water. When ready to cook, put into two and one half quarts of fresh
water, which should be boiling, and simmer until completely dissolved,
adding more boiling water from time to time if needed. There should be
about two quarts of all when done. Rub through a colander, add salt, a
half cup of cream, and reheat. When hot, turn through a soup strainer,
add two or more teaspoonfuls of lemon juice, and serve.
BLACK BEAN SOUP NO. 2.--Soak a pint of black beans in water over
night. Cook in boiling water until tender, then rub through a colander.
Add sufficient boiling water to make about two quarts in all. Add salt,
and one half a small onion cut in slices to flavor. Turn into a double
boiler and reheat. When sufficiently flavored, remove the onion with a
skimmer, thicken the soup with two teaspoonfuls of browned flour, turn
through the soup strainer and serve. If desired, a half cup of cream may
be added, and the onion flavor omitted.
BRAN STOCK.--For every quart of stock desired, boil a cup of good
wheat bran in three pints of water for two or three hours or until
reduced one third. This stock may be made the base of a variety of
palatable and nutritious soups by flavoring with different vegetables
and seasoning with salt and cream. An excellent soup may be prepared by
flavoring the stock with celery, or by the addition of a quantity of
strained stewed tomato sufficient to disguise the taste of the stock. It
is also valuable in giving consistence to soups, in the preparation of
some of which it may be advantageously used in place of other liquid.
BROWN SOUP.--Simmer together two pints of sliced potatoes and one
third as much of the thin brown shavings (not thicker than a silver
dime) from the top of a loaf of whole-wheat bread, in one quart of
water. The crust must not be burned or blackened, and must not include
any of the soft portion of the loaf. When the potatoes are tender, mash
all through a colander. Flavor with a cup of strained, stewed tomatoes,
a little salt, and return to the fire; when hot, add a half cup of
cream, and boiling water to make the soup of proper consistency, and
serve at once. If care has been taken to prepare the crust as directed,
this soup will have a brown color and a fine, pungent flavor exceedingly
pleasant to the taste.
CANNED GREEN PEA SOUP.--Rub a can of green peas through a colander
to remove the skins. Add a pint of milk and heat to boiling. If too
thin, thicken with a little flour rubbed smooth in a very little cold
milk. Season with salt and a half cup of cream. A small teaspoonful of
white sugar may be added if desired.
Green peas, instead of canned, may be used when procurable. When they
have become a little too hard to serve alone, they can be used for soup,
if thoroughly cooked.
CANNED CORN SOUP.--Open a can of green corn, turn it into a
granite-ware dish, and thoroughly mash with a potato-masher until each
kernel is broken, then rub through a colander to remove the skins. Add
sufficient rich milk to make the soup of the desired consistency, about
one half pint for each pint can of corn will be needed. Season with
salt, reheat, and serve. If preferred, a larger quantity of milk and
some cream may be used, and the soup, when reheated, thickened with a
little corn starch or flour. It may be turned through the colander a
second time or not, as preferred.
CARROT SOUP.--For a quart of soup, slice one large carrot and boil
in a small quantity of water for two hours or longer, then rub it
through a colander, add a quart of rich milk, and salt to season.
Reheat, and when boiling, thicken with two teaspoonfuls of flour rubbed
smooth in a little cold milk.
CELERY SOUP.--Chop quite fine enough fresh, crisp celery to make a
pint, and cook it until tender in a very little boiling water. When
done, heat three cupfuls of rich milk, part cream if it can be afforded,
to boiling, add the celery, salt to season, and thicken the whole with a
tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold milk; or add to
the milk before heating a cupful of mashed potato, turn through a
colander to remove lumps, reheat, add salt and the celery, and serve.
CELERY SOUP NO. 2.--Cook in a double boiler a cupful of cracked
wheat in three pints of water for three or four hours. Rub the wheat
through a colander, add a cup of rich milk, and if needed, a little
boiling water, and a small head of celery cut in finger lengths. Boil
all together for fifteen or twenty minutes, until well flavored, remove
the celery with a fork, add salt, and serve with or without the
hard-boiled yolk of an egg in each soup plate.
