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Croute-Au-Pot

Put six pounds of fresh beef, top ribs or shin for preference, into a stock-pot. Soak this meat with ten quarts of bouillon. Boil and skim well; afterwards adding two carrots, one turnip, two leeks, one onion, a little celery, and half a parsnip. Boil once more and thoroughly remove all the scum. In about an hour's time add some hot roasted poultry, as well as a piece of knuckle of veal; you may also use any veal, poultry, or beef bones there may be, only care must be taken to have them ready roasted at the moment they are to be put into the stockpot, so as to give the bouillon the desired flavour. They must not be burnt, or too much soaked, for such would only spoil the consomme by giving it a dark colour and acid taste. When the meat and vegetables are removed skim the bouillon, and after letting it stand for a few minutes pass it gently through a cloth and keep it hot. The garnish for the Croute-au-Pot is prepared in the following manner. Take a small cabbage and clean it thoroughly, remove all the leaves which are too green, or not fresh; then cut off the stalk and divide the cabbage into four pieces, afterwards removing the inner portion of the stalk. Blanch it in salt water for a few minutes, then strain off all the liquid and put the cabbage into a saucepan of suitable size, covering it with some of the stock on which a little fat remains. Above this there should be placed a piece of buttered paper, and after putting on the lid, the pan should be left in the oven for about an hour. By this time the cabbage will be sufficiently cooked, and after pressing lightly to drain off the fluid, cut it into shreds. Place these shreds in a saucepan and cover with a layer of shredded carrots, leeks, and turnips which have been cooked in the bouillon, finishing with the remainder of the cabbage. After this is done pour a little stock over the whole, and garnish all round with sippets of bread. Probable cost of the Crouteau-Pot, with garnish, 4s. 6d.