Chapter 27

PEA AND TOMATO SOUP.--Soak one pint of Scotch peas over night. When ready to cook, put into a quart of boiling water and simmer slowly until quite dry and well disintegrated. Rub through a colander to remove the skins. Add a pint of hot water, one cup of mashed potato, two cups of strained stewed tomato, and one cup of twelve-hour cream. Turn into a double-boiler and cook together for a half hour or longer; turn a second time through a colander or soup strainer and serve. The proportions given are quite sufficient for two quarts of soup. There may need to be some variation in the quantity of tomato to be used, depending upon its thickness. If very thin, a larger quantity and less water will be needed. The soup should be a rich reddish brown in color when done. The peas may be cooked without being first soaked, if preferred.

PLAIN RICE SOUP.--Wash and pick over four tablespoonfuls of rice, put it in an earthen dish with a quart of water, and place in a moderate oven. When the water is all absorbed, add a quart of rich milk, and salt if desired; turn into a granite kettle and boil ten minutes, or till the rice is done. Add a half cup of sweet cream and serve. A slice of onion or stalk of celery can be boiled with the soup after putting in the kettle, and removed before serving, if desired to flavor.

POTATO AND RICE SOUP.--Cook a quart of sliced potatoes in as little water as possible. When done, rub through a colander. Add salt, a quart of rich milk, and reheat. If desired, season with a slice of onion, a stalk of celery, or a little parsley. Just before serving, add a half cup of cream and a cup and a half of well-cooked rice with unbroken grains. Stir gently and serve at once.

POTATO SOUP.--For each quart of soup required, cook a pint of sliced potatoes in sufficient water to cover them. When tender, rub through a colander. Return to the fire, and add enough rich, sweet milk, part cream if it can be afforded to make a quart in all, and a little salt. Let the soup come to a boil, and add a teaspoonful of flour or corn starch, rubbed to a paste with a little water; boil a few minutes and serve. A cup and a half of cold mashed potato or a pint of sliced baked potato can be used instead of fresh material; in which case add the milk and heat before rubbing through the colander. A slice of onion or a stalk of celery may be simmered in the soup for a few minutes to flavor, and then removed with a skimmer or a spoon. A good mixed potato soup is made by using one third sweet and two thirds Irish potatoes, in the same manner as above.

POTATO AND VERMICELLI SOUP.--Breakup a cupful of vermicelli and drop into boiling water. Let it cook for ten or fifteen minutes, and then turn into a colander to drain. Have ready a potato soup prepared the same as in the proceeding; stir the vermicelli lightly into it just before serving.

SAGO AND POTATO SOUP.--Prepare the soup as directed for Potato Soup, from fresh or cold mashed potato, using a little larger quantity of milk or cream, as the sago adds thickness to the soap. When seasoned and ready to reheat, turn a second time through the colander, and add for each quart of soup, one heaping tablespoonful of sago which has been soaked for twenty minutes in just enough water to cover. Boil together five or ten minutes, or until the sago is transparent, and serve.

SCOTCH BROTH.--Soak over night two tablespoonfuls of pearl barley and one of coarse oatmeal, in water sufficient to cover them. In the morning, put the grains, together with the water in which they were soaked, into two quarts of water and simmer for several hours, adding boiling water as needed. About an hour before the soup is required, add a turnip cut into small dice, a grated carrot, and one half cup of fine pieces of the brown portion of the crust of a loaf of whole-wheat bread. Rub all through a colander, and add salt, a cup of milk, and a half cup of thin cream. This should make about three pints of soup.

SPLIT PEA SOUP.--For each quart of soup desired, simmer a cupful of split peas very slowly in three pints of boiling water for six hours, or until thoroughly dissolved. When done, rub through a colander, add salt and season with one half cup of thin cream. Reheat, and when boiling, stir into it two teaspoonfuls of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold water. Boil up until thickened, and serve. If preferred, the cream may be omitted and the soup flavored with a little celery or onion.

SWEET POTATO SOUP.--To a pint of cold mashed sweet potato add a pint and a half of strained stewed tomato, rub together through a colander, add salt to season, and half a cup of cream. Reheat and serve.

