Some Easy Soups
Every little cook should early be taught how to make a variety of soups,
as many small quantities of food can be utilized in this way that
otherwise might be wasted.
STOCK
Take, for instance, the bones and small trimmings from steaks, chops or
a roast, and the remnant of a chicken. These, with a five-cent soup
bone, will make the stock, which is the foundation for a great many
kinds of soup. If part of the scraps have been fried or roasted, so much
the better, as then the stock will be a delicate brown and have even a
richer taste. The meat, cut in small cubes, with the bones well cracked,
should be covered with twice the quantity of cold water and allowed to
stand for several hours.
CLEAR VEGETABLE SOUP
Any kind of vegetables on hand can be put in at the same time, a small
onion cut in slices, a little chopped carrot, turnip, a few string beans
cut in inch lengths, half a cupful of peas, a couple of stalks of
celery, a few sprigs of parsley, together with three or four cloves and
salt and pepper to taste. If these vegetables with the meat fill the
kettle one-third full, then it can be filled to the top with cold water.
After standing several hours it should be placed where it will heat
slowly and allowed to simmer for two hours, then strained and set aside
to cool and let the grease come to the top. When it is cold the cake of
fat can easily be lifted off.
[Illustration: GREEN-PEPPER SALAD]
CONSOMME AND BOUILLON
Then to make the finest kind of perfectly clear soup, stir into each two
quarts of cold stock the beaten white and crushed shell of one egg,
place on the fire and keep stirring until it boils. Allow to cook
without stirring for twenty minutes, after which set aside for ten
minutes; skim and strain through a cheese-cloth bag. This may seem like
a good deal of work, but if the soup is first boiled in the morning
while cleaning up the kitchen and then clarified while getting dinner,
it will not require much time nor trouble, and the result will be a
delicious consomme or bouillon. It is called bouillon if made
principally of beef with vegetables, and brown in color; it is consomme
if made of uncooked meat and bones, including veal and chicken, and
consequently light in color.
PLEASING VARIATIONS
Stock made thus can be simply reheated or changed to any desired kind of
soup by the addition of a particular garnishing. For rice soup, either a
few teaspoonfuls of uncooked rice or half a teacupful of cold boiled
rice can be added; for vegetable soup a cupful of mixed vegetables cut
in small pieces can be put in and boiled until tender. Macaroni, broken
in inch lengths, washed and then cooked in the stock until it is done
makes a nice change, called Italian consomme, while a cupful of
tomatoes will convert it into a tomato soup. If the additions suggested
are to be made, however, it is not necessary to clarify the stock. It
takes common sense to make good soup, as well as time and patience, and
one must learn to be guided by the taste if trying to use up left-overs
instead of following a regular recipe.
Cream soups, however, do not require any stock, and so are easily and
quickly made. They are delicious, too, and something any bright girl
could make while her mother got up the rest of the dinner. They take the
name of the kind of vegetable used, but all are put together in about
the same way.
CREAM OF CELERY
For cream of celery take two cupfuls of diced celery, using the leaves,
ends and coarse pieces not good enough to send to the table uncooked.
Cover with two cupfuls of cold water, season with salt and allow to cook
until tender--about twenty minutes. While this is boiling the little
maid mixes in another pan two tablespoonfuls of melted butter with two
tablespoonfuls of flour. Placing it over the fire, she adds three
cupfuls of milk and stirs for five minutes while it boils. After
seasoning with salt and pepper and a dash of red pepper, pour in the
strained water from the cooked celery and boil all gently on the back of
the stove for five minutes before serving.
PEA AND ASPARAGUS
For cream of pea soup, simply substitute two cupfuls of cooked peas that
have been pressed through a colander. For cream of asparagus boil up
first two cupfuls of the tough ends of the asparagus that would not do
for the table, or take two cupfuls of the water used in cooking the
asparagus for dinner and put with the thickened milk. But in order to
avoid giving the family the same vegetable twice at a meal, it is best
to save the asparagus water or the celery ends until another time,
putting in the ice-box to keep fresh. We all like variety, and in this
way it can be had without extra expense.
CREAM OF POTATO
Cream of potato soup is made by adding two scant cupfuls of mashed
potato to the milk foundation given. Some people like the addition of a
half-teaspoonful of onion juice to flavor or a tablespoonful of chopped
bacon. If too thick it can be thinned with some of the boiling potato
water.
It is advisable for the mother to have the child make a certain cream
soup twice in close succession to be sure that she thoroughly
understands the process, and then make each of the other kinds soon
after, so that she will get used to using up whatever left-overs she
finds on hand.
BLACK BEAN SOUP
Black beans make a particularly nice soup for a company dinner. To two
cupfuls of the dried beans use four cupfuls of cold water and let stand
over night. Next day add two cupfuls of boiling water and cook until the
beans are perfectly tender, with one small chopped onion, three cloves,
salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne. Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter,
stir in two tablespoonfuls of flour, add a cupful of cold water; cook
the same as the milk foundation and add to the beans after they have
been put through a colander. Boil up well together, stirring to blend
well. Put a couple of thin slices of hard-boiled egg and lemon in each
plate and pour the hot soup in. If desired, the soup can be additionally
flavored with a small wineglassful of sour wine.
CREAM OF TOMATO
Before leaving the soup question, let me say that the cream of tomato is
made by heating two cupfuls of canned tomatoes to the boiling point,
then straining, and after adding a good-sized pinch of soda, which must
be stirred in well, poured slowly on to the milk foundation, prepared in
another vessel. This must be served immediately, as it is not so good
when allowed to stand.
[Illustration: TOSSING UP A SALAD]
DELECTABLE GARNISHES
Instead of always serving the ordinary crackers, teach the child how to
prepare some simple little extras for nice soups. Plain square crackers
spread with butter, salted and then browned in the oven will taste quite
different; another time let her grate the least bit of cheese over
before the toasting. Or she can take stale bread, cut in long narrow
strips, spread with butter, season with salt and pepper and bake a light
brown in a slow oven. Croutons, too, are a welcomed variety, made by
cutting bread in half-inch cubes, dipping in melted butter and frying
crisp. A few of these are scattered on top of each plate of soup just
before sending to the table. Such extras require but little time, yet
they mark the experienced cook; and if our small maid has been paying
due attention to her directions (and consequently getting good results
in her work,) she ought now to be so interested that she will be eager
to try every new dish suggested and desirous of making the greatest
possible number of dishes out of each particular kind of food.
Now let us review and see what we have out of the odds and ends that we
found that we had on hand to start with, and what a luncheon it would
make. We should have either a soup or the stuffed peppers for a first
course, salad for a second, and the cheese crackers served with a small
quantity of jam or preserves for a finish! Quite a nice meal, and one we
need not hesitate to set before an unexpected guest. Besides, from any
reasonable quantity of left-overs there would probably be enough for
four people.