Part 35

MISCELLANEOUS SOUPS.

=A Good Vegetable Soup.=--For a vegetable soup scrape and cut into dice a root of salsify, a turnip, and a carrot; mince enough cabbage very finely to make a tablespoonful, slice very thin two parboiled potatoes; cut two stalks of celery into small pieces; rub a cupful of canned tomatoes through a sieve, slice one onion in thin slices; measure out a half cupful of canned green peas, and the same quantity of canned Lima beans; chop fine, enough parsley to make two teaspoonfuls. Into a pot put the carrot, salsify, turnip, and cabbage, and cover with salted boiling water; bring again to the boil, add the beans and the peas, and cook slowly for half an hour. Drain the vegetables and set to one side. In the bottom of the soup-pot fry the sliced onion in three tablespoonfuls of butter, and when the onion is a light brown colour, stir all the other vegetables and cover with a quart of cold water, or, if you have it, a quart of weak soup stock. Cover closely, and simmer for an hour steadily. At the end of an hour add the parsley and celery, pepper and salt to taste. Rub a large spoonful of butter into two tablespoonfuls of brown flour, and stir into the soup. Cook, stirring steadily, until smooth and thick, then serve.

=Almond Soup.=--Three ounces of ground almonds, one pint of new milk, three ounces of milk powder, one tablespoonful of flour, one onion, a good stick of celery, one ounce of butter, pepper, salt, and mace.

Place the milk in a pan, and when ready to boil, put in the milk powder, almonds, onion, and celery. Boil for one hour; then take out the onion and celery, mix in flour and butter, add seasoning, then let all come to the boil again, and serve with toast.

=An Excellent Vegetable Soup= (Mrs. C. W. Earle.)--Take two carrots, two onions, two turnips, a little spinach, lettuce, endive, and sorrel. Tie up a sprig of every sort of herb you have in the garden. Boil all in water. When the hard vegetables are cooked take out the sweet herbs, rub the whole through a fine sieve, make it not too thick by adding the water the vegetables were boiled in; add a little butter, pepper and salt, and serve hot.

=Bouillon aux Herbes, for Invalids.=--Take a good handful of chervil, add a lettuce and some sorrel. Chop up the whole, and boil it in a pint of water, add a piece of butter and a very little salt.

=Bouillon Maigre.=--Put in a saucepan ten carrots and as many turnips and onions cut into squares, two lettuces, two heads of celery, a handful of chervil, half a cabbage and a parsnip cut into thin slices, add to the vegetables three ounces of butter and a pint of water, simmer slowly, stirring frequently until all the liquid is absorbed, then fill it up with water and add a quart of peas (green peas, if not in season dried peas previously soaked), two cloves, salt and pepper. Let it boil for three or four hours, then pass it through a sieve.

=Brazil Nut Soup= (Mrs. C. W. Earle’s “Third Pot-Pourri” Recipe).--One pound of ground nuts stewed for twelve hours in two quarts of water; flavour with celery and a few fried onions, add one quart of boiling milk. Pass through a strainer, season, and serve with fried bread dice.

=Celery Soup= (Mrs. C. W. Earle’s Recipe).--One head of celery, three potatoes, one tablespoonful of butter, or nutter, two tablespoonfuls of cornflour, one quart of water, one pint of milk. Boil the celery and potatoes (cut into pieces) in the water till soft, then add the milk, butter, and seasoning. Stir thoroughly. Mix the cornflour in a little water, stir it in; boil about twenty or thirty minutes, and serve. All soups should be eaten with bread or toast. Bread cut in slices and put in the oven to bake a pale brown is very good; odd pieces may be used in this way, and served broken up on a dish.

=Cherry Soup.=--Stem and wash one quart of morella cherries. Simmer slowly in a quart of water until tender. Rub through a sieve and return to the fire, sweeten with half a cupful of sugar. When boiled, thicken slightly with a tablespoonful of arrowroot rubbed to a paste with a little cold water. As soon as the soup looks perfectly clear take it off the fire, add one tablespoonful of lemon juice, and put aside to cool. Serve in sherbet glasses.

=Chestnut Soup.=--Take one pound chestnuts, one or two onions, half a pint of vegetable stock, and one ounce of nut butter.

Boil the chestnuts for fifteen minutes, and peel them. Put these with the onions (sliced) into a roomy stewpan with the butter, and fry briskly for five minutes. Now add the stock, with seasoning to taste, and bring to the boil, simmer gently until the onions and chestnuts are quite soft. Pass through a hair sieve, dilute with milk until it is of the consistency of a thin cream. Serve with croûtons.

=Chicory Soup.=--Prepare the chicory as for a purée, bring a pint of vegetable stock up to boiling point, add the purée, and boil for about twenty minutes, then rub it through a sieve, heat it again, skim, and add some cream, a little salt, and a pinch of white sugar.

=Fruit Soup= (A Danish Recipe).--One cupful of pearl tapioca, half a pound of prunes (stoned), half a pound of stoned raisins, three large apples, chop three slices of lemon, add sugar, cinnamon, and whole cloves to taste.

Soak the tapioca until soft, mix all the other ingredients with this, and boil slowly in water enough to make it, when cooked, of the consistency of a thick soup. This will require the addition of water from time to time. When the tapioca is thoroughly dissolved and the fruit is cooked, add the desired amount of sugar, and half a pint of water. This soup may be eaten hot or cold; if the latter, whipped cream is an agreeable addition in respect of both flavour and appearance.

