Old Fashion Turtle Soup

There's an ole coonhound running round camp today. It turns out that pup cornered us boys a big snapping turtle. A larger one I have never seen in all my life. The boys yelled to put it in the cook pot. One of the farm boys in our group said he'd fix the turtle up right fine after scalding! He layed it on its back used his Bowie knife on it after it came up out of the pot. Another one of the boys wished to keep the turtle shell as a sovereign. The cook then steeped the turtle parts in spring water while cutting up an onion and some potatoes to throw into the pot, along with a bit of flour and lard. The pot was then left to simmer while we went about our garrison duties.

Old Fashion Turtle Soup

3/4 cup flour
turtle meat, cut
butter/lard
1 celery stalk,chopped
2 onions, minced
1 tomato, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
pinch of oregano
pinch of thyme
pinch of parsley, chopped
pinch of black pepper
pinch of salt
1 quart stock

Melt butter/lard in a heavy pan. Add the flour and cook, stirring frequently, until the roux is light brown. Set aside.
In pan, melt butter/lard and add turtle meat. Cook until the meat is brown. Add vegetables and herbs.