An economical housewife may supply good gravy and thick soups at
very little, if any, addition to the weekly expenses, as soups are
an excellent method of using up scraps and bones from joints and
vegetables that otherwise are wasted. Soup, if taken as the primary
course of a substantial dinner, if well flavored and warm, acts as a
stimulant in the stomach, exciting the gastric glands, and generally
enabling that organ to perform its functions more easily. For this
object the soup should be thin and not too much of it partaken,
otherwise it dilutes the digestive juices too much. If it is to
form the chief part of the meal, the soup will be more nutritious if
thickened, especially so, if pulse--i.e. peas, beans, and lentils--is
used as the thickening medium.
Stock is the liquid in which meat, bones, or vegetables have been
cooked, and which contains an extract from these substances. It is
used for soups, sauces, and gravies. Fresh or cooked bones or meat may
be used. A stock pot may be kept on the stove, into which are put any
scraps of meat, bones, gristle, or vegetable; at the end of the day it
is strained, and all fat taken off. Bones and meat for stock must be
broken into small pieces. Cold water should be used, and a little
salt to extract the nutriment. The whole must be brought slowly to the
boiling point; then, the temperature lowered, the fat and scum taken
off. When wanted for clear soups the vegetables should be cleaned,
but not cut up, or with the long cooking they may mash and thicken the
soup. In hot weather it is better to leave out the vegetables, as
the stock turns sour more quickly if vegetables have been used in its
preparation. They can be cooked separately and added when using the
stock.
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The soup should simmer for five or six hours to extract the gelatinous
matters. If the stock is skimmed occasionally it will be much clearer.
Keep the lid on the stock pot to prevent loss by evaporation. The
bones can be cooked again next day for a second stock, but the
vegetables must be taken out. Care must be taken that nothing doubtful
in freshness be put into the stock pot. Meat and bones should be well
wiped with a damp cloth before using them. If onions be put in the
soup unpeeled, simply washed and the root end cut off, they will help
to color the soup. When using eggs for other dishes, if the shells be
washed before breaking them and added to the stock pot they will help
to clear the soup. For clear soups care must be taken that nothing
of a floury nature be added to the stock pot. Stock always should
be strained before cooling. Never allow it to stand in stock pot
all night. Clear gravy soup consists of the extractives, flavoring
matters, and gelatine of meat and bones.
Consommé is a good stock made from beef, veal, and often fowl, and
flavored with vegetables, cooled, freed from fat. It is clarified with
whites and shells of eggs, and chopped raw lean beef, and strained
through a cloth. It should be brilliantly clear and of a pale brown
color. Any fat floating on the stock may be removed by passing a piece
of kitchen or blotting paper over the surface. Soup left from a meal
will keep better if strained from the vegetables that have been served
in it. In hot weather, stock left over must be boiled each day,
and poured into a clean basin to prevent its turning sour. In warm
weather, soups with milk in their composition should have a pinch of
baking soda added.
Thickenings for soup consist usually of yolks of eggs and cream beaten
together in a basin, the boiling soup poured on slowly, stirring well
at the same time. Soups thus thickened should not be allowed to
boil again, otherwise they will curdle. Instead of eggs and cream,
cornstarch and milk may be used to thicken the soup.