Asparagus Soup.
Put five or six pounds of lean beef, cut in pieces and rolled in flour, into your stewpan, with two or three slices of bacon at the bottom: set it on a slow fire and cover it close, stirring it now and then, till your gravy is drawn; then put in two quarts of water and half a pint of pale ale; cover it close and let it stew gently for an hour. Put in some whole pepper and salt to your taste. Then strain out the liquor and take off the fat; put in the leaves of white beet, some spinach, some cabbage lettuce, a little mint, sorrel, and sweet marjoram, pounded; let these boil up in your liquor. Then put in your green tops of asparagus, cut small, and let them boil till all is tender. Serve hot, with the crust of a French roll in the dish.