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mix until smooth, pour on the stock, and stir until boiling. Boil for a few minutes, and skim if necessary. Season with cayenne pepper and salt, and add the wine, pieces of turtle, and lemon juice. A few forcemeat balls may also be served in the soup. See Recipe 1288. Note. — If some good stock is available it may be used instead of the water, and less fresh meat, or even none, will be required. Time to make, several days required. Probable cost, 5s. Quantity, 4 to 5 pints. (2) WHITE SOUPS AND VEGETABLE CREAM SOUPS 147. Almond Soup (Potage Creme d’Amandes) 6 oz. sweet almonds. 1 qt. white stock. 6 white peppercorns. A few parsley stalks. 1 oz. butter. 1 bay-leaf. 1 oz. cornflour. 1 gill cream. \ pt. milk. Seasoning. First blanch the almonds and chop them finely. Then put them into a mortar and pound them well with a little water to prevent them oiling. Pour the stock into a lined saucepan, add to it the pounded almonds and seasonings and let them simmer by the side of the fire for one hour. Then rub as much as possible through a hair sieve or wring through a tammy-cloth. Rinse out the saucepan and put in the butter, when melted add the cornflour and mix until smooth. Then pour in the soup and stir until boiling. Add the milk and cream and cook a few minutes longer. Serve with fried croutons of bread. Notes. — Ground almonds may be used if preferred — 4 oz. will then be sufficient. If liked, this soup may be coloured by adding a very little spinach green, it must be the palest shade possible. A few leaves of chervil may be used as a garnish. Time to cook, 1{- hours. Probable cost, 2s. Quantity, 2 pints. 148. Asparagus Soup (Potage Creme d’Asperges) 50 heads of small asparagus. 1 qt. white stock. 1 gill of thin cream. 2 yolks of eggs. 1 tea-cupful cooked green peas. 1 oz. butter. 1 bay-leaf. A few parsley stalks. 1 oz. lean ham. A handful of spinach. Seasoning. Wash the asparagus in cold water, scraping the stalk end lightly with a knife. Cut off the points, reserving them for serving in the soup, and slice down the remainder into pieces about 1 inch in length. Melt the butter in a saucepan, and add the asparagus stalks to it with the ham cut in small pieces, the spinach carefully washed, the bayleaf and parsley stalks. Put the lid on the pan and shake it gently over the fire for a few minutes until the butter is absorbed. Then pour in the stock and add a little white pepper and salt. Simmer slowly from 1J to 2 hours until the asparagus is quite tender Then rub as much as possible through a hair sieve or tammy, and return the soup to the saucepan to reheat. Thicken with the yolks of eggs and cream (see p. 40). Have the asparagus points cooked separately. Throw them into a saucepan with enough fast boiling water to cover them, add a little salt, and boil gently about 20 minutes or until tender. Drain, adding the liquid to the soup, and put the points in the soup tureen along with the cooked green peas. Pour the hot soup over them and serve with fried croutons of bread. Notes. — A little spinach green may be used instead of spinach, but the soup must on no account be made more than a very pale green colour. The yolks of eggs may be omitted and cream only used (along with 1 tea-spoonful cornflour), or the cream omitted and 1 gill of milk added to the yolks.