Miss Corson's practical American cookery and household management

require heating without boiling; by increasing the heat, cooking can be done in a bain-marie. Small saucepans or tin pails are set in the water-bath to keep their contents hot after they are ready for the table. A card placed upon the handle of a saucepan indicates its contents without the trouble of removing the cover. A primitive bain-marie can be made with a dripping-pan and several small tin pails, or even empty tin cans. Soups, sauces, vegetables, and ragouts can be kept hot in this way without deteriorating. TOMATO CREAM SOUP. Peel and slice one quart of fresh tomatoes, or use a can of tomatoes j pick over half a cupful of rice, and wash it well in cold water ; rub two tablespoonfuls of butter to a smooth paste with one tablespoonful of flour; put the tomatoes over the fire in a soup-kettle with one quart of cold water, and let them heat gradually ; when they are hot, add another quart of cold water, and when this boils, put in the rice, a saltspoonful of pepper, and two teaspoonfuls of salt, and continue the boiling until the rice is tender, but not broken ; then stir in the paste of butter and flour, a saltspoonful of soda, and a pint of milk, or enough to make the soup as thick as cream ; let the soup boil for a few moments, in order to thoroughly cook the flour, and then serve it at once. STRING-BEAN SOUP. Remove the strings from a pint of beans, cut them in small pieces, wash them in cold water, and then boil them in salted boiling water until they are tender enough to rub through a sieve with a potato-masher. After the beans are prepared in this way, put over the fire in a clean saucepan two tablespoonfuls each of butter and flour, and stir them until they are smoothly blended ; then gradually stir in two quarts of boiling water ; when the white soup thus made is boiling, put in the beans, prepared as already directed ; season the soup with two teaspoonfuls of salt, half a saltspoonful of white pepper, and the least dust of cayenne pepper ; let it boil once, and serve it. GREEN-PEA SOUP. Make this soup of small green peas and the broth in which a chicken has been cooked. To prepare it, first carefully pick and singe a chicken, wipe it with a wet towel, Draw it without breaking the intestines, and truss it to keep it in shape while boiling. Put it over the fire in a saucepan containing sufficient boiling water to cover the chicken ; remove all scum as it rises, and when the broth is clear add a table- SOUPS (potage). 183 spoonful of salt and a saltspoonful of white pepper ; cover the saucepan closely, and simmer the chicken very slowly until it is tender. Meantime shell a quart of green peas, boil them tender in salted boiling water, then drain them and put them in cold water ; mix to a smooth paste two tablespoonfuls each of butter and flour. When the chicken is tender, take it out of the broth ; reserve it for some other dish ; drain the peas, and pour them into the broth with the flour and butter, stirring the broth until the flour and butter are dissolved in it, and adding a little water or milk if there is not enough broth to make the soup of a creamy consistency. As soon as the soup boils up, see that it is palatably seasoned, and serve it. OKRA SOUP WITH CRABS.