The complete cook book

of an egg with a quarter of a cupful of cream, and stir the mixture briskly into the soup, putting in also two level tablespoonfuls of good butter; stir again until the butter is melted, and thoroughly mixed. Sprinkle over the soup a little chopped parsley and it will be ready to serve. EGG SOUP. . To make a Lenten egg soup, put one quart of fresh milk, with a part of an onion, over the fire in a double boiler. Blend together one tablespoonful of butter with a scant spoonful of flour; moisten this with a little of the hot milk before stirring into the boiling milk. Season with salt and cayenne pepper. Let the mixture boil up once, and then strain into a heated tureen. Meanwhile furnish as many eggs as are needed, place them on the top of the soup, and scatter a little chopped parsley over the whole. When serving this soup use great care not to break the eggs. GREEN PEA SOUP. Gently simmer two quarts of shelled peas in sufficient water to cook, leaving almost no juice when tender. Rub through a colander, moistening if necessary with a little cold milk. Add to the sifted peas an equal quantity of rich milk and a small onion cut in halves. Boil all together five or ten minutes until the soup is delicately flavored, then remove the onion with a skimmer; add salt if desired, and serve. If preferred, a half-cup of thin cream may be added just before serving. Celery may be used in place of the onion or both may be omitted. CREAM PEA SOUP. Soak three-quarters of a pint of dried peas over night in a quart of water; in the morning put to cook in boiling water, cover closely and let them simmer gently four or five hours, or until the peas are very tender and well disintegrated ; then rub through a colander to remove the skins. If the peas are very dry, add a little 28 The Complete Cook Book. water or milk occasionally to moisten them and facilitate the sifting. Just before the peas are done, prepare potatoes enough to make a pint and a half after being cut in thin slices. Cook the potatoes until tender in a small amount of water, and rub them, through a colander. Add the potatoes thus prepared to the sifted peas, and milk enough to make three and one-half pints in all. Beturn to the fire, and add a small head of celery cut in finger lengths, and let the whole simmer together ten or fifteen minutes, until flavored. Remove the celery with a fork, add salt and a cup of thin cream. This should make about two quarts of soup. If preferred, the peas may be cooked without soaking. It will, however, require a little longer time. TOMATO SOUP WITH VEGETABLES— VERY FINE. Cut small, three carrots, three heads of celery, four onions and two turnips; put them into a saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter, a slice of ham and a half-cup of water; let them simmer gently for an hour; then if a very rich soup is desired add to the vegetables two or three quarts of good soup stock, made by boiling a beef bone in three quarts of water until the meat is tender. Let all boil together for half an hour, and then add ten or twelve ripe tomatoes and a half-dojsen whole peppers. It should cook for another hour or so. It must then be strained through a sieve or coarse cloth. Serve with toasted or fried bread cut in bits in the tureen. This is an elegant family soup, particularly nice in summer when the vegetables are fresh. CHICKEN GUMBO WITH OYSTERS. Take a young chicken, or' the half of a grown one; cut it up, roll it in salt, pepper and flour, and fry it a nice brown, using lard or drippings as if for fricassee. Cut up a quart of fresh green okras, and take out the chicken and fry the okra in the same lard. When well browned return the chicken to the pot and boil. Add to it a large slice of ham ; a quarter of a pound will be The Complete Cook Book. 29