The Girl’s Own Cookery Book.
the vegetables, and boil them till they are quite tender.
We have a bowl ready, and place the sieve with the deep
end downwards (because we shall more easily rub the
potatoes at the shallow end) inside the bowl, then pour
the contents of the stewpan, liquor, potatoes, leeks, and
all through the sieve. Of course the liquid part will at
once go through the sieve, and we may put a portion of
this back into the stewpan to keep hot because we shall
want it to moisten the pulp. The vegetables we rub with
the back of a wooden spoon until they pass through the
sieve and drop into the liquor in the bowl. Every two or
three minutes we may lift up the sieve and scrape the
pulp which will be lying thickly on the under part, for by
doing this we shall make it easier for the pulp to go
through the sieve ; and, by way ol still further facilitating
matters, we may every now and then moisten the pulp
with the hot liquor we kept for the purpose.
Thus far we may prepare the soup some time before it
is wanted. About half an hour before it is to be served
we put it on the fire in a clean stewpan, and stir it till it
boils. We add salt to season it pleasantly. Make a
quarter of a pint of cream hot (or milk, if cream is not to
be had), in a separate saucepan, and mix this with the
soup at the last moment. And now our soup is ready,
though, for the sake of appearance, we shall do well to
have a teaspoonful of parsley leaves✪ Vegetable Soup, or of chervil leaves,
finely minced, and to sprinkle these into the soup before
sending it to the dining-room.
The quantity of soup thus made will be enough for five
or six persons. We may calculate that the stock cost
nothing, because the liquor in which a rabbit, a chicken,
or a piece of mutton has been boiled will answer excellently
for it ; and apart from the stock the soup will have cost
lod., that is — potatoes, id. ; leek, id. ; butter, lid. ;
celery, ^d. ; parsley, ^d. ; and cream, 6d. ; and the result
will be a delicious superior soup, such as is rarely met
with in English homes.
Having mastered this one recipe, we may vary it to
any extent — carrots, turnips, vegetable marrows, Jerusalem
artichokes, asparagus, celery, red and white haricot beans,
tomatoes, chestnuts, peas, green peas, and lentils, may
all be made into soup in the same way, though in each
75
Haiv to Cook Vegetables.
case there will be slight variations, which a girl may
easily acquaint herself with. There will, however, be no
variation in this, that if she wishes to make a puide she
must pass the ingredients through a sieve.
Sometimes soups and purges are made without any
stock made from meat, and then they are called inaigre
soups. If milk is added to maigre soups they are quite
sufficiently nourishing ; for, as I said when first we spoke
of soups, it is not usually required that soups shouldfurnish
strong nourishment so much as that they should supply
light, easily-digested food, suitable for the commencement
of a repast. Maigre soups made of peas, beans, and
lentils, are, however, as nourishing as soup made of good
meat stock.
Page 47 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1882. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The Girl’s Own Cookery Book.
the vegetables, and boil them till they are quite tender. We have a bowl ready, and place the sieve with the deep end downwards (because we shall more easily rub the potatoes at the shallow end) inside the bowl, then pour the contents of the stewpan, liquor, potatoes, leeks, and all through the sieve. Of course the liquid part will at once go through the sieve, and we may put a portion of this back into the stewpan to keep hot because we shall want it to moisten the pulp. The vegetables we rub with the back of a wooden spoon until they pass through the sieve and drop into the liquor in the bowl. Every two or three minutes we may lift up the sieve and scrape the pulp which will be lying thickly on the under part, for by doing this we shall make it easier for the pulp to go through the sieve ; and, by way of still further facilitating matters, we may every now and then moisten the pulp with the hot liquor we kept for the purpose.
Thus far we may prepare the soup some time before it is wanted. About half an hour before it is to be served we put it on the fire in a clean stewpan, and stir it till it boils. We add salt to season it pleasantly. Make a quarter of a pint of cream hot (or milk, if cream is not to be had), in a separate saucepan, and mix this with the soup at the last moment. And now our soup is ready, though, for the sake of appearance, we shall do well to have a teaspoonful of parsley leaves, or of chervil leaves, finely minced, and to sprinkle these into the soup before sending it to the dining-room.
The quantity of soup thus made will be enough for five or six persons. We may calculate that the stock cost nothing, because the liquor in which a rabbit, a chicken, or a piece of mutton has been boiled will answer excellently for it ; and apart from the stock the soup will have cost lod., that is — potatoes, id. ; leek, id. ; butter, lid. ; celery, ^d. ; parsley, ^d. ; and cream, 6d. ; and the result will be a delicious superior soup, such as is rarely met with in English homes.
Having mastered this one recipe, we may vary it to any extent — carrots, turnips, vegetable marrows, Jerusalem artichokes, asparagus, celery, red and white haricot beans, tomatoes, chestnuts, peas, green peas, and lentils, may all be made into soup in the same way, though in each
Haiv to Cook Vegetables.
case there will be slight variations, which a girl may easily acquaint herself with. There will, however, be no variation in this, that if she wishes to make a puide she must pass the ingredients through a sieve.
Sometimes soups and purges are made without any stock made from meat, and then they are called maigre soups. If milk is added to maigre soups they are quite sufficiently nourishing ; for, as I said when first we spoke of soups, it is not usually required that soups should furnish strong nourishment so much as that they should supply light, easily-digested food, suitable for the commencement of a repast. Maigre soups made of peas, beans, and lentils, are, however, as nourishing as soup made of good meat stock.
Records on this page
Vegetable Soup