CHESTNUT SOUP.--Shell and blanch a pint of Italian chestnuts, as
directed on page 215, and cook in boiling milk until tender. Rub the
nuts through a colander, add salt and sufficient milk and cream to make
a soup of the proper consistency, reheat and serve.
COMBINATION SOUP.--This soup is prepared from material already
cooked, and requires two cups of cracked wheat, one and one half cups of
Lima beans, one half cup of black beans, and one cup of stewed tomato.
Rub the material together through a colander, adding, if needed, a
little hot water to facilitate the sifting. Add boiling water to thin to
the proper consistency, season with salt and if it can be afforded a
little sweet cream,--the soup is, however, very palatable without the
cream.
COMBINATION SOUP NO. 2.--Take three and one half cups of mashed
(Scotch) peas, one cup each of cooked rice, oatmeal, and hominy, and two
cups of stewed tomato. Rub the material through a colander, add boiling
water to thin to the proper consistency, season with salt, reheat, and
add, just before serving, two cups of cooked macaroni. If preferred, a
cup of cream may be used in place of the tomato, or both may be omitted.
ANOTHER.--One half cup of cold mashed potato, one cup each of
cooked pearl wheat, barley and dried peas. Rub all through a colander,
add boiling milk to thin to the proper consistency, season with salt and
a half cup of cream.
ANOTHER.--Take three cups of cooked oatmeal, two of mashed white
beans, and one of stewed tomato. Rub the ingredients through a colander,
add boiling milk to thin to the proper consistency, season with salt and
a little cream.
CREAM PEA SOUP.--Soak three fourths of a pint of dried Scotch peas
over night in a quart of water. In the morning put to cook in boiling
water, cover closely and let them simmer gently four or five hours, or
until the peas are very tender and well disintegrated; then rub through
a colander to remove the skins. If the peas are very dry, add a little
water or milk occasionally, to moisten them and facilitate the sifting.
Just before the peas are done, prepare potatoes enough to make a pint
and a half, after being cut in thin slices. Cook the potatoes until
tender in a small amount of water, and rub them through a colander. Add
the potatoes thus prepared to the sifted peas, and milk enough to make
three and one half pints in all. Return to the fire, and add a small
head of celery cut finger lengths, and let the whole simmer together ten
or fifteen minutes, until flavored. Remove the celery with a fork, add
salt and a cup of thin cream. This should make about two quarts of soup.
If preferred, the peas may be cooked without soaking. It will, however,
require a little longer time.
CREAM BARLEY SOUP.--Wash a cup of pearl barley, drain and simmer
slowly in two quarts of water for four or five hours, adding boiling
water from time to time as needed. When the barley is tender, strain off
the liquor, of which there should be about three pints; add to it a
portion of the cooked barley grains, salt, and a cup of whipped cream,
and serve. If preferred, the beaten yolk of an egg may be used instead
of cream.
GREEN CORN SOUP.--Take six well-filled ears of tender green corn.
Run a sharp knife down the rows and split each grain; then with the back
of a knife, scraping from the large to the small end of the ear, press
out the pulp, leaving the hulls on the cob. Break the cobs if long, put
them in cold water sufficient to cover, and boil half an hour. Strain
off the water, of which there should be at least one pint. Put the corn
water on again, and when boiling add the corn pulp, and cook fifteen
minutes, or until the raw taste is destroyed. Rub through a rather
coarse colander, add salt and a pint of hot unskimmed milk; if too thin,
thicken with a little cornstarch or flour, boil up, and serve. If
preferred, a teaspoonful of sugar may be added to the soup. A small
quantity of cooked macaroni, cut in rings, makes a very pretty and
palatable addition to the soup. The soup is also excellent flavored with
celery.
GREEN PEA SOUP.--Gently simmer two quarts of shelled peas in
sufficient water to cook, leaving almost no juice when tender. Rub
through a colander, moistening if necessary with a little cold milk. Add
to the sifted peas an equal quantity of rich milk and a small onion cut
in halves. Boil all together five or ten minutes until the soup is
delicately flavored, then remove the onion with a skimmer; add salt if
desired, and serve. If preferred, a half cup of thin cream may be added
just before serving. Celery may be used in place of the onion, or both
may be omitted.
