Chapter 3

44. Tomato Bouillon.--It is possible to make a clear tomato soup without meat stock, but the recipe here given, which is made with meat stock, has the advantage of possessing a better flavor. The tomato in this bouillon lends an agreeable color and flavor and affords a change from the usual clear soup. Cooked rice, macaroni, spaghetti, or vermicelli may be added to tomato bouillon to provide an additional quantity of nutrition and vary the plain soup.

TOMATO BOUILLON (Sufficient to Serve Eight)

1 qt, meat stock 1 tsp. salt 1 Tb. sugar

1/4 tsp. pepper 1 can tomatoes

Heat the stock, and to it add the salt, sugar, and pepper. Rub the tomatoes through a fine sieve, and add them to the stock. Cook together for a few minutes and serve.

HEAVY THICK SOUPS

45. Julienne Soup.--A very good way in which to utilize any small quantities of vegetables that may be in supply but are not sufficient to serve alone is to use them in julienne soup. For soup of this kind, vegetables are often cut into fancy shapes, but this is a more or less wasteful practice and should not be followed, as tiny strips or dice cut finely and carefully are quite as agreeable. The vegetables do not add a large amount of nutriment to this soup, but they introduce into the soup mineral salts that the soups would otherwise not have and they also add a variety of flavor.

JULIENNE SOUP (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1 pt. mixed vegetables 1/2 tsp. salt 1 qt. stock 1/4 tsp. pepper

Cut into tiny dice or into strips such vegetables as celery, carrots, and turnips, making them as nearly the same size and shape as possible. Put them on to cook in enough boiling salted water to cover well. Cook until they are soft enough to be pierced with a fork, but do not lose their shape. Drain off the water and put the vegetables into the stock. Bring to the boiling point, season with the pepper, and serve.

46. Ox-Tail Soup.--The use of ox tails for soup helps to utilize a part of the beef that would ordinarily be wasted, and, as a rule, ox tails are comparatively cheap. Usually the little bits of meat that cook off the bones are allowed to remain in the soup. Variety may be obtained by the addition of different kinds of vegetables.

OX-TAIL SOUP (Sufficient to Serve Eight)

2 ox tails 1 large onion 1 Tb. beef drippings 4 qt. cold water 1 Tb. mixed herbs 4 peppercorns 1 Tb. salt

Wash and cut up the ox tails, separating them at the joints. Slice the onion and brown it and half of the ox tails in the beef drippings. When they are browned, put them and the remainder of the ox tails into a kettle. Add the water and the herbs and peppercorns tied in a little piece of cheesecloth. Bring to the boiling point, and then simmer for 3 to 4 hours or until the meat separates from the bones. Add the salt an hour before serving the soup. Remove the fat and serve some of the nicest joints with the soup. If vegetables are desired, they should be diced and added 20 minutes before serving, so that they will be cooked soft.

47. Mulligatawny Soup.--If a highly seasoned soup is desired, mulligatawny, although not a particularly cheap soup, will be found very satisfactory. The curry powder that is used adds an unusual flavor that is pleasing to many people, but if it is not desired, it may be omitted.

MULLIGATAWNY SOUP (Sufficient to Serve Eight)

3 lb. chicken 1 lb. veal 4 qt. cold water 2 onions 1 Tb. butter 4 peppercorns 4 cloves 1 stalk celery 1 Tb. curry powder 1 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 1 lemon

Cut up the chicken and veal, add the cold water to them, and place over a slow fire. Slice the onions and brown them in the butter. Add them and the peppercorns, cloves, chopped celery, and curry powder stirred to a smooth paste with a little water to the meat. Simmer together slowly until the chicken is tender. Remove the meat from the bones and cut it into small pieces. Put the bones into the kettle and simmer for another hour. Strain the liquid from the veal and bones and remove the fat. Add the salt, pepper, chicken, and the juice of the lemon. Return to the fire and cook for a few minutes. Serve with a tablespoonful or two of cooked rice in each soup dish.

48. Noodle Soup.--The addition of noodles to soup increases its food value to a considerable extent by providing carbohydrate from the flour and protein from the egg and flour. Noodle soup is a very attractive dish if the noodles are properly made, for then they will not cause the soup to become cloudy when they are put into it. Little difficulty will be experienced if the directions here given for making noodles are followed explicitly.