=Gruyère Cheese Soup.=--To begin with, have ready your vegetable broth, half a pound of Gruyère cheese, grate half of it and the other half cut in very thin slices. Put at the bottom of the saucepan a little butter, then a thin layer of the grated cheese, cover this with more very thin slices of bread. Over this again put the thin slices of cheese, then another layer of bread, then again the grated cheese so that each layer is alternate bread and cheese, till you have used up the latter. The top layer should be of the slices of cheese, on which place some little pieces of butter, pour over a little of the broth and simmer until all is absorbed, then add the remainder of the broth very hot, and serve. This soup should be rather thick.

=Leek and Potato Soup.=--Cut in little pieces eight good leeks, put them in water in a casserole with some salt, pepper, and some potatoes cut in pieces, let them boil till well cooked, and the potatoes can easily be mashed; add a good piece of butter, mix all well, and pour the whole on some small slices of bread placed in a tureen.

=Milk Soup= (Another of Mrs. C. W. Earle’s Recipes).--Cut one onion into small pieces, put into a saucepan with some butter, let it fry till it is chestnut colour, then add a pint of milk; let it boil for some minutes, then pass it through a strainer, season, and serve. Fry well in butter small pieces of bread, and serve separately.

=Mock Turtle Soup.=--Fry six good-sized onions in one ounce of butter till nicely browned, add two breakfast cups of German lentils, a good handful of spinach leaves, a few capers, about six chillis, and three pints of water. Let this simmer for two or three hours, then strain off. Return the soup to the pan and add two tablespoonfuls of small tapioca which has been soaked for an hour or two. Boil till perfectly clear, half an hour to three-quarters. When ready for serving add salt to taste, and one teaspoonful of “Odin.” Some small custard quenelles should be put in a tureen. These are made by beating one egg, adding two ounces of flour and half a pint of milk and a pinch of salt. Bake until firm, and cut into dice or circles.--Sidney Beard’s Guide Book, “Order of the Golden Age.”

=Nettle Soup.=--An excellent and nourishing soup can be made from young nettles by boiling them, putting them through a sieve, and adding a little grated cheese and milk or cream and salt and pepper to taste.

=Onion and Potato Soup.=--Slice two or three large onions. Fry them in a tablespoonful of butter, or nutter, until they are soft. Then add two tablespoonfuls of flour, and stir until it is absorbed in the onion juice. To this, add slowly a pint of boiling water, stirring all the time so that it will be smooth. Boil and mash three good-sized potatoes. Add to them slowly a quart of scalded milk, stirring well. Add the potato mixture to the onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Let it get very hot and strain into a hot tureen. Sprinkle parsley over the top and serve with croûtons.

=Onion Soup Maigre= (French Recipe).--Take a dozen middle-sized onions, cut in slices, cook them over the fire with a good piece of butter, keep turning them till they are cooked and well coloured, add a tablespoonful of flour, let it boil up, add some slices of bread and one pint or more of water, let it simmer a little, and serve. Some may prefer to strain off the onions. A cupful of milk and a little cream added last thing would soften the flavour.

=Onions with Rice.=--Prepare your onions as above, add boiling water, pass your onions through a sieve, and then add some rice instead of the bread and let it boil for an hour or longer.

=Peanut Soup.=--One leek, half a teaspoonful of salt and pepper, two teaspoonfuls of flour, cold water to make a smooth paste, two teaspoonfuls of peanut butter. Scald the water in a double boiler, and add the peanut butter. Blend thoroughly, put seasoning with flour and water, mix, and add to the leek and peanut mixture. Stir until well cooked, about two hours.

=Potage à la Crécy.=--Choose good red carrots and make a purée with a few turnips, a leek, and an onion, a little salt and ten peppercorns, moistened with broth, pass them through a sieve and stir on the fire without letting it boil. Skim and pour on to some bread fried in butter, which must be placed in the soup tureen.

=Potage à la purée de Marrons.=--Take a quarter of a pound of blanched chestnuts, and place them in water hot enough to enable you to peel the second skin easily. When peeled, place them with a piece of crumb of bread dipped in broth in a mortar. Dilute this paste with some hot bouillon maigre and pound well. When done, pass the whole through a tin strainer and with care add as much broth as is necessary to make a smooth purée, then boil about thirty minutes, season well, and pour over croûtons fried in butter.

=Potage aux Herbes.=--Take some chervil, white beet (poirée), lettuce, purslane, and sorrel, in equal quantities, wash them, cut them into moderate-sized pieces, then dip them in butter. When well soaked, add the water and a little salt, and boil for twenty minutes, then thicken it with four yolks of eggs (it must not boil after) and pour it over minced bread in the soup tureen, some may like to add more chervil. If preferred, the eggs can be omitted.

=Potage Panada= (French Recipe).--Put in a casserole some slices of bread very thinly cut, with some water, some salt and pepper. Cook on a slow fire without stirring, till the bread is well soaked, then add a good piece of fresh butter, and mix the whole well, serve without replacing on the fire. You can add, if preferred, two yolks of eggs, some cream or milk, at the same time as the butter. Some may dislike the crust of bread, but the potage panada is more wholesome made with the crusts than only with crumbs.