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Partridges, Soup Of

Roast a brace of partridges before a brisk fire, so that they may brown quickly outside without losing their juice. Take them down when they are half cooked, cut off the breasts, and break up and bruise the bodies of the birds. Melt two ounces of fresh butter in a saucepan; slice into it two young carrots and four or five sticks of celery, and add two ounces of undressed lean ham, an onion, stuck with four cloves, half a blade of mace, two shallots, a bay-leaf, four or five bunches of parsley, and a small sprig of thyme. Stir these over a gentle fire until the sides of the saucepan acquire a reddish-brown tinge, then add the bodies of the birds, and, gradually, two quarts of good stock and six ounces of brown roux. Remove the fat and the scum, let the soup boil, and press it through a fine sieve. Put it again into the saucepan with the breasts of the birds, cut into small neat pieces, add a glassful of sherry, and a little salt and cayenne, if required; let the soup get thoroughly hot, without boiling, and serve immediately. A very nice soup may be made from grouse and partridge together; or even from the remains of a cold roast grouse, stewed down with the partridges. Time, two hours and a half. Probable cost, 2s. 6d. per quart. Sufficient for half a dozen persons.