Part 3

Cream soups are all made by blending two tablespoons of butter with two tablespoons of flour and then adding slowly one cup of cold milk or half cream and milk. One cup for a thin soup or purée, to one quart of liquid. More according to the thickness of soup desired. Any cooked vegetable or fish may be added to the cream sauce. Less milk is used when the water in which the vegetables are cooked is added.

Purées are made from vegetables or fish, forced through a strainer and retained in soup, milk and seasonings. Generally thicker than cream soup.

Use a double boiler in making cream sauces and the cream sauce foundation for soups.

To warm over a thick soup it is best to put it in a double boiler. It must not be covered. If one does not have a double boiler set soup boiler in a pan of hot water over fire.

Cream soups and purées are so nutritious that with bread and butter, they furnish a satisfactory meal.

CREAM OF ALMOND SOUP

Blanch, and grind or pound one-half pound almonds, let simmer slowly in one pint of milk for five minutes. Melt one tablespoon of butter, blend with one of flour. Do not allow to bubble. Add one cup of milk and thicken slightly. Then add the almond mixture and simmer again until creamy. Remove from fire and add one cup of cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cream may be whipped or left plain.

CREAM OF CELERY SOUP

Break three stalks of celery in one-inch pieces and pound in a mortar. Cook in double boiler with one slice of onion and three cups of milk for twenty minutes. Remove onion, heat two tablespoons of butter, add two tablespoons of flour, one-fourth teaspoon of pepper, one teaspoon of salt; first two-thirds of a cup, and gradually the rest of the celery broth, add one cup of cream; cook until smooth and serve at once.

CREAM OF ASPARAGUS SOUP

Proceed as with cream of celery soup, substituting one-half bundle of fresh asparagus or an equal amount of canned for the stalk of celery. Or, the tips of a bundle of asparagus may be cut off for table use and the remainder used for soup. In either case the asparagus will be better if mashed through a colander, thus removing the woody portions.

CREAM OF CAULIFLOWER SOUP

Take a solid head of cauliflower, scald it to take away the strong taste; separate the flowers and proceed as with cream of celery soup.

CREAM OF CORN SOUP

Take a can of corn or six ears of corn. Run a sharp knife down through the center of each row of kernels, and with the back of a knife press out the pulp, leaving the husk on the cob. Break the cobs and put them on to boil in sufficient cold water to cover them. Boil thirty minutes and strain the liquor. Return the liquor to the fire, and when boiling add the corn pulp and bay leaf. Cook fifteen minutes; add the cream sauce and serve.

CREAM OF HERRING SOUP (RUSSIAN STYLE)

Place two cups of milk, two cups of water, one small onion, salt and pepper to taste in a saucepan, and boil for ten minutes, add two herrings which have been previously soaked and cut in small pieces; cook until herring is tender.

MILK, OR CREAM SOUP

Heat a quart of milk or cream, add a tablespoon of sweet butter and thicken with a spoon of flour or corn starch, wet with cold milk. Pour, boiling, over pieces of toasted bread cut into dices; crackers may also be used.

FISH CHOWDER

Skin and bone one and one-half pounds of codfish or haddock. Cut six large tomatoes, six large potatoes, two large onions in small pieces, add salt, pepper, three pints of water and cook one hour. Add one-half pint of cream, one-fourth cup of butter, and paprika. Cook five minutes and serve.

MOCK FISH CHOWDER

Omit fish and use same ingredients, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

GLOBE ARTICHOKE OR TURNIP SOUP

Heat two tablespoons of butter, add one and one-half pounds of sliced turnips or artichokes and stir them in the butter, add one tablespoon of flour, a little salt, three cups of hot milk, three cups of hot water, stirring them in slowly. When the vegetables are done rub them through a sieve, put them back in the saucepan, add a little sugar and more seasoning, if required, and heat thoroughly. A little cream or butter may be put into the tureen, and the soup stirred into it.

SPINACH SOUP

Wash, pick over and cook two quarts of spinach for twenty minutes; drain, chop and rub through a sieve and return to the water in which it was cooked, add one-half cup of chopped onions, cook until thoroughly done, thicken with a white sauce made by melting two tablespoons of butter to which is added two tablespoons of flour; stir until smooth, add two cups of milk; season with one-half teaspoon of salt and pepper and add the spinach mixture.

CREAM OF LETTUCE SOUP

Proceed as with spinach, substituting lettuce for spinach.

CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP

Cook one quart tomatoes (fresh or canned) with one pint water until done, and strain through a sieve. Meanwhile melt two tablespoons of butter, add two tablespoons of flour, add gradually one and one-half cups of milk (or half cream and half milk), one teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of sugar, one-quarter teaspoon of pepper; add a little chopped parsley and celery, and let this boil for fifteen minutes. Just before ready to serve add one-fourth teaspoon of baking soda to the hot strained tomatoes, pour gradually into the cream sauce stirring constantly and serve at once.

CREAM OF LENTIL SOUP

Soak one cup of lentils over night. Drain and boil slowly for one hour in water containing one-half teaspoon of baking soda, drain and boil again very gently in fresh water; when the lentils are tender drain off most of the liquid and return to the fire. Add two tablespoons of butter, or butter substitute, two teaspoons of salt, and one-half teaspoon of sugar. Bring three cups of milk to a boil in the double-boiler. Just before serving mash the lentils through a strainer directly into the milk. Serve in cups and pass croutons with the soup.

ONION SOUP

Slice two or three large onions; fry them in a tablespoon of butter until they are soft and red, then add three tablespoons of flour and stir until it is a little cooked. To this add slowly a pint of boiling water, stirring all the time, so it will be smooth.

Boil and mash three good-sized potatoes. Add to them slowly a quart of scalded milk, stirring well so it will be smooth. Add the potato and milk mixture to the onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Let it get very hot, and pass it through a strainer into the tureen. Sprinkle over the top a little parsley chopped very fine, and a few croutons.

CREAM WINE SOUP

Put one cup of white wine and one-half cup of cold water on to boil, add a few pieces of stick cinnamon and seven lumps of cut loaf sugar; while boiling scald a cup of sweet cream in double boiler. Have ready the well-beaten yolks of two eggs, pour over this the hot cream, stirring all the time, then pour in the boiling wine, being careful to stir well or it will curdle. Very nice for invalids. Can be eaten hot or cold.

VEGETABLE SOUP (MILCHIG)

Brown one-half cup of chopped onion in one tablespoon of butter, add one and a half quarts of boiling water, two cups of shredded cabbage one-half cup of chopped carrot, one leek, one tablespoon of chopped peppers, one tablespoon of chopped celery. Boil rapidly for ten minutes, then gently for one hour. Add one medium-sized potato diced and a tomato, one and a half teaspoons of salt and one-quarter teaspoon of pepper, a pinch of paprika and thyme. Cook one hour longer. Have the cover partially off the kettle during the entire time. Ten minutes before serving thicken with two tablespoons of flour mixed with one-fourth cup of cold milk.

BRAUNE MEHLSUPPE (BROWN FLOUR SOUP), No. 1

Heat a spoon of butter in a spider, add a spoon of flour, stir briskly, but do not let it get black; pour boiling water over it, add salt and caraway seeds.

BROWN FLOUR SOUP, No. 2

Heat two tablespoons of fresh butter in a spider, add four tablespoons of flour to it and brown to light golden brown, then add one quart water, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper and a little nutmeg. Add one pint of milk, let boil up once or twice and serve at once.

BEER SOUP

To one pint of beer add one cup of water, let come to a boil, season with salt and cinnamon if desired. Beat two egg yolks well with a little sugar and flour mixed, add one cup of milk, stir until smooth, stir all together in the hot beer mixture, let come almost to the boiling point, fold in the beaten whites of the two eggs and serve at once with croutons. If desired for a meat meal equal parts of water and beer may be used instead of milk.

SOUR MILK SOUP

Let the milk stand until it jellies, but does not separate. Put it into a saucepan and let simmer one minute. Then thicken with two generous tablespoons of flour; blend to a smooth paste with butter. Strain through a fine sieve and serve in cups or soup plates and sprinkle the top with maple sugar.

POTATO SOUP

Boil and mash three or four potatoes, one tablespoon of butter, one-half tablespoon of flour, and one teaspoon of chopped onion, letting the onion cook in the butter a few minutes before adding the flour. When this is cooked add to it a pint of milk, making a thin, white sauce. Add this to the mashed potato and pass the whole through a strainer. Return it to the fire for a few minutes to heat and blend it. Season it with salt and pepper. Sprinkle on the soup chopped parsley and a few croutons.

*For Fleischig Soup.*--This soup may be made with fat instead of butter, and the water in which the potatoes have been boiled may be used instead of the milk; any left-over meat gravy will give the soup a rich flavor.

