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CLEAR SOUP (made from bones)

Take the bones of a piece of roast beef, which should weigh, before cooking, seven or eight pounds, or, if these are not at hand, one pound of fresh bones; break them into small pieces, and put them into a stewpan, with three quarts of cold water. Let the liquid boil, then draw the stewpan to the side of the fire, and let it simmer gently for six hours. Very carefully remove the scum as it rises. Strain it, and leave it until the next day. Remove every particle of fat, and pour the liquid into the stewpan (being careful to leave any sediment behind), with a large carrot cut in slices, a turnip, an onion, and a small tea-spoonful of bruised celery-seed tied in muslin. Let these simmer for another hour and a half; if the liquid is very much reduced, add a little cold water, so as to keep up the quantity to three pints. Season it while boiling with pepper, salt, and a small lump of sugar. Strain it again, and skim it carefully from time to time. In order to make it quite clear and bright, whisk the whites of two eggs with half a pint of cold water. Stir this briskly into the soup when it is just warm. Let it boil, and gently lift off the scum as it rises. Draw the stewpan back a little, and keep it boiling gently for half an hour. Let it stand to settle, and strain it through a jelly-bag two or three times if necessary. It ought to look like sherry. The white of one egg is required for a pint of soup. Add a tea-spoonful of Bovril, and a little browning, if the colour is too light, but care must be taken in browning it. This soup may be varied to any extent. Carrots, turnips, onions, celery, green peas, asparagus, vermicelli, or macaroni may be added, and the soup will then take the name of the vegetable which is put into it. Macaroni and vermicelli should be boiled separately, or they will spoil the clearness. Sufficient for three pints. Probable cost of clear soup, exclusive of the bones, 2d. per pint.