GREEN BEAN SOUP.--Prepare a quart of fresh string beans by pulling
off ends and strings and breaking into small pieces. Boil in a small
quantity of water. If the beans are fresh and young, three pints will be
sufficient; if wilted or quite old, more will be needed, as they will
require longer cooking. There should be about a teacupful and a half of
liquid left when the beans are perfectly tender and boiled in pieces.
Rub through a colander, return to the kettle, and for each cup of the
bean pulp add salt, a cup and a half of unskimmed milk; boil together
for a few minutes, thicken with a little flour, and serve. The quart of
beans should be sufficient for three pints of soup.
KORNLET SOUP.--Kornlet or canned green corn pulp, may be made into
a most appetizing soup in a few minutes by adding to a pint of kornlet
an equal quantity of rich milk, heating to boiling, and thickening it
with a teaspoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold milk.
KORNLET AND TOMATO SOUP.--Put together equal quantities of kornlet
and strained stewed tomato, season with salt and heat to boiling; add
for each quart one fourth to one half cup of hot thin cream, thicken
with a tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little water, and
serve. Cooked corn rubbed through a colander may also be used for this
soup.
LENTIL SOUP.--Simmer a pint of lentils in water until tender. If
desired to have the soup less dark in color and less strong in flavor,
the lentils may be first parboiled for a half hour, and then drained and
put into fresh boiling water. Much valuable nutriment is thus lost,
however. When perfectly tender, mash through a colander to remove all
skins; add salt and a cup of thin cream, and it too thick, sufficient
boiling milk or water to thin to the proper consistency, heat again to
boiling, and serve. If preferred, an additional quantity of liquid may
be added and the soup slightly thickened with browned flour.
LENTIL AND PARSNIP SOUP.--Cook together one pint of lentils and one
half a small parsnip, sliced, until tender in a small quantity of
boiling water. When done, rub through a colander, and add boiling water
to make a soup of the proper consistency. Season with salt and if
desired a little cream.
LIMA BEAN SOUP.--Simmer a pint of Lima beans gently in just
sufficient water to cook and not burn, until they have fallen to pieces.
Add more boiling water as needed. When done, rub the beans through a
colander. Add rich milk or water to make of the proper consistency, and
salt to season; reheat and serve. White beans may be used in place of
Lima beans, but they require more prolonged cooking. A heaping
tablespoonful of pearl tapioca or sago previously soaked in cold water,
may be added to the soup when it is reheated, if liked, and the whole
cooked until the sago is transparent.
MACARONI SOUP.--Heat a quart of milk, to which has been added a
tablespoonful of finely grated bread crust (the brown part only, from
the top of the loaf) and a slice of onion to flavor, in a double boiler.
When the milk is well flavored, remove the onion, turn through a
colander, add salt, and thicken with two teaspoonfuls of flour rubbed
smooth in a little cold milk. Lastly add one cupful of cooked macaroni,
and serve.
OATMEAL SOUP.--Put two heaping tablespoonfuls of oatmeal into a
quart of boiling water, and cook in a double boiler for two hours or
longer. Strain as for gruel, add salt if desired, and two or three
stalks of celery broken into finger lengths, and cook again until the
whole is well flavored with the celery, which may then be removed with a
fork; add a half cup of cream, and the soup is ready to serve. Cold
oatmeal mush may be thinned with milk, reheated, strained, flavored, and
made into soup the same as fresh material. A slice or two of onion may
be used with the celery for flavoring the soup if desired, or a cup of
strained stewed tomato may be added.
PARSNIP SOUP.--Take a quart of well scraped, thinly sliced
parsnips, one cup of bread crust shavings (prepared as for Brown Soup),
one head of celery, one small onion, and one pint of sliced potatoes.
The parsnips used should be young and tender, so that they will cook in
about the same length of time as the other vegetables. Use only
sufficient water to cook them. When done, rub through a colander and add
salt and sufficient rich milk, part cream if desired, to make of the
proper consistency. Reheat and serve.
PARSNIP SOUP NO. 2.--Wash, pare, and slice equal quantities of
parsnips and potatoes. Cook, closely covered, in a small quantity of
water until soft. If the parsnips are not young and tender, they must be
put to cook first, and the potatoes added when they are half done. Mash
through a colander. Add salt, and milk to make of the proper
consistency, season with cream, reheat and serve.
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.