SWISS POTATO SOUP.--Pare and cut up into small pieces, enough white turnips to fill a pint cup, and cook in a small quantity of water. When tender, add three pints of sliced potatoes, and let them boil together until of the consistency of mush. Add hot water if it has boiled away so that there is not sufficient to cook the potatoes. When done, drain, rub through a colander, add a pint and a half of milk and a cup of thin cream, salt if desired, and if too thick, a little more milk or a sufficient quantity of hot water to make it of the proper consistency. This should be sufficient for two and a half quarts of soup.

SWISS LENTIL SOUP.--Cook a pint of brown lentils in a small quantity of boiling water. Add to the lentils when about half done, one medium sized onion cut in halves or quarters. When the lentils are tender, remove the onion with a fork, and rub the lentils through a colander. Add sufficient boiling water to make three pints in all. Season with salt, reheat to boiling, and thicken the whole with four table spoonfuls of browned flour, rubbed to a cream in a little cold water.

TOMATO AND MACARONI SOUP.--Break a half dozen sticks of macaroni into small pieces, and drop into boiling water. Cook for an hour, or until perfectly tender. Rub two quarts of stewed or canned tomatoes through a colander, to remove all seeds and fragments. When the macaroni is done, drain thoroughly, cut each piece into tiny rings, and add it to the strained tomatoes. Season with salt, and boil for a few minutes. If desired, just before serving add a cup of thin cream, boil up once, and serve immediately. If the tomato is quite thin, the soup should be slightly thickened with a little flour before adding the macaroni.

TOMATO CREAM SOUP.--Heat two quarts of strained, stewed tomatoes to boiling; add four tablespoonfuls of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold water. Let the tomatoes boil until thickened, stirring constantly that no lumps form; add salt to season. Have ready two cups of hot rich milk or thin cream. Add the cream or milk hot, and let all boil together for a minute or two, then serve.

TOMATO AND OKRA SOUP.--Take one quart of okra thinly sliced, and two quarts of sliced tomatoes. Simmer gently from one to two hours. Rub through a colander, heat again to boiling, season with salt and cream if desired, and serve.

Canned okra and tomatoes need only to be rubbed through a colander, scalded and seasoned, to make a most excellent soup. If preferred, one or two potatoes may be sliced and cooked, rubbed through a colander, and added.

TOMATO SOUP WITH VERMICELLI.--Cook a cupful of broken vermicelli in a pint of boiling water for ten minutes. Turn into a colander to drain. Have boiling two quarts of strained, stewed tomatoes, to which add the vermicelli. If preferred, the tomato may be thickened slightly with a little cornstarch rubbed smooth in cold water before adding the vermicelli. Salt to taste, and just before serving turn in a cup of hot, thin cream. Let all boil up for a moment, then serve at once.

VEGETABLE OYSTER SOUP.--Scrape all the outer covering and small rootlets from vegetable oysters, and lay them in a pan of cold water to prevent discoloration. The scraping can be done much easier if the roots are allowed first to stand in cold water for an hour or so. Slice rather thin, enough to make one quart, and put to cook in a quart of water. Let them boil slowly until very tender. Add a pint of milk, a cup of thin cream, salt, and when boiling, a tablespoonful or two of flour, rubbed to a cream with a little milk. Let the soup boil a few minutes until thickened, and serve.

VEGETABLE SOUP.--Simmer together slowly for three or four hours, in five quarts of water, a quart of split peas, a slice of carrot, a slice of white turnip, one cup of canned tomatoes, and two stalks of celery cut into small bits. When done, rub through a colander, add milk to make of proper consistency, reheat, season with salt and cream, and serve.

VEGETABLE SOUP NO. 2.--Prepare and slice a pint of vegetable oysters and a pint and a half of potatoes. Put the oysters to cook first, in sufficient water to cook both. When nearly done, add the potatoes and cook all till tender. Rub through a colander, or if preferred, remove the pieces of oysters, and rub the potato only through the colander, together with the water in which the oysters were cooked, as that will contain all the flavor. Return to the fire, and add salt, a pint of strained, stewed tomatoes, and when boiling, the sliced oysters if desired, a cup of thin cream and a cup of milk, both previously heated; serve at once.

