No. 84 — Hare Purée Soup
English translation of original recipe No. 84 from Elena Molokhovets’ 1901 cookbook, with the historical preparation and exact source references.
Prepare white stock as described in the general note from two Russian pounds of beef, two or three dried mushrooms, beet brine and basic soup roots. Roast a hare in a spoonful of butter, then remove the meat from its bones. Put the bones into the soup to continue cooking; finely chop the meat and pound it in a stone mortar.
Fry flour with butter, dilute with a glass of broth and bring to the boil. Mix it with the rubbed hare purée; add two egg yolks beaten with half a glass of thick cream. Thin with strained broth and heat until very hot, but without boiling. Pour into a soup tureen. Sour cream may sometimes replace the egg liaison.
With this soup the author also suggests roast turkey fillet cut into slices and fried in a spoonful of butter, added immediately before serving, or croutons Nos. 216–217.
To provide
2 Russian pounds of beef shank; 1–2 dried mushrooms; beet brine 1 hare; ¼ Russian pound of butter | ½ spoonful of butter with 1 spoonful of flour, or the source prints '5 glasses of pearl barley' as an alternative ½ glass of sour cream, or ½ glass of thick cream and 2 egg yolks |