NOODLE SOUP (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1 egg 1 Tb. milk 1/2 tsp. salt Flour 1 qt. household stock 3 sprigs parsley 1 small onion

To make noodles, beat the egg slightly, add to it the milk, and stir in the salt and enough flour to make a stiff dough. Toss upon a floured board and roll very thin. Allow the dough to dry for hour or more, and then, as shown in Fig. 5, cut it into strips about 4 inches wide. Place several strips together, one on top of the other, and roll them up tight, in the manner indicated. Cut each roll into thin slices with a sharp knife, as shown in Fig. 6. When the slices are separated the noodles should appear as shown in the pile at the right. If it is desired not to follow this plan, the dough may be rolled into a thin sheet and cut into strips with a noodle cutter.

Such a supply of noodles may be used at once, or they may be dried thoroughly and sealed tightly in a jar for future use. The very dry ones, however, require a little longer cooking than those which are freshly made. With the noodles prepared, heat the stock with the parsley and onion chopped very fine. Add the noodles and cook for 15 or 20 minutes or until the noodles are thoroughly cooked.

Rice, barley, macaroni, and other starchy materials may be added to stock in the same way as the noodles.

49. Vegetable Soup With Noodles.--The combination of noodles and vegetables in soup is a very excellent one, since the vegetables add flavor and the noodles add nutritive value. If the vegetables given in the accompanying recipe cannot be readily obtained, others may be substituted.

VEGETABLE SOUP WITH NOODLES (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1 carrot 1 onion 1 turnip 1 stalk celery 1 c. boiling water 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 c. noodles 2 sprigs parsley 1/8 tsp. pepper 1 qt. household stock

Dice the vegetables and put them on to cook with the boiling water and the salt. Cook for a few minutes or until partly soft. Add the noodles, parsley, pepper, and stock and cook for 15 minutes longer. Serve.

CREAM SOUPS

50. Soups classed as cream soups consist of a thin white sauce to which is added a vegetable in the form of a puree or cut into small pieces. Because of their nature, cream soups are usually high in food value; but they are not highly flavored, so their use is that of supplying nutrition rather than stimulating the appetite. Considerable variety can be secured in cream soups, for there are scarcely any vegetables that cannot be used in the making of them. Potatoes, corn, asparagus, spinach, peas, tomatoes, and onions are the vegetables that are used oftenest, but cream soups may also be made of vegetable oysters, okra, carrots, watercress, celery, cabbage, cauliflower, beans, lentils, and dried peas. The vegetables may be cooked especially for the soup, or left-over or canned vegetables may be utilized. It is an excellent plan to cook more than enough of some vegetables for one day, so that some will be left over and ready for soup the next day.

If the vegetable is not cut up into small pieces, it must be put through a sieve and made into the form of a puree before it can be added to the liquid. Two kinds of sieves for this purpose are shown in Fig. 7. It will be observed that with the large, round sieve, a potato masher must be used to mash the vegetables, the pulp of which is caught by the utensil in which the sieve is held. In making use of the smaller sieve, or ricer, the vegetable is placed in it and then mashed by pressing the top down over the contents with the aid of the handles.

51. THIN WHITE SAUCE.--The liquid for cream soups should be thin white sauce made entirely of milk or of milk and cream. The flavor of the soup will be improved, however, by using with the milk some meat stock, or the stock that remains from cooking celery, asparagus, or any vegetables that will lend a good flavor to the soup. The recipe here given makes a sauce that may be used for any kind of cream soup.

THIN WHITE SAUCE

1 pt. milk, or milk and cream or stock 1 tsp. salt 2 Tb. butter 2 Tb. flour

Heat the liquid, salt, and butter in a double boiler. Stir the flour and some of the cold liquid that has been reserved to a perfectly smooth, thin paste and add to the hot liquid. Stir constantly after adding the flour, so that no lumps will form. When the sauce becomes thick, it is ready for the addition of any flavoring material that will make a palatable soup. If thick material, such as any vegetable in the form of a puree, rice, or potato, is used without additional liquid, only half as much flour will be required to thicken the sauce.

52. CREAM-OF-POTATO SOUP.--Because of the large quantity of carbohydrate derived from the potato, cream-of-potato soup is high in food value. For persons who are fond of the flavor of the potato, this makes a delicious soup and one that may be served as the main dish in a light meal.