VEGETABLE SOUP NO. 3.--Soak a cupful of white beans over night in cold water. When ready to cook, put into fresh boiling water and simmer until tender. When nearly done, add three large potatoes sliced, two or three slices of white turnip, and one large parsnip cut in slices. When done, rub through a colander, add milk or water to make of proper consistency, season with salt and cream, reheat and serve. This quantity of material is sufficient for two quarts of soup.

VEGETABLE SOUP NO. 4.--Prepare a quart of bran stock as previously directed. Heat to boiling, and add to it one teaspoonful of grated carrot, a slice of onion, and a half cup of tomato. Cook together in a double boiler for half an hour. Remove the slice of onion, and add salt and a half cup of turnip previously cooked and cut in small dice.

VELVET SOUP.--Pour three pints of hot potato soup, seasoned to taste, slowly over the well-beaten yolks of two eggs, stirring briskly to mix the egg perfectly with the soup. It must not be reheated after adding the egg. Plain rice or barley soup may be used in place of potato soup, if preferred.

VERMICELLI SOUP.--Lightly fill a cup with broken vermicelli. Turn it into a pint of boiling water, and cook for ten or fifteen minutes. Drain off all the hot water and put into cold water for a few minutes. Turn into a colander and drain again; add three pints of milk, salt to taste, and heat to boiling. Have the yolks of three eggs well beaten, and when the soup is boiling, turn it gradually onto the eggs, stirring briskly that they may not curdle. Return to the kettle, reheat nearly to boiling, and serve at once.

VERMICELLI SOUP NO. 2.--Cook a cupful of sliced vegetable oysters, a stalk or two of celery, two slices of onion, a parsnip, and half a carrot in water just sufficient to cover well. Meanwhile put a cupful of vermicelli in a quart of milk and cook in a double boiler until tender. When the vegetables are done, strain off the broth and add it to the vermicelli when cooked. Season with salt and a cup of cream. Beat two eggs light and turn the boiling soup on the eggs, stirring briskly that they may not curdle. Reheat if not thickened, and serve.

WHITE CELERY SOUP.--Cut two heads of celery into finger lengths, and simmer in a quart of milk for half an hour. Remove the pieces of celery with a skimmer. Thicken the soup with a tablespoonful of cornstarch braided with a little milk, add salt if desired, and a teacup of whipped cream.

TABLE TOPICS.

Soup rejoices the stomach, and disposes it to receive and digest other food.--_Brillat Savarin._

To work the head, temperance must be carried into the diet.--_Beecher._

To fare well implies the partaking of such food as does not disagree with body or mind. Hence only those fare well who live temperately.--_Socrates._

The aliments to which the cook's art gives a liquid or semi-liquid form, are in general more digestible.--_Dictionaire de Medicine._

In the most heroic days of the Grecian army, their food was the plain and simple produce of the soil. When the public games of ancient Greece were first instituted, the _athleta_, in accordance with the common dietetic habits of the people, were trained entirely on vegetable food.

The eating of much flesh fills us with a multitude of evil diseases and multitudes of evil desires.--_Perphyrises, 233 A.D._

No flocks that range the valley free To slaughter I condemn; Taught by the Power that pities me, I learn to pity them. But from the mountain's grassy side A guiltless feast I bring; A scrip with herbs and fruits supplied And water from the spring.

--_Goldsmith._

BREAKFAST DISHES

A good breakfast is the best capital upon which people who have real work to do in the world can begin the day. If the food is well selected and well cooked, it furnishes both cheer and strength for their daily tasks. Poor food, or good food poorly prepared, taxes the digestive powers more than is due, and consequently robs brain and nerves of vigor. Good food is not rich food, in the common acceptation of the term; it is such food as furnishes the requisite nutriment with the least fatigue to the digestive powers. It is of the best material, prepared in the best manner, and with pleasant variety, though it may be very simple.

