1 teaspoonful of lemon-juice, salt and pepper.
Method.—Cut the bacon into dice or cubes, the beef into small pieces, and the rabbit into small joints: from the back cut one or two nice fillets. Melt the butter in a large stewpan, and fry the beef, bacon, and rabbit until brown; put the small fillets aside, to be used later as a garnish. Add the water, sliced carrot, the onion, into which the cloves should be stuck, peppercorns, mace and salt, bring slowly to the boil, and skim well. Cook slowly for 3 hours, then strain. Put the beef into the stock-pot. The meat of the rabbit and the bacon pound well, and rub through a fine sieve. Re-heat the soup, mix the flour smoothly with a little cold stock, add it to the soup, stir and cook for a few minutes. Put in the purée of meat. Wash the sorrel, cut it into fine shreds, blanch, strain, and put into the soup. Cut the fillets of fried rabbit into dice, and add them, together with the lemon-juice, parsley, and any necessary seasoning, to the soup, and serve.
Time.—About 4 hours. Average Cost. 2s. 4d. to 2s. 6d. Seasonable from September to March. Sufficient for 10 persons.
82.—RABBIT SOUP (WHITE). (Fr.—Potage de Lapin.)
Ingredients.—1 rabbit, 3 pints of second stock, 1 pint of water, 4 ozs. of gammon of bacon, 1 onion, a piece of celery, 1 small bunch of savoury herbs, 1 oz. of butter, 1 oz. of flour, ½ a pint of milk, seasoning.
Method.—Skin the rabbit, wipe it with a damp cloth, and cut it up into small pieces. Put it in a stewpan with 3 pints of stock and 1 pint of water, bring it to the boil, skim, and add the bacon, the onion (stuck with a clove), celery and herbs. Cook gently for 1½ hours, or until
