Asparagus Soup

Ingredients

• four bunches — that is to say, about four dozen heads
• three quarts of water
• either a chicken, the bones of which have been broken up after jointing, or two pounds of lean veal, chopped up
• two tablespoonfuls of flour
• one tablespoonful of butter
• half a teacupful of new milk
• toast cut into small squares

Method

1. 1

   Cut off three inches of the tops of the asparagus and set aside.

2. 2

   Scrape the rest and boil in three quarts of water for an hour.

3. 3

   Strain and pulp through a colander.

4. 4

   Return the water to the pot, add chicken or veal, and boil for two hours.

5. 5

   Add the reserved asparagus and cook until tender.

6. 6

   Thicken with flour and butter mixture, add new milk, and serve hot over toast.

Nutrition per serving

Estimated from matched ingredients across 8 servings.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Virginia Cookery-book (1884) by Mary Stuart Smith, page 39. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

AsPABAGus Soup. Take four bunches — that is to say, about four dozen heads — of asparagus, cut off three inches of the tops and lay them aside for the present in a pan of water ; scrape the rest of the stalks well and put on in your soup-pot with three quarts of water. Let the asparagus boil for an hour; then take it off the fire, strain it, water and all, through the colander, pulping it with your potato-masher. Return the water to the soup -pot, add to it either a chicken, the bones of which have been broken up after jointing, or two pounds of lean veal, chopped up. Boil again dowly for two hours, then add the asparagus left out before; let it cook until these are done tender; thicken with two table-spoonfuls of flour rubbed into one table- spoonful of butter, creamed smoothly together ; add lastly half a teacupf ul of new milk, and serve hot. Skim off carefully any grease that rises to the surface. Put toast 4 74 VIMGINIA COOKEHT-BOOK, cut into small squares

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.