"What to get for breakfast" is one of the most puzzling problems which the majority of housewives have to solve. The usually limited time for its preparation requires that it be something easily and quickly prepared; and health demands that the bill of fare be of such articles as require but minimum time for digestion, that the stomach may have chance for rest after the process of digestion is complete, before the dinner hour. The custom of using fried potatoes or mushes, salted fish or meats, and other foods almost impossible of digestion, for breakfast dishes, is most pernicious. These foods set completely at variance all laws of breakfast hygiene. They are very difficult of digestion, and the thirst-provoking quality of salted foods makes them an important auxiliary to the acquirement of a love of intoxicating drinks. We feel very sure that, as a prominent temperance writer says, "It very often happens that women who send out their loved ones with an agony of prayer that they may be kept from drink for the day, also send them with a breakfast that will make them almost frantic with thirst before they get to the first saloon."

The foods composing the breakfast _menu_ should be simple in character, well and delicately cooked, and neatly served. Fruits and grains and articles made from them offer the requisites for the ideal breakfast. These afford ample provision for variety, are easily made ready, and easily digested, while at the same time furnishing excellent nutriment in ample quantity and of the very best quality. Meats, most vegetables, and compound dishes, more difficult of digestion, are better reserved for the dinner bill of fare. No vegetable except the potato is especially serviceable as a breakfast food, and it is much more readily digested when baked than when prepared in any other manner. Stewing requires less time for preparation, but about one hour longer for digestion.

As an introduction to the morning meal, fresh fruits are most desirable, particularly the juicy varieties, as oranges, grape fruit, melons, grapes, and peaches, some one of which are obtainable nearly the entire year. Other fruits; such as apples, bananas, pears, etc., though less suitable, may be used for the same purpose. They are, however, best accompanied with wafers or some hard food, to insure their thorough mastication.

For the second course, some of the various cereals, oatmeal, rye, corn, barley, rice, or one of the numerous preparations of wheat, well cooked and served with cream, together with one or more unfermented breads (recipes for which have been given in a previous chapter), cooked fruits, and some simple relishes, are quite sufficient for a healthful and palatable breakfast.

If, however, a more extensive bill of fare is desired, numerous delicious and appetizing toasts may be prepared according to the recipes given in this chapter, and which, because of their simple character and the facility with which they can be prepared, are particularly suitable as breakfast dishes. The foundation of all these toasts is _zwieback_, or twice-baked bread, prepared from good whole-wheat or Graham fermented bread cut in uniform slices not more than a half inch thick, each slice being divided in halves, placed on tins, or what is better, the perforated sheets recommended for baking rolls, and baked or toasted in a slow oven for a half hour or longer, until it is browned evenly throughout the entire slice. The zwieback may be prepared in considerable quantity and kept on hand in readiness for use. It will keep for any length of time if stored in a dry place.

Stale bread is the best for making zwieback, but it should be good, light bread; that which is sour, heavy, and not fit to eat untoasted, should never be used. Care must be taken also not to scorch the slices, as once scorched, it is spoiled. Properly made, it is equally crisp throughout, and possesses a delicious, nutty flavor.

Its preparation affords an excellent opportunity for using the left-over slices of bread, and it may be made when the oven has been heated for other purposes, as after the baking of bread, or even during the ordinary cooking, with little or no additional heat. If one possesses an Aladdin oven, it can be prepared to perfection.

Zwieback may also be purchased in bulk, all ready for use, at ten cents a pound, from the Sanitarium Food Co., Battle Creek, Mich., and it is serviceable in so many ways that it should form a staple article of food in every household.

For the preparation of toasts, the zwieback must be first softened with some hot liquid, preferably thin cream. Heat the cream (two thirds of a pint of cream will be sufficient for six half slices) nearly to boiling in some rather shallow dish. Put the slices, two or three at a time, in it, dipping the cream over them and turning so that both sides will become equally softened. Keep the cream hot, and let the slices remain until softened just enough so that the center can be pierced with a fork, but not until at all mushy or broken. With two forks or a fork and a spoon, remove each slice from the hot cream, draining as thoroughly as possible, and pack in a heated dish, and repeat the process until as much zwieback has been softened as desired. Cover the dish, and keep hot until ready to serve. Special care should be taken to drain the slices as thoroughly as possible, that none of them be wet and mushy. It is better to remove them from the cream when a little hard than to allow them to become too soft, as they will soften somewhat by standing after being packed in the dish. Prepare the sauce for the toast at the same time or before softening the slices, and pour into a pitcher for serving. Serve the slices in individual dishes, turning a small quantity of the hot sauce over each as served.

