SOUPS
Cream Soups.—So-called cream soups may be made with or without the addition of meat stock. For example:
Asparagus Soup
3 cups veal or chicken broth
1 can asparagus
¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
1 qt. scalded milk
Salt and pepper
Reserve tips of asparagus. Add stalks to cold stock, boil fifteen minutes, rub through sieve, thicken with butter and flour cooked together, add milk, tips, salt and pepper. If fresh asparagus is used, cut one bunch in small pieces, boil in as little water as will cover, remove tough bits of stalk, add two cups stock and proceed as above.
Cream of Celery Soup
3 cups veal or chicken broth
3 cups celery cut in inch pieces
4 cups milk
Yolks 2 eggs
½ cup cream
Salt and pepper
Boil celery in broth till tender. Rub through sieve, add milk, bring to the boiling point and add egg yolks beaten and diluted with cream.
Spinach Soup
4 cups broth
2 qts. spinach
3 cups boiling water
2 cups milk
¼ cup butter
½ cup flour
Salt and pepper
Wash the spinach and cook thirty minutes in boiling water to which ⅛ teaspoon soda has been added. Drain and chop fine. Add stock and butter and flour cooked together, milk and seasoning.
Cauliflower, mushrooms, lettuce, string beans, onions and other vegetables may be used for soups in the same way. In all of these recipes milk may be substituted for the stock. The soups will be more nourishing, many like them better, and they are more easily prepared.
If canned vegetables are used they may be added to the thickened milk, which should be made in the proportions of one quart of milk to two tablespoons butter or substitute and two tablespoons flour. One can of beans, peas, asparagus, or corn, may be added to three pints of thickened milk.
If fresh vegetables are used, they should be boiled in as little water as possible and this water added with the vegetables to the hot, thickened milk. The addition of one-half to one cup of cream to these soups improves their taste but is not necessary. If the cream is whipped and added just before serving, the appearance is also much improved. The vegetables may be pressed through a sieve or not, as preferred. If the soup is to be served in cups it is better to do this or chop the vegetables very fine, but if the soup is to be served in soup plates it looks attractive and is more substantial if the vegetables are cut in inch pieces and left in the soup.
All cooks are familiar with cornlet soup, tomato bisque, and oyster and clam stews, the foundation of which is also milk. Plenty of good recipes for them can be found in any standard cook book.
Cereal Cream Soups.—There is another class of soups used much in Europe but, unfortunately, little known here. They are very nourishing, easy of preparation, and delicious.
A few recipes will suffice to introduce the housewife to this class of soups and she can then easily add to the varieties herself. Her family will enjoy the new dishes for their good taste and their novelty. Croutons, crackers, zwieback, or toast may be served with any of them. They should always be prepared in a double boiler.
Rice Soup
1 qt. milk
⅓ cup rice
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon sugar
Heat the milk in a double boiler, add the rice and cook two hours. Add sugar and butter. Sprinkle cinnamon on each plate of soup when serving.
Sago Soup
1 qt. milk
4 tablespoons sago
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons sugar
Heat the milk in a double boiler, add sago and cook one-half hour. Care must be taken to stir the mixture often when the sago is first added or it will lump. Add butter and egg yolk beaten with sugar.
Oatmeal Soup
1 cup oat flakes
1 pint boiling water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 pint milk
1 tablespoon butter
Add oat flakes to water and boil one-half hour. Add milk and boil one-half hour, add sugar and butter.
Farina or Cream of Wheat Soup
3 pints milk
½ cup farina or cream of wheat
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon sugar
Scald milk and add cereal slowly. Cook one hour and add butter and sugar and a sprinkling of nutmeg.
Milk Chowders
Chowders are also a very acceptable way of serving milk. For rich chowders the proportions used are: Two cups of milk or of milk and water, 1 cup of potatoes cut into small pieces and 1 pound of fish. For flavoring add an onion fried in two tablespoons of fat tried out from salt pork. While these proportions make a rich dish, it is possible to reduce the amount of fish greatly, to leave it out entirely, to use small portions of left-over fish or some salt codfish which has been freshened, or to substitute corn for it. Such dishes are palatable and of reasonably high nutritive value, providing the greater part of the liquid used is milk.
Similar, but less rich and thick, is:
Milk Stew
1 qt. of milk
1 cupful raw potatoes cut into small pieces
2 tablespoonfuls of butter or bacon fat
1 cupful of codfish cut into small pieces or just enough to flavor the stew
Soak the fish in lukewarm water until it is soft and the salt removed. Cook the potatoes in water until tender, drain them, add the milk and codfish, and bring to the boiling point; add the butter and salt to taste.
In place of the codfish, fresh fish, clams, oysters, or a little chipped beef may be used. Or the fish may be omitted and the soup made savory and palatable by adding a few drops of onion juice, or cheese or a vegetable cut into small pieces and cooked thoroughly.