Girl's home manual of cookery, home management, home nursing and laundry

These soups are made by cooking vegetables of one kind, or a suitable combination, with water to cover. An onion is generally added for flavour (this is also improved if the vegetables are sweated in butter before the water is added). When the vegetables are soft the whole is rubbed through a strainer and returned to the saucepan, and to prevent the vegetables separating from the water a binding of flour and butter rubbed together is stirred into the boiling soup, a tablespoon of each being sufficient for each pint of soup. Hot milk is added to the soup to thin it down to the required consistency. Potatoes, tomatoes, celery, onions, leeks, carrots, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, peas, beans and lentils all make nourishing soups. Fish may be cooked similarly, sieved, and milk with a thickening added. Salmon soup is excellent. Oysters make good soup, the plump part of the fish is served in the soup. Potato Soup. 4 potatoes. 2 tbsp. flour. 1 onion. 1 tbsp. salt. 4 tbsp. butter. ly tsp. pepper. 5 stalks celery. 1 pint hot milk. 2 pints water or stock. 1 _ tsp. dried parsley. Peel and dice the potatoes and onion, cut up celery. Make half the butter hot in a saucepan, add the onion and potatoes, cook until they sweat. Do not brown. Add salt, pepper, celery and water. Cook until soft. Rub through a strainer. Return to the saucepan, reheat, when boiling add the remainder of SOUPS AND STOCK 63 butter blended with the flour, stir and cook 5 minutes. Add the hot milk and parsley. Serve with bread croutons. Tomato Soup. 1 large tin tomatoes. 14 cup rice. 1 quart water, or stock from bones or vegetables. YZ tbsp. sugar. Y tbsp. salt. 1 onion. lg tsp. pepper. 2 tbsp. dripping or bacon fat. Peel and slice onion and fry a golden brown in the fat, use the saucepan in which soup is to be made. Add the tomatoes, water, seasoning and rice well washed. Cook gently for one hour. Put through a strainer, reheat, add sugar and serve with croutons. Cream Tomato Soup. 1- small tin tomatoes. 4% tsp. soda. 1 small onion (sliced). 4 tbsp. butter. 1% tbsp. sugar. 4 tbsp. flour. YZ tbsp. salt. 1 = quart hot milk. lg tsp. pepper. Cook tomatoes, onions, sugar, salt and pepper together twenty minutes, rub through a strainer and add the soda. Blend butter and flour and stir into the scalded milk. Combine the tomatoes and milk. Serve with croutons. Split Pea Soup. 1 pint split peas. 2 oz. bacon or ham. fat. 1 onion. 2 tbsp. salt. 1 small carrot. one-sixth tsp. pepper. % turnip. 1 tbsp. powdered mint. 4 outer stalks of celery. 2 tbsp. each of butter and flour. 3 quarts water or stock. % pint milk if desired. Look over the peas, remove black ones. Wash in several waters and soak peas over night. Put peas, prepared vegetables, bacon cut up (a ham bone may be used instead), salt, pepper and cold water in a large saucepan. Boil gently four hours, rub through strainer, reheat, bind with butter and flour rubbed together, stir and boil 5 minutes, and add hot milk to thin if necessary. On each plate of soup a little powdered mint should be sprinkled. Serve with croutons. The flavour of this soup is improved if the vegetables (except peas) are first sweated in the bacon fat. Green Pea Soup. 1 pint of tin of peas. 1 sprig mint. % tbsp. sugar. 2 cups milk. 3 cups cold water. 2 slices onion. 1 tsp. salt. 2 tbsp. butter. lg tsp. pepper. 2 tbsp. flour. Cook peas, sugar, mint, salt, pepper and water half an hour. Add a handful of pea pods in summer. Rub the whole through a strainer. Reheat in saucepan, when boiling add flour and butter mixed together, stir and cook five minutes. Scald milk with onion and add to peas. Serve with croutons.