_RECIPES._

APPLE TOAST.--Fresh, nicely flavored apples stewed in a small quantity of water, rubbed through, a colander, sweetened, then cooked in a granite-ware dish in a slow oven until quite dry, make a nice dressing for toast. Baked sweet or sour apples rubbed through a colander to remove cores and skins, are also excellent. Soften slices of zwieback in hot cream, and serve with a spoonful or two on each slice. If desired, the apple may be flavored with a little pineapple or lemon, or mixed with grape, cranberry, or apricot, thus making a number of different toasts.

APRICOT TOAST.--Stew some nice dried apricots as directed on page 191. When done, rub through a fine colander to remove all skins and to render them homogeneous. Add sugar to sweeten, and serve as a dressing on slices of zwieback which have been previously softened in hot cream. One half or two thirds fresh or dried apples may be used with the apricots, if preferred.

ASPARAGUS TOAST.--Prepare asparagus as directed on page 255. When tender, drain off the liquor and season it with a little cream, and salt if desired. Moisten nicely browned zwieback in the liquor and lay in a hot dish; unbind the asparagus, heap it upon the toast, and serve.

BANANA TOAST.--Peel and press some nice bananas through a colander. This may be very easily done with a potato masher, or if preferred a vegetable press may be used for the purpose. Moisten slices of zwieback with hot cream and serve with a large spoonful of the banana pulp on each slice. Fresh peaches may be prepared and used on the toast in the same way.

BERRY TOAST.--Canned strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries may be made into an excellent dressing for toast.

Turn a can of well-kept berries into a colander over an earthen dish, to separate the juice from the berries. Place the juice in a porcelain kettle and heat to boiling. Thicken to the consistency of cream with flour rubbed smooth in a little water; a tablespoonful of flour to the pint of juice will be about the right proportion. Add the berries and boil up just sufficiently to cook the flour and heat the berries; serve hot. If cream for moistening the zwieback is not obtainable, a little juice may be reserved without thickening, and heated in another dish to moisten the toast; of if preferred, the fruit may be heated and poured over the dry zwieback without being thickened, or it may be rubbed through a colander as for Apricot Toast.

BERRY TOAST NO. 2.--Take fresh red or black raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries, and mash well with a spoon. Add sugar to sweeten, and serve as a dressing on slices of zwieback previously moistened with hot cream.

CELERY TOAST.--Cut the crisp white portion of celery into inch pieces, simmer twenty minutes or half an hour, or until tender, in a very little water; add salt and a cup of rich milk. Heat to boiling, and thicken with a little flour rubbed smooth in a small quantity of milk--a teaspoonful of flour to the pint of liquid. Serve hot, poured over slices of zwieback previously moistened with cream or hot water.

CREAM TOAST.--For this use good Graham or whole-wheat zwieback. Have a pint of thin sweet cream scalding hot, salt it a little if desired, and moisten the zwieback in it as previously directed packing it immediately into a hot dish; cover tightly so that the toast may steam, and serve. The slices should be thoroughly moistened, but not soft and mushy nor swimming in cream; indeed, it is better if a little of the crispness still remains.

CREAM TOAST WITH POACHED EGG.--Prepare the cream toast as previously directed, and serve hot with a well-poached egg on each slice.

CHERRY TOAST.--Take a quart of ripe cherries; stem, wash and stew (if preferred the stones may be removed) until tender but not broken; add sugar to sweeten, and pour over slices of well-browned dry toast or zwieback. Serve cold.

GRAVY TOAST.--Heat a quart and a cupful of rich milk to boiling, add salt, and stir into it three scant tablespoonfuls of flour which has been rubbed to a smooth paste in a little cold milk. This quantity will be sufficient for about a dozen slices of toast. Moisten slices of zwieback with hot water and pack in a heated dish. When serving, pour a quantity of the cream cause over each slice.

DRY TOAST WITH HOT CREAM.--Nicely prepared zwieback served in hot saucers with hot cream poured over each slice at the table, makes a most delicious breakfast dish.