GREEN PEA PURÉE

Cook one quart of green peas until very tender. Then mash through colander. To this amount heat one quart of milk in double boiler. Add butter, salt and pepper to taste, and last the mashed green peas.

LEEK SOUP

Put a small piece of butter in saucepan and then six or eight leeks cut in small pieces. Keep turning for about five minutes so they will get brown; add water for amount desired; season with salt and pepper and put in piece of stale bread. Strain through the strainer. Put in croutons and serve with grated cheese.

RED WINE SOUP

Put on to boil one cup of good red wine and one-half cup of water, sweeten to taste, add three whole cloves and three small pieces of cinnamon bark, let boil ten minutes, and pour while boiling over the well-beaten yolk of one egg. Eat hot or cold. This quantity serves one person.

SPLIT PEA SOUP (MILCHIG)

Soak peas in lukewarm water over night. Use one quart of peas to one gallon of water. Boil about two hours with the following vegetables: a few potatoes, a large celery root, a little parsley and a little onion, a small carrot cut up in cubes and a small clove of garlic. When boiled down to half the quantity, press all through colander. If soup is too thin, take a tablespoon of flour blended with a little cold water in a saucepan and add to the peas already strained. Serve with croutons.

TOMATO SOUP WITH RICE

Brown slightly one minced onion in one tablespoon of butter, add one can of tomatoes or a quart of medium sized tomatoes cut in small pieces, season with salt, pepper, one tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of paprika. Simmer a half hour, strain and thicken with one tablespoon of flour moistened with cold water, add the strained tomatoes and one cup of boiled rice; let come to a boil and serve.

MILK AND CHEESE SOUP

Thicken three cups of milk with one-half tablespoon of flour and cook thoroughly in a double boiler, stirring very often. When ready to serve add one cup of grated cheese and season with salt and paprika.

BLACK BEAN SOUP

Soak one pint of beans over night, drain, add cold water and rinse thoroughly. Fry two tablespoons of chopped onion in two tablespoons of butter, put in with the beans, add two stalks of celery or a piece of celery root and two quarts of water. Cook slowly until the beans are soft, three or four hours, add more boiling water as it boils away; rub through a strainer, add one-eighth teaspoon of pepper, one-fourth teaspoon of mustard, a few grains of cayenne. Heat one tablespoon of butter in saucepan with two tablespoons of flour, then two-thirds cup and then the rest of the soup gradually; cut a lemon (removing seeds) and two hard-boiled eggs in slices and serve in the soup.

BARLEY AND VEGETABLE SOUP

Take a half cup of coarse barley and two quarts of water. Let boil for one hour and skim. Then add two onions, a bunch of carrots, parsley, two turnips, one green pepper and six tomatoes (all chopped fine). Add a few green peas, lima beans, two ears of corn cut from cob; pepper and salt to taste. Cook for one hour or more until done. Then add a small piece of butter, quarter teaspoon of sage and thyme, if you like, and if soup is too thick add more water.

BEER SOUP (PARVE)

Mix the beer with one-third water, boil with sugar and the grated crust of stale rye bread, add stick cinnamon and a little lemon juice. Pour over small pieces of zwieback (rusk). Some boil a handful of dried currants. When done add both currants and juice.

BEET SOUP (RUSSIAN STYLE)

Cut two small beets in strips, cover with water and let cook until tender, add citric acid (sour salt) and a little sugar to make sweet and sour, a little salt, and three-quarter cup of sour cream. Serve cold. Sweet cream may be used and while hot gradually poured over the well-beaten yolks of two eggs, keeping the soup over the stove and stirring all the time until thick and smooth. Remove from stove and serve cold.

CHERRY SOUP

This soup is a summer soup and is to be eaten cold. Cook two tablespoons of sago in one cup of boiling water until tender, add more as water boils down. Put one quart of large red or black cherries, one cup of claret, one tablespoon of broken cinnamon, one-fourth cup of sugar, and one-half lemon sliced fine, up to boil and let boil fifteen minutes; add the cooked sago, let boil up and pour very gradually over the well-beaten yolks of two eggs. Serve cold. Raspberry, strawberry, currant, gooseberry, apple, plum or rhubarb soups are prepared the same way, each cooked until tender and sweetened to taste. The juice of lemon may be used instead of the wine.