CREAM-OF-POTATO SOUP (Sufficient to Serve Four)

2 slices of onion 1 sprig parsley 2 medium-sized potatoes 1 c. milk 1 c. potato water 1 Tb. flour 2 Tb. butter 1 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper

Cook the onion and parsley with the potatoes, and, when cooked soft, drain and mash. Make a sauce of the milk, potato water, flour, and butter. Season with the salt and pepper, add the mashed potato, and serve.

53. CREAM-OF-CORN SOUP.--The flavor of corn is excellent in a cream soup, the basis of the soup being milk, butter, and flour. Then, too, the addition of the corn, which is comparatively high in food value, makes a very nutritious soup.

CREAM-OF-CORN SOUP (Sufficient to Serve Four)

1 pt. milk 1 Tb. butter 1 Tb. flour 1 c. canned corn 1 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper

Make a white sauce of the milk, butter, and flour. Force the corn through a colander or a sieve, and add the puree to the white sauce. Season with the salt and pepper, and serve.

54. Cream-of-Asparagus Soup.--The asparagus used in cream-of-asparagus soup adds very little besides flavor, but this is of sufficient value to warrant its use. If a pinch of soda is used in asparagus soup, there is less danger of the curdling that sometimes occurs. In making this soup, the asparagus should be combined with the white sauce just before serving.

CREAM-OF-ASPARAGUS SOUP (Sufficient to Serve Four)

1 pt. milk 2 Tb. flour 2 Tb. butter 1 c. asparagus puree 1 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper

Make white sauce of the milk, flour, and butter. Add to it the cup of puree made by forcing freshly cooked or canned asparagus through a sieve. Season with the salt and pepper, and serve.

55. Cream-of-Spinach Soup.--Although cream-of-spinach soup is not especially attractive in appearance, most persons enjoy its flavor, and the soup serves as another way of adding an iron-containing food to the diet. Children may often be induced to take the soup when they would refuse the spinach as a vegetable.

CREAM-OF-SPINACH SOUP (Sufficient to Serve Four)

1 pt. milk 2 Tb. flour 2 Tb. butter 1/2 c. spinach puree 1 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper

Make white sauce of the milk, flour, and butter. Add the spinach puree, made by forcing freshly cooked or canned spinach through a sieve. Season with the salt and pepper, heat thoroughly, and serve.

56. Cream-of-Pea Soup.--Either dried peas or canned green peas may be used to make cream-of-pea soup. If dried peas are used, they must first be cooked soft enough to pass through a sieve. The flavor is quite different from that of green peas. With the use of green peas, a fair amount of both protein and carbohydrate is added to the soup, but more protein is provided when dried peas are used.

CREAM-OF-PEA SOUP (Sufficient to Serve Four)

1 pt. milk 1 Tb. flour 2 Tb. butter 1/2 c. pea puree 1 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper

Make white sauce of the milk, flour, and butter. Put enough freshly cooked or canned peas through a sieve to make 1/2 cupful of puree. Then add the pea puree, the salt, and the pepper to the white sauce. Heat thoroughly and serve.

57. CREAM-OF-TOMATO SOUP.--As a rule, cream-of-tomato soup is popular with every one. Besides being pleasing to the taste, it is comparatively high in food value, because its basis is cream sauce. However, the tomatoes themselves add very little else besides flavor and mineral salts.

CREAM-OF-TOMATO SOUP (Sufficient to Serve Four)

1 c. canned tomatoes 1 pt. milk 3 Tb. flour 3 Tb. butter 1/8 tsp. soda 1 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper

Force the tomatoes through a sieve and heat them. Make white sauce of the milk, flour, and butter. Add the soda to the tomatoes, and pour them slowly into the white sauce, stirring rapidly. If the sauce begins to curdle, beat the soup quickly with a rotary egg beater. Add the salt and pepper and serve.

58. CREAM-OF-ONION SOUP.--Many persons who are not fond of onions can often eat soup made of this vegetable. This is probably due to the fact that the browning of the onions before they are used in the soup improves the flavor very decidedly. In addition, this treatment of the onions gives just a little color to the soup.

CREAM-OF-ONION SOUP (Sufficient to Serve Four)

4 medium-sized onions 4 Tb. butter 2 Tb. flour 2-1/2 c. milk 1 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper

Slice the onions and brown them in a frying pan with 2 tablespoonfuls of the butter. Make white sauce of the flour, the remaining butter, and the milk. Add to this the browned onions, salt, and pepper. Heat thoroughly and serve.

