The Aunts' Cook Book

Soak the beans over night. When soaked put into a saucepan with the bouquet of herbs and the ham-bone and cover them with cold water. Let them boil slowly till tender, which will take several hours, adding more water if necessary. When the beans are very soft, remove the bone and bouquet, drain the water off and pass the beans through a puree sieve. Add to the pulp enough brown stock to make a soup of the consistency of thin cream. Place it again on the fire and add a brown roux (made of one tablespoonful of flour and one of butter cooked Soup and Stock 19 together till the flour browns). Dilute it to smoothness with a little of the soup before adding and cook it with the soup for five minutes. This will prevent the soup from separating. Season with salt and pepper. Strain it into a tureen and add thin slices of lemon and hard-boiled egg and one-quarter cupful of wine. Aunt Emery's Plain Soup Heaping tablespoon flour 1 tablespoonful butter Make soup by heating butter in pan till it bubbles. Add flour and cook 3 to S minutes — stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper, also celery salt, then 1 pint white stock. Just before serving add cup of cream. Aunt Emery's Cream Tomato Soup (for 4 persons) 2 cups strained tomato juice 1 tablespoon flour 2 cups milk Soda 1 tablespoon butter J^ teaspoon salt Heat milk and tomato juice in separate sauce pans, with a pinch of soda in each. Cream butter and flour together in a bowl. Add the tomato to the milk slowly, and pour gradually onto the butter and flour, stirring all the time. Return to fire and heat thoroughly. Add salt. Strain and serve. A little cream at the last minute makes it nicer. This is not a very thick soup, but if not thick enough, add more butter and flour creamed. 20 Soup and Stock Aunt Emery's English Tomato Soup Brown 1 large thinly sliced onion in 2 tablespoons of butter. Add 4 cups boiling hot stock and heat together. Transfer to a sauce pan and add 1 cup strained tomato juice. Season and let simmer for 3/4 hour. Aunt Emery's Onion Soup 1 cup of stock and 2 small finely sliced onions for each person. Allow 1 extra cup of stock for boiling away. Fry the onions brown in 3 tablespoons of butter in frying pan. Transfer to saucepan and add the stock. Let simmer for 4 hours. Season. Put a round piece of toast in each soup plate> sprinkle thickly with grated Parmesan cheese and pour in soup. Aunt Emery's Cheese Soup 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon flour Little milk Put on fire in a sauce pan and stir till blended. Add 5 cups of milk, stirring and beating all the time; when very hot add 5 tablespoons grated American cheese, stirring constantly while adding cheese (slowly). Season and serve. Soup and Stock 21 Aunt Virginia's Cheese Soup 2 qts. of chicken stock 3 tablespoons of flour 1 pint of rich milk or cream, J^ cup of grated cheese the latter if you wish it Yolks of 2 eggs, beaten lightly very rich Salt and pepper to taste 2 tablespoons of butter Heat the stock and milk, to boiling point, then thicken with butter and flour, next add the cheese, and when ready to serve add the eggs. Do not allow to cook after adding the eggs, as it is likely to curdle. Put a small onion, and a little celery in the stock, when cooking it, to give it a rich flavor. Aunt Robbie's Fresh Pea Soup Cook 2 cups of fresh peas and put through strainer. Add 2 cups of white stock or chicken broth and water in which peas were cooked. Add cup of cream and scant tablespoonful of cornstarch moistened in water to bind together. Season with y^ teaspoonful of salt and 3^ teaspoonful of pepper. If on, hand, add H tablespoonful of whipped cream on top of each plateful of soup. Aunt Mattie's Cream of Asparagus Soup 1 pint of asparagus pulp diluted with a quart of stock, (veal, beef or chicken) 1 tablespoonful butter 2 tablespoonful flour seasoning of salt and pepper