Purée Cressy Soup

Ingredients

• eight ordinary-sized carrots
• one onion
• two heads of celery
• a pint of fresh haricot beans
• one quart of good broth
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• about an ounce of sugar
• the yolks of four eggs
• two ounces of butter
• a little grated nutmeg
• a few slices of bread

Method

1. 1

   Fry vegetables in butter, add broth, and boil.

2. 2

   Sieve the mixture, return to the pot with more broth and sugar, and boil again.

3. 3

   Serve with bread slices.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Practical household cookery (1891) by E. Duret, page 11. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

pur£e cressy soup. Fry for ten minutes in a stewpan with two ounces of butter, eight ordinary-sized carrots, one onion, and two heads of celery, all shred fine ; also a pint of fresh haricot beans ; after which, add one quart of good broth ; salt and pepper to taste. Let it boil for an hour and a half ; then pass the vegetables through a fine sieve by rubbing in the usual way ; pour the purt^'e back to the stewpan with the remainder of the broth, to which another quart must be added, and about an ounce of sugar. Let it again boil gently for half an hour, without forgetting to stir the pur6e ; then pour it into a soup-tureen, with a few slices of bread cut thin. If this soup should be required "maigre,''t use plain water instead of broth, and before serving take the yolks of four eggs and two ounces of butter; whisk these well, and pour it into the soup-tureen as in No. 22. 25. FISH BROTH. Fish with plenty of bone (the flesh of which is generally firm) is the best for soup ; and the greater the variety used * Crofttons are slices of cmmlM of bread out in small dice and fried ID claiified butter to a nice golden colour, t ** Maigre " means food made without meat of any kind. 26 PRACTICAL HOUSEHOLD COOKERY. the better the broth. Fry in a stewpan with two ounces of butter until nicely browned, two carrots, one onion, and half a head of celery, all sliced fine ; then add the different sorts of fish previoasly deaned and cut into pieces four inches long, with three pints of boiling water; salt and white pepper to taste. Boil fast on a good fire for about forty minutes ; skim carefully all fat and scum from the top, and pass the broth through a fine cloth. This broth must be clear and of a golden colour. Should it not, however, be so, it can easily be clarified with about a quarter of a pound of uncooked fish (the flesh only) and the whites of two eggs whisked, &a, as in No. 2 broth ; and if wanting in colour, pour a few drops of caramel and stir well before serving. 26. ANOTHER FISH BROTH. Prepare everything as in No. 25 ; but instead of using plain water, take the water in which any vegetables may have been cooked (the more vegetables the better), and clarify in the same manner if necessary. 27. FROG BROTH. I know well beforehand the expressions of disgust that will be felt in reading the heading of this broth ; neverthe- less, do not be led astray by an uneducated palate or a prejudiced opinion. Frogs are considered a delicacy in France, are quite as much appreciated in Italy and in Ger- many, and are reared on a very large scale in America; therefore, why should they not be cultivated and eaten iu Great Britain ? The mode of preparing this broth is as follows : — Put two ounces of fresh butter in a stewpan and fry to a nice brown ; two carrots, two onions, three spring onions if in season. PRACTICAL HOUSEHOLD COOKERY. 27 and the head of half a celery, all shred finely; also two pounds of fresh frogs properly skinned and cleaned. When the whole is nicely hrown pour three pints of boiling water over it ; salt and white pepper to taste ; boil gently for forty minutes ; then pass the broth through a fine cloth, and serve with a few crodtons fried in butter. Whoever partakes of this broth will ask for it again. 28. FROG PUR^E SOUP. Take the flesh of two pounds of frogs, diy nicely with a cloth ; roll the pieces into some flour and fry them slowly in a stewpan with two ounces of butter till well done ; after which, pound them in a mortar, mixed with half a pint of Bechamel sauce ; then put the mixture into another stewpan ; dilute the purine with a quart of hot frog broth, stir occasionally, and boil for five or six minutes ; then pass it through a sieve and back again to the stewpan, with a little grated nutmeg ; salt and pepper to taste ; add more broth or water if required ; set it to the boil ; pour it into a soup-tureen with croiitons or quenelles, and serve. 29. CRAYFISH BROTH. Brown in butter the same sort and quantity of vegetables as in No. 27. Meantime wash well in two waters thirty live crayfish ; place these in a saucepan with half a handful of parsley, two onions, the head of a celery, and two carrots, all shred fine; pour enough cold water to cover the lot; add a handful of salt ; cover the saucepan and boil fifteen minutes ; strain the water through a colander, and as soon as the crustaceans are cold take the meat out of the shells with your fingers ; place the meat from the claws and tails on a plate; pound the shells, with the inside residue, in a mortar with two ounces of fresh butter, 28 PRACTICAL HOUSEHOLD COOKERY. and mix it with the fried vegetables; fry this for a few minutes longer; then pour three pints of boiling water over it ; season with salt and pepper ; stir and simmer gently for ten minutes ; skim off the butter and place it on A plate apart ; pass the broth through a sieve and let it get cold ; then pour it into tho stewpan and boil till reduced by one-third ; after which, strain it through a cloth into a soup- tureen, and serve with the meat off the claws and crayfish- tails, keeping the butter to season sauces when required. 30. VEGETABLE BROTH. Clean and scrape four carrots; peel six turnips, three leeks, three onions, and two small heads of celery; slice the lot in fours and sixes, and brown them in a stewpan with three ounces of fresh butter, first the onions and leeks, and afterwards the other vegetables; and when all are nicely coloured add about an ounce of sugar, half a pint of boiling water, and salt to taste

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