PUREES

59. CHESTNUT PUREE.--There are many recipes for the use of chestnuts in the making of foods, but probably none is any more popular than that for chestnut puree. The chestnuts develop a light-tan color in the soup. The very large ones should be purchased for this purpose, since chestnuts of ordinary size are very tedious to work with.

CHESTNUT PUREE (Sufficient to Serve Four)

1 c. mashed chestnuts 1 c. milk 2 Tb. flour 2 Tb. butter 1 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper 1/8 tsp. celery salt 1 c. white stock

Cook Spanish chestnuts for 10 minutes; then remove the shells and skins and mash the chestnuts. Make white sauce of the milk, flour, and butter. Add to this the mashed chestnuts, salt, pepper, celery salt, and stock. Heat thoroughly and serve.

60. SPLIT-PEA PUREE.--Dried peas or split peas are extremely high in food value, and their addition to soup stock makes a highly nutritious soup of very delightful flavor. Such a puree served in quantity does nicely for the main dish in a light meal. Instead of the peas, dried beans or lentils may be used if they are preferred.

SPLIT-PEA PUREE (Sufficient to Serve Four)

3/4 c. split peas 1 pt. white stock 1 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper 2 Tb. butter 2 Tb. flour

Soak the peas overnight, and cook in sufficient water to cover well until they are soft. When thoroughly soft, drain the water from the peas and put them through a colander. Heat the stock and add to it the pea puree, salt, and pepper. Rub the butter and flour together, moisten with some of the warm liquid, and add to the soup. Cook for a few minutes and serve.

CHOWDERS

61. CLAM CHOWDER.--The flavor of clams, like that of oysters and other kinds of sea food, is offensive to some persons, but where this is not the case, clam chowder is a popular dish of high food value. This kind of soup is much used in localities where clams are plentiful.

CLAM CHOWDER (Sufficient to Serve Eight)

1 c. water 1 qt. clams 1 small onion 1 c. sliced potatoes 1/2 c. stewed tomatoes 1/2 c. diced carrots 1/2 c. diced celery 1-1/2 c. milk 2 Tb. butter 1-1/2 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper

Add the water to the clams, and pick them over carefully to remove any shell. Strain the liquid through cheesecloth, and then scald the clams in it. Remove the clams and cook the vegetables in the liquid until they are soft. Add the milk, butter, salt, and pepper and return the clams. Heat thoroughly and serve over crackers.

62. FISH CHOWDER.--An excellent way in which to utilize a small quantity of fish is afforded by fish chowder. In addition, this dish is quite high in food value, so that when it is served with crackers, little of anything else need be served with it to make an entire meal if it be luncheon or supper. Cod, haddock, or fresh-water fish may be used in the accompanying recipe.

FISH CHOWDER (Sufficient to Serve Six)

2 lb. fish 1 small onion 1 c. sliced potatoes 1/2 c. stewed tomatoes 1-1/2 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper 2 Tb. butter 1-1/2 c. milk

Skin the fish, remove the flesh, and cut it into small pieces. Simmer the head, bones, and skin of the fish and the onion in water for 1/2 hour. Strain, and add to this stock the fish, potatoes, tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Simmer together until the potatoes are soft. Add the butter and milk. Serve over crackers.

63. POTATO CHOWDER.--A vegetable mixture such as the one suggested in the accompanying recipe is in reality not a chowder, for this form of soup requires sea food for its basis. However, when it is impossible to procure the sea food, potato chowder does nicely as a change from the usual soup. This chowder differs in no material way from soup stock in this form.

POTATO CHOWDER (Sufficient to Serve Four)

1-1/2 c. sliced potatoes 1 small onion, sliced 1 c. water 1-1/2 c. milk 1 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper 2 Tb. butter

Cook the potatoes and onion in the water until they are soft, but not soft enough to fall to pieces. Rub half of the potatoes through a sieve and return to the sliced ones. Add the milk, salt, pepper, and butter. Cook together for a few minutes and serve.

64. CORN CHOWDER.--The addition of corn to potato chowder adds variety of flavor and makes a delicious mixture of vegetables. This dish is rather high in food value, especially if the soup is served over crackers. A small amount of tomato, although not mentioned in the recipe, may be added to this combination to improve the flavor.