FRUIT SOUP

Take two pounds of plums, cherries, or red currants and raspberries, which carefully pick and wash, and boil to a pulp with a pint of water. Let it slightly cool and then stir in the beaten yolk of an egg and a little sugar. Strain the soup, which should be served cold.

COLD SOUR SOUP

Take a pound of sour grass (sorrel), remove leaves, wash well, cut and squeeze well. Peel three potatoes, mince a bunch of young onions, salt and set on to boil, when boiling add the sour grass and let boil well, add two tablespoons of sugar, and a bit of sour salt, let simmer a bit, afterward add two well-beaten eggs. Do not boil this soup after adding the eggs. This soup is to be eaten cold. It can be kept for some time in jars.

*GARNISHES AND DUMPLINGS FOR SOUPS*

NOODLES

Beat one large egg slightly with one-fourth teaspoon of salt, add enough flour to make a stiff dough; work it well for fifteen or twenty minutes, adding flour when necessary. When the dough is smooth place on slightly floured board and roll out very thin and set aside on a clean towel for an hour or more to dry. Fold in a tight roll and cut crosswise in fine threads. Toss them up lightly with fingers to separate well, and spread them on the board to dry. When thoroughly dry, put in a jar covered with cheese cloth for future use. Drop by handfuls in boiling soup, ten minutes before serving.

Noodles for vegetables or for puddings are made in the same way, but to each egg, one-half egg-shell full of cold water may be added. The strips are cut one-half inch wide.

PLAETCHEN

Take noodle dough, roll out thin in same manner as noodles, when dry cut in three-inch strips, place the strips on top of one another, then cut into one-half inch strips, crosswise, cut again to form one-half inch squares. Dry same as noodles. Drop by handfuls in boiling soup.

KREPLECH OR BUTTERFLIES

Roll noodle dough into pieces two and one-half inches square. Place on each one tablespoon of force-meat, then fold squares into three corned pockets, pressing edges well together. Drop in boiling soup or salted water and boil fifteen minutes.

FORCE-MEAT FOR KREPLECH

Chop one pound of beef, soup meat, cold veal, or take lamb chopped very fine, season with one teaspoon of salt, one-eighth teaspoon of pepper, ginger or nutmeg, one-half teaspoon of onion juice, mix with one egg. This force-meat may also be made into balls one-half inch in diameter, roll the balls in flour and cook them in the boiling soup, or fry them in fat.

BAKING POWDER DUMPLINGS

Sift one cup of flour, one-fourth teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of baking powder, stir in scant one-half cup of milk or water and mix to a smooth batter. Drop one teaspoonful at a time in the boiling soup; cover kettle, let boil five minutes and serve at once.

CROUTONS

Cut stale bread into cubes, place in pan and brown in the oven; or butter the bread, cut into cubes and then brown the same way. Fry small cubes of stale bread in deep hot fat until brown or fry them in a little butter or fat in a hot spider until brown.

PFÄRVEL OR GRATED EGG FOR SOUP

Into the yolk of one egg stir enough flour until it is too stiff to work. Grate on coarse grater, and spread on board to dry. After soup is strained, put in and boil ten minutes before serving.

SPATZEN

Beat one egg well, add one-half teaspoon of salt, three-fourths cup of flour and one-third cup of water, stirring to a stiff, smooth batter. Drop by teaspoons into boiling soup ten minutes before serving.

EGG CUSTARD

Beat slightly the yolks of two eggs, add two tablespoons of milk and a few grains of salt. Pour into small buttered cup, place in pan of hot water and bake until firm; cool, remove from cup and cut in fancy shapes with French vegetable cutters.

GRATED IRISH POTATO

Peel, wash and grate one large Irish potato, or two medium-sized ones. Put it in a sieve and let hot water run over it until it is perfectly white. Have the white of one egg beaten to a very stiff froth, then stir in the potatoes and twenty minutes before serving add it to the boiling soup. Beat the yolk of one egg up in the soup tureen, and pour the hot soup over it, stirring carefully at first.

FARINA DUMPLINGS

Put in a double boiler one kitchen spoon of fresh butter, stir in one cup of milk. When it begins to boil stir in enough farina to thicken. Take off the stove and when cold add the yolks of two eggs and the stiffly-beaten whites, and a little salt and nutmeg and one-half cup of grated almonds if desired. Let cool, then make into little balls, and ten minutes before soup is to be served, drop in boiler and let boil up once or twice.

