Chapter XXXIV

OX-TAIL SOUP—GRISINI—STEWED LAMB AND PEAS—MÉRINGUES WITH CREAM.

MRS. WELLES’S trunk arrived the next morning and Molly found her friend had come as she said, “prepared and loaded for a kitchen campaign.” Several little things not easily obtained in a country town she had brought, and last of all she handed out a paper package.

“There, Molly, I thought, perhaps, you had none, and I have two or three recipes needing the stuff, so I made sure and brought it with me.”

Molly had meanwhile cut the strings and saw in the paper a thick roll of something wrapped in waxed paper.

“Ah, almond paste! I wished when I was chopping almonds the other day that I had some.”

The almond paste was a substance that looked, in color and appearance, like very heavy bread: it was almonds ground by machinery, and saved infinite time in preparing almonds for macaroons, cake, etc.

“There, Mistress Molly, you see we are going to make goodies while I am here.”

“I shall be glad to do my part and sit at your feet again.”

“Nonsense, Molly, I have nothing to teach you. You were too intelligent not to see, when you had the key to a few things, that the rest was a matter of experiment and practice; but while I was in London I had some recipes given to me, vaguely written, as amateur recipes usually are, but I want to try to get them right.”

Molly, mindful of her guest’s English tastes, had asked her butcher to save her two ox-tails, as they were very cheap things, and she prepared them for soup while Mrs. Welles finished her unpacking.

First, she cut up the tails into joints and each joint of the root of it into three, then put them on the fire, in cold water, let it come to the boiling-point, drained them off and pumped cold water on them. This was the process called “blanching,” so often directed in cooking-books without further explanation. They were then dried in a cloth, dusted with flour, put in a pot with a table-spoonful of butter, and fried a bright brown and frequently stirred round, to color them evenly; then she cut up a carrot, a turnip, and an onion, and put them into it, then added a bay leaf, three sprigs of parsley, half a salt-spoonful of thyme and marjoram, two cloves, a tea-spoonful and a half of salt, and half a salt-spoonful of pepper and two quarts of water. This was to simmer four hours; at the end of the second hour a few of the nicest joints of the tail were taken out to serve in the soup, the others left to boil down with it. Half an hour before dinner the soup was strained and a table-spoonful of brown thickening (recipe in Chapter XIII.) stirred into it to make it the consistency of very thin cream. As it boiled down it would grow thicker; then it was put to boil fast, without a cover, and every few minutes skimmed. When quite clear of fat, the joints of the tail were put in, a glass of wine added,[3] and the soup was ready to serve.

Mr. and Mrs. Bishop’s turn was near to receive the reading-club, and Molly had thought it would be pleasant to have it the week Charlotte was with her. The lady entertaining could, of course, invite any of her friends, and Molly asked Mr. and Mrs. Lennox. Mrs. Welles was delighted to help, and the afternoon was given to a discussion of what should be provided.

“We are wisely limited as to what is to constitute the refreshment. There must be no oysters or ice cream, only cakes and sandwiches and coffee and tea, or chocolate.”

“No _bouillon_?”

“Yes, that has been admitted in place of one of the other beverages, as so many can’t take coffee or tea at night.”

“Let’s say coffee and _bouillon_, then, and sandwiches. Are you limited to one kind?”

“No. Mrs. Framley, last week, had tongue, cheese and chicken.”

“Well, have chicken and lobster then. How many guests shall you expect?”

“About thirty-four.”

I suppose it is not necessary to go further into figures at this day to show that Molly was likely to do all she had undertaken to do on her allowance of ten dollars a week, but as her evening was a great success and cost very little, I will give the details to show how it was done and what the actual cost was. The flavorings formed part of Molly’s stores and the almond paste was given to her, yet I add the price here, for those who may wish to go and do likewise may not be so fortunate. Although the list of articles were ordered, they were not all used.

One dozen eggs $0.25
One lobster, 3 pounds .36
One can of boned chicken .50
One pound of almond paste .30
One pound of butter .25
Leg of beef .50
Half pound of coffee .15
Milk .12
Sugar .24
Bread .20
———
$2.87

The first thing was to make four loaves of nice bread; this Molly did, using two quarts of water and one cake of yeast (see recipe for bread,