Soyer's standard cookery

Peel a medium-sized carrot and turnip, which cut first into slices, then into small square pieces about the size of dice; peel also eighteen button onions; wash the whole in cold water and drain them upon a sieve; when dry put them into a stewpan with two ounces of butter and a teaspoonful of powdered sugar; set them upon a very sharp fire for ten minutes, tossing them over every now and then until the vegetables become covered with a thin shiny glaze, which may take rather more than the before-mentioned time; care, however, must be taken, for should you let them get brown, the flavor of the * This not to be done until dinner is just about to be served, as it is more satisfactory when prepared at the last moment. soup would be spoiled; whilst, upon the other hand, if put in whilst surrounded with a whitish liquid, your soup would look white and unsightly. With a little attention, however, success is certain; and, once accomplished, there would be no difficulty in making any vegetable soups or sauce; therefore it is very desirable to know how to do it properly. When done, pour two quarts of clear broth over them, set it upon the fire, and when upon the point of boiling, place it at the corner to simmer, until the vegetables are quite tender (the onions especially), carefully skimming off all the butter as it rises to the surface; it will require about half an hour's simmering, and there should be half a pound of vegetables to two quarts of stock; taste if properly seasoned, which it ought to be with the above proportions, but use your own judgment accordingly. The only difference to be made in these descriptions of soup is in the way the vegetables are cut; cutters for the purpose may be purchased at most hardware shops at a trifling expense. Printaniere Soup. Cut a small quantity of vegetables, as in the last, but rather less carrot and turnip, introducing a little celery, leek, and young spring onions, instead of the button onions; proceed exactly as before, but ten minutes before taking it from the fire, wash a few leaves of sorrel, which cut small and put into the soup, with six sprigs of chervil; in summer, a few fresh-boiled peas or French beans served in it is an improvement. In whatever shape you may cut the vegetables for soup, always be cautious not to cut some pieces larger than others, and the whole of them rather small than large; for if some pieces should be small and others large, the smaller pieces would quite be in puree, whilst the larger ones would still be quite hard, which would cause your soup not only to eat badly, but give it an unsightly appearance, for the vegetable boiled to a puree would make the soup thick. The above remark, although simple, is still very important. Consomme Printanier. Have ready one quart of consomme, also cut one carrot and one turnip into roundels one-half inch thick. With a tubular cutter, cut these roundels into little rods, making a sufficient number to fill one tablespoon with each vegetable. Cook these little rods in consomme. Put the carrot and turnip rods into the soup-tureen with