BOILED FLOUR BALLS WITH ALMONDS

Two yolks of eggs beaten very light, add a pinch of salt, pepper and finely-chopped parsley. Add six blanched almonds grated, enough sifted flour to make stiff batter, then add the stiffly-beaten whites of eggs and one-half teaspoon of baking powder. Drop by teaspoons in soup ten minutes before serving.

EINLAUF (EGG DROP)

Beat one egg, add one-eighth teaspoon of salt, three tablespoons of flour and one-fourth cup of water, stir until smooth. Pour slowly from a considerable height from the end of a spoon into the boiling soup. Cook two or three minutes and serve hot; add one teaspoon of chopped parsley to the soup.

EGG DUMPLINGS FOR SOUPS

Rub the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs to a smooth paste, add a little salt and grated nutmeg and one-half teaspoon of melted butter. Add the chopped whites of two eggs and a raw egg yolk to be able to mold the dough into little marbles, put in boiling soup one minute.

SCHWEM KLOESSE

Take three tablespoons of flour; stir with one egg and one-half cup of milk; pour this in a pan in which some butter was melted; stir until it loosens from the pan. When it is cold, add two more eggs and some salt, and shortly before needed form in little dumplings and put in boiling hot soup for five minutes.

DUMPLINGS FOR CREAM SOUPS

Scald some flour with milk or water, mix in a small piece of butter and salt, and boil until thick. When cool beat in yolk of an egg, if too stiff add the beaten white.

DROP DUMPLINGS

Break into a cup the whites of three eggs; fill the cup with milk; put it with a tablespoon of fresh butter and one cup of sifted flour in a spider and stir as it boils until it leaves the spider clean. Set aside until cool and stir in the yolks of three eggs. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, mix thoroughly and drop by teaspoons in the boiling soup ten minutes before ready to be served.

LIVER KLOESSE (DUMPLINGS)

Brown a small onion minced in one tablespoon of chicken fat, add a small liver chopped fine, chopped parsley, two tablespoons of flour. Season with nutmeg, red and white pepper, and add two eggs. Drop with teaspoon in the boiling soup, let cook ten minutes--serve.

FRITTER BEANS

Beat one egg until light, add three-fourths teaspoon of salt, one-half cup of flour and two tablespoons of water. Put through colander into deep hot fat and fry until brown. Drain and pour hot broth over them.

SPONGE DUMPLINGS

Separate three eggs, beat the yolks, and add one cup of soup stock, one-fourth teaspoon of salt, then add the beaten whites. Pour into a greased cup and place in pan of hot water and steam until firm; cool, remove from cup and cut into small dumplings with a teaspoon; pour the boiling soup over and just before serving add chopped parsley.

*FISH*

Fish that is not fresh is a very dangerous food and great care should be taken in selecting only fish fit to eat. If the fish is hard in body and the eyes are clear and bright, the gills a bright red and slimy, the flesh so firm that when pressed the marks of the fingers do not remain, the scales not dry or easy to loosen, then the fish is fresh.

In the refrigerator fish will taint butter and other foods if placed in the same compartment, so that in most cases it is better to lay it on a plate on a pan of ice, or wrap it in parchment or waxed paper and put it in the ice box.

Pickerel weighing more than five pounds should not be bought. If belly is thick it is likely that there is another fish inside. This smaller fish or any found in any other fish may not be used as food.

Salt fish should be soaked in fresh water, skin side up, to draw out the salt.

Each fish is at its best in its season, for instance:--

Bluefish, Butterfish, Sea, Striped Bass, Porgies, Sea-trout or Weakfish are best from April to September.

Fluke and Flounders are good all year round, but the fluke is better than the flounder in summer. Carp may be had all year, but care must be taken that it has not been in polluted water.

Cod, Haddock, Halibut, Mackerel, Redsnapper, Salmon, Whitefish are good all year.

In the different states of the United States there are laws governing the fishing for trout, so the season for that fish differs in the various states.

Black Bass, Perch, Pickerel and Pike are in season from June 1st to December 1st.

Shad, April to June.

Smelts, November 10th to April.

TO CLEAN FISH

The fish may be cleaned at the market, but needs to be looked over carefully before cooking.

To remove the scales hold the fish by the tail and scrape firmly toward the head with a small sharp knife, held with the blade slanting toward the tail. Scrape slowly so that the scales will not fly, and rinse the knife frequently in cold water. If the fish is to be served whole, leave the head and tail on and trim the fins; otherwise remove them.

TO OPEN FISH