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Méat Soup with Peas
matter and bone for one penny, the bone not weighing any thing like half of the whole, and being also full of gelatine. They are prepared by first scalding them in boiling water; and, if this is scarce, it is better to put them into a saucepan with the water previously made boiling, and simmer them for ten minutes, as, unless the proportion of water to trotters is great, the temperature is lowered too much to have the proper effect of loosening the hoofs and hair. It is, however, easy to try one, and, if the hoof and hair do not come off, put them on the fire and boil till they do. When this is found to be the case, it is only necessary to remove them with a knife, taking one at a time and scraping it; then, after washing it clean in cold water, the whole are to be simmered till they fall to pieces, when the bones are taken out, and pepper and salt added, with any onions, parsley, or other gardenstuff which may be readily available. With this, as a foundation, a most savoury and nourishing mess may be made. Boiled rice or potatoes may be added to them in the pot, or eaten separately. The cost, for a large family, of a substantial meal made in this way is as follows:s. d. 30 trotters... 03 ... ... ٠٥٠ 6 lb. potatoes, or 11 lb. rice... ... ... ... ... ... 04 Onions, parsley, &c. 01 ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Pepper, salt, &c. ... ... ... ... ... ... 0 01 08 1191. MEAT SOUP WITH PEAS:- Half an ox check, or a sheep's head ... ... ... 06 8 lb. of potatoes... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 02 1 pint of split peas ... .4. ... ... ... 03 2 onions, 2 turnips, and a stick of celery ... ... ... 01 Salt and pepper... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 0 Water 7 quarts 1.0 This will produce about five or six quarts of good soup by the following method of proceeding :- Wash the cheek or head, peel the potatoes very thin, and boil all together for six hours; then take out the cheek or head, strip off the meat and put by, and return the bones, which are to be gently stewed for another six hours in a Papin's digester, if digester, if at hand, or if not, in the saucepan, with a part of the liquor. The fire required is not more than the small one always necessary for warming a cottage. When the bones are stewed for this second period , they may be taken out, and the liquor from them added to the previously boiled vegetables and meat, after which the whole is warmed up and served. 1192. MEAT SOUP WITH RICE, &C. 14 lb. of coarse gravy beef ... eas ... s. d. 900 051 lb. of rice ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 01 lb. of Scotch barley ... ... 005 ... ... ... ... ... ... 01 An onion and seasoning ... ... 50. ... ... ... 0 01 6 quarts of water 09 This will, at the above cost, produce about nine or ten pints of good broth, but not equal to the former soup in quality. 1193. PEA-SOUP WITHOUT MEAT:s. d.
Half a pint of peas 500 S00 con 65. 000 ... 011 A carrot and turnip, a head of celery, and two onions ... ... 01 Dripping ... ... ... ७.०. ... ... ... ... ... 01 ...
Pepper and salt ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 00 Water, three quarts 04 This produces about two quarts of very palatable soup, when mạnaged by boiling the peas in the water for three hours, and then adding the vegetables, previously cut up and fried in the dripping; after which the whole is to be boiled slowly an hour and a half, and seasoned with pepper and salt towards the last.
Ditto of oatmeal 1194. BARLEY BROTH WITHOUT MEAT:- Half a pint of Scotch barley ... 600 ... ... ... s. d esa 60. 01 ... ... ... ... ... .. ... ...
Two ounces of dripping... ... ... 01 ... ... ... ... ...
Vegetables, as for (1176) ... ... ... 01 ... ... ... ... 600 ... 0.8 01 Seasoning ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 0 01 Water, five quarts 06 Making about three quarts and a half of broth, costing about as much per quart as the pea-soup.
An economical cottage soup built on a cheap cut of bone-in meat and eked out with pulses and roots. The costings are pre-decimal, in shillings and pence, and the timings belong to a household with a fire burning all day anyway.
- The hinge: two separate extractionsThe meat and vegetables are cooked once and set aside; the bones then go back for a second long stewing to draw out gelatine, and that liquor is added at the end. Skipping the second stage gives you a thin soup rather than the body the method is aiming at.
- Ox cheek and sheep's headHalf an ox cheek is a modest amount of meat on the bone and can be ordered from a butcher. A whole sheep's head is now a special order in most places; ask for it split, and pick out any remnants of the brain and the eyes before washing.
- Soak the split peasA pint of split peas is roughly a pound. The original relies on six hours of boiling to soften them, but an overnight soak, or at least an hour in hot water, gives a more even result and shortens the first stage considerably.
- Papin's digesterThis is an early pressure vessel, the ancestor of the pressure cooker. A modern pressure cooker does the same job on the bones in about 45 minutes to an hour rather than six hours at a simmer.
- The potatoes will vanishEight pounds of thinly peeled potatoes boiled for six hours dissolve entirely and act as the thickener rather than as pieces of vegetable. If you want potato in the bowl, hold some back and add it in the last half hour.
- Water and yieldSeven imperial quarts is about 8 litres, which needs a stockpot comfortably larger than that. The finished quantity of five or six quarts feeds a large household; halving throughout should work with little adjustment beyond a shorter first boil.
- Season at the endSalt is listed with the raw ingredients, but with twelve hours of total reduction across two stages it is safer to season the combined liquor just before serving. Ox cheek and sheep's head both throw a good deal of fat, so skim before the final warming through.