CORN CHOWDER (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1 c. sliced potatoes 1 small onion, sliced 1 c. water 1 c. canned corn 1-1/2 c. milk 2 Tb. butter 1 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper

Cook the potatoes and onions in the water until they are soft. Add the corn, milk, butter, salt, and pepper, and cook together for a few minutes. Serve over crackers.

SOUP ACCOMPANIMENTS AND GARNISHES

65. The soup course of a meal is a more or less unattractive one, but it may be improved considerably if some tempting thing in the way of a garnish or an accompaniment is served with it. But whatever is selected to accompany soup should be, in a great measure, a contrast to it in both consistency and color. The reason why a difference in consistency is necessary is due to the nature of soup, which, being liquid in form, is merely swallowed and does not stimulate the flow of the gastric juices by mastication. Therefore, the accompaniment should be something that requires chewing and that will consequently cause the digestive juices, which respond to the mechanical action of chewing, to flow. The garnish may add the color that is needed to make soup attractive. The green and red of olives and radishes or of celery and radishes make a decided contrast, so that when any of these things are served with soup, an appetizing first course is the result. It is not necessary to serve more than one of them, but if celery and radishes or celery, radishes, and olives can be combined in the same relish dish, they become more attractive than when each is served by itself.

66. RADISHES AND CELERY.--Before radishes and celery are used on the table, whether with soup or some other part of a meal, they should be put into cold water and allowed to stand for some time, so that they will be perfectly crisp when they are served. In the case of radishes, the tops and roots should first be cut from them, and the radishes then scrubbed thoroughly. They may be served without any further treatment, or they may be prepared to resemble flowers, as is shown in Fig. 8. This may be done by peeling the red skin back to show the white inside, and then cutting the sections to look like the petals of a flower. Little difficulty will be experienced in preparing radishes in this artistic way if a sharp knife is used, for, with a little practice, the work can be done quickly and skilfully.

67. Celery that is to be served with soup may be prepared in two ways, as Fig. 9 illustrates. The stems may be pulled from the stalk and served separately, as in the group on the right, or the stalk may be cut down through the center with a knife into four or more pieces, as shown at the left of the illustration. The first of these methods is not so good as the second, for by it one person gets all of the tender heart and the coarse outside stems are left for all the others. By the second method, every piece consists of some of the heart and some of the outside stems attached to the root and makes a similar serving for each person. Whichever way is adopted, however, the celery should be scrubbed and cleansed thoroughly. This is often a difficult task, because the dirt sticks tightly between the stems. Still, an effort should be made to have the celery entirely free from dirt before it goes to the table. A few tender yellow leaves may be left on the pieces to improve the appearance of the celery.

68. CRACKERS.--Various kinds of wafers and crackers can be purchased to serve with soup, and the selection, as well as the serving of them, is entirely a matter of individual taste. One point, however, that must not be overlooked is that crackers of any kind must be crisp in order to be appetizing. Dry foods of this sort absorb moisture from the air when they are exposed to it and consequently become tough. As heat drives off this moisture and restores the original crispness, crackers should always be heated before they are served. Their flavor can be improved by toasting them until they are light brown in color.

69. CROUTONS.--As has already been learned, croutons are small pieces of bread that have been fried or toasted to serve with soup. These are usually made in the form of cubes, or dice, as is shown in the front group in Fig. 10; but they may be cut into triangles, circles, ovals, hearts, or, in fact, any fancy shape, by means of small cutters that can be purchased for such purposes. The bread used for croutons should not be fresh bread, as such bread does not toast nor fry very well; left-over toast, stale bread, or slices of bread that have been cut from the loaf and not eaten are usually found more satisfactory. If the croutons are not made from slices already cut, the bread should be cut into slices 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, and, after the crusts have been closely trimmed, the slices should be cut into cubes. When the cubes have been obtained, they may be put into a shallow pan and toasted on all sides quickly, placed in a frying basket and browned in deep fat, or put into a frying pan and sauted in butter. If toast is used, it should merely be cut in the desired shape.

Various methods of serving croutons are in practice. Some housewives prefer to place them in the soup tureen and pour the soup over them, while others like to put a few in each individual serving of soup. A better plan, however, and one that is much followed, is to serve a number of croutons on a small plate or dish at each person's place, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, for then every one may eat them in the way preferred.