SECOND COURSE
SOUPS
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SOUPS
Consommé of Beef
Consommé of Chicken
Clam Broth
Clam Bisque
Cream of Clams
Cream of Oysters
Cream of Spinach
Cream of Celery
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SOUPS
Soups used for luncheon are served in cups. Any kind of soup can be
used, but those given below are the ones generally employed. For other
soups, see “Century Cook Book,” page 97.
[Illustration: NO. 27. BOUILLON CUP WITH SIPPETS OF TOAST AND ITALIAN
BREAD STICKS.]
CONSOMMÉ OF BEEF
Cut into pieces four pounds of beef taken from the under part of the
round, and the meat cut from a knuckle of veal. Put them into a soup pot
with two tablespoonfuls of butter and let them brown on all sides. Then
add a cupful of water and let it fall to a glaze. This is to give color
to the soup. Add five and a half quarts of cold water. Let it boil
slowly for five to six hours. An hour before removing it add soup
vegetables, a tablespoonful of salt, fifteen peppercorns, three cloves,
two bay-leaves, a little thyme, marjoram, and summer savory.
Strain the soup through a cloth and let it cool without covering. When
it is cold take off the grease. As no bones were boiled with the soup,
it will be clear; and as the meat was browned, it will have a good
color.
It can be made perfectly clear as follows: Pour the soup off the
sediment which has fallen to the bottom of the dish. Stir into it while
it is cold the whites of two eggs beaten enough to break them. Place it
on the fire and stir it until it comes to the boiling-point; the egg
will then be cooked and have imprisoned any particles which clouded the
soup. Let it boil violently for a few minutes, then draw it to the side
of the range. Strain it again through a cloth. Heat it again before
serving it.
In summer this soup is sometimes served cold in the form of jelly. In
this case the bone of the knuckle of veal must be cooked with it in
order to make it jelly. Care must be taken that during the cooking the
water only simmers, for if it boils lime will be extracted from the bone
and it will be impossible to have a clear soup.
CONSOMMÉ OF CHICKEN
Place a fowl in a soup pot with four quarts of cold water and let it
come slowly to the boiling-point, then draw it to the side of the range
and let it simmer for five or six hours. If it is allowed to boil the
soup will be clouded by lime extracted from the bones.
An hour before removing it add an onion, a branch of celery, a
tablespoon of salt, and six peppercorns. Strain it through a cloth, and
when cold remove the grease. Clear it the same as the beef consommé.
A knuckle of veal may also be used with this soup if a jellied stock is
wanted to serve cold.
CLAM BROTH
Boil clams in their own liquor for twenty minutes. Let the liquid settle
before pouring it off. Season it with pepper and serve it very hot in
cups, with a teaspoonful of whipped cream on the top of each cupful.
About two dozen clams will give a quart of liquor.
CLAM BISQUE
Boil a pint of clams in their own liquor. Chop the clams very fine and
return them to the fire with the clam liquor, a quart of soup stock
(chicken or veal stock preferred), half a cupful of uncooked rice, a
sprig of parsley, and a bay-leaf. Boil until the rice is tender, then
strain the soup through a purée sieve, pressing through as much of the
clams and rice as possible. Strain a second time. Just before serving,
heat it, add a cupful of cream, and beat the whole with an egg-whip.
CREAM OF CLAMS
Steam twenty-five clams and as soon as they open remove them from the
shells and strain off the liquor. Chop the clams, pound them in a
mortar, and rub as much of them as possible through a purée sieve. Put
three cupfuls of milk into a double boiler, cook two tablespoonfuls of
butter and two tablespoonfuls of flour together, but do not let them
brown, then add to the cooked butter and flour a little of the milk from
the boiler to make a smooth paste, put the paste into the milk in the
double boiler, and stir the mixture until it is a little thickened. When
ready to serve add two cupfuls of clam liquor and the pulp which has
passed through the sieve. Let it get hot, but do not let it boil or it
will curdle. Season with salt, if necessary, pepper, and a dash of
nutmeg. At the moment of serving add a cupful of cream and beat the
whole well with an egg-whip. This receipt makes a quart and a half of
soup.
CREAM OF OYSTERS
Prepare the same as the Cream of Clams.
CREAM SOUPS
Any vegetable pulp can be used for creamed soups after the rule given
for Cream of Spinach.
CREAM OF SPINACH
Boil spinach until tender, then drain it. Chop it and rub it through a
purée sieve. To two cupfuls of vegetable pulp add a quart of soup stock,
or a quart of milk, or half stock and half milk. Rub together a
tablespoonful of butter and two tablespoonfuls of flour. Put this into
the soup on the fire and stir all together until the soup is a little
thickened. Season it with pepper and salt and add a half or a whole
cupful of cream. Beat it well with an egg-whip and serve at once. If the
soup is too thick dilute it with a little stock or milk. It should have
the consistency of cream.
CREAM OF CELERY
This is prepared in the same manner as the Cream of Spinach, using
celery pulp instead of spinach. The roots of the celery as well as the
stalks should be boiled to make the pulp.
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