CREAM SOUPS

50. Soups classed as cream soups consist of a thin white sauce to which is added a vegetable in the form of a purée or cut into small pieces. Because of their nature, cream soups are usually high in food value; but they are not highly flavored, so their use is that of supplying nutrition rather than stimulating the appetite. Considerable variety can be secured in cream soups, for there are scarcely any vegetables that cannot be used in the making of them. Potatoes, corn, asparagus, spinach, peas, tomatoes, and onions are the vegetables that are used oftenest, but cream soups may also be made of vegetable oysters, okra, carrots, watercress, celery, cabbage, cauliflower, beans, lentils, and dried peas. The vegetables may be cooked especially for the soup, or left-over or canned vegetables may be utilized. It is an excellent plan to cook more than enough of some vegetables for one day, so that some will be left over and ready for soup the next day.

If the vegetable is not cut up into small pieces, it must be put through a sieve and made into the form of a purée before it can be added to the liquid. Two kinds of sieves for this purpose are shown in Fig. 7. It will be observed that with the large, round sieve, a potato masher must be used to mash the vegetables, the pulp of which is caught by the utensil in which the sieve is held. In making use of the smaller sieve, or ricer, the vegetable is placed in it and then mashed by pressing the top down over the contents with the aid of the handles.

51. THIN WHITE SAUCE.--The liquid for cream soups should be thin white sauce made entirely of milk or of milk and cream. The flavor of the soup will be improved, however, by using with the milk some meat stock, or the stock that remains from cooking celery, asparagus, or any vegetables that will lend a good flavor to the soup. The recipe here given makes a sauce that may be used for any kind of cream soup.

THIN WHITE SAUCE

Heat the liquid, salt, and butter in a double boiler. Stir the flour and some of the cold liquid that has been reserved to a perfectly smooth, thin paste and add to the hot liquid. Stir constantly after adding the flour, so that no lumps will form. When the sauce becomes thick, it is ready for the addition of any flavoring material that will make a palatable soup. If thick material, such as any vegetable in the form of a purée, rice, or potato, is used without additional liquid, only half as much flour will be required to thicken the sauce.

52. CREAM-OF-POTATO SOUP.--Because of the large quantity of carbohydrate derived from the potato, cream-of-potato soup is high in food value. For persons who are fond of the flavor of the potato, this makes a delicious soup and one that may be served as the main dish in a light meal.

CREAM-OF-POTATO SOUP

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Cook the onion and parsley with the potatoes, and, when cooked soft, drain and mash. Make a sauce of the milk, potato water, flour, and butter. Season with the salt and pepper, add the mashed potato, and serve.

53. CREAM-OF-CORN SOUP.--The flavor of corn is excellent in a cream soup, the basis of the soup being milk, butter, and flour. Then, too, the addition of the corn, which is comparatively high in food value, makes a very nutritious soup.

CREAM-OF-CORN SOUP

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Sufficient to Serve Four

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Make a white sauce of the milk, butter, and flour. Force the corn through a colander or a sieve, and add the purée to the white sauce. Season with the salt and pepper, and serve.

54. Cream-of-Asparagus Soup.--The asparagus used in cream-of-asparagus soup adds very little besides flavor, but this is of sufficient value to warrant its use. If a pinch of soda is used in asparagus soup, there is less danger of the curdling that sometimes occurs. In making this soup, the asparagus should be combined with the white sauce just before serving.

CREAM-OF-ASPARAGUS SOUP

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Sufficient to Serve Four

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Make white sauce of the milk, flour, and butter. Add to it the cup of purée made by forcing freshly cooked or canned asparagus through a sieve. Season with the salt and pepper, and serve.

55. Cream-of-Spinach Soup.--Although cream-of-spinach soup is not especially attractive in appearance, most persons enjoy its flavor, and the soup serves as another way of adding an iron-containing food to the diet. Children may often be induced to take the soup when they would refuse the spinach as a vegetable.

CREAM-OF-SPINACH SOUP

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Sufficient to Serve Four

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Make white sauce of the milk, flour, and butter. Add the spinach purée, made by forcing freshly cooked or canned spinach through a sieve. Season with the salt and pepper, heat thoroughly, and serve.

56. Cream-of-Pea Soup.--Either dried peas or canned green peas may be used to make cream-of-pea soup. If dried peas are used, they must first be cooked soft enough to pass through a sieve. The flavor is quite different from that of green peas. With the use of green peas, a fair amount of both protein and carbohydrate is added to the soup, but more protein is provided when dried peas are used.

CREAM-OF-PEA SOUP

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Make white sauce of the milk, flour, and butter. Put enough freshly cooked or canned peas through a sieve to make 1/2 cupful of purée. Then add the pea purée, the salt, and the pepper to the white sauce. Heat thoroughly and serve.

57. CREAM-OF-TOMATO SOUP.--As a rule, cream-of-tomato soup is popular with every one. Besides being pleasing to the taste, it is comparatively high in food value, because its basis is cream sauce. However, the tomatoes themselves add very little else besides flavor and mineral salts.

CREAM-OF-TOMATO SOUP

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Sufficient to Serve Four

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Force the tomatoes through a sieve and heat them. Make white sauce of the milk, flour, and butter. Add the soda to the tomatoes, and pour them slowly into the white sauce, stirring rapidly. If the sauce begins to curdle, beat the soup quickly with a rotary egg beater. Add the salt and pepper and serve.

58. CREAM-OF-ONION SOUP.--Many persons who are not fond of onions can often eat soup made of this vegetable. This is probably due to the fact that the browning of the onions before they are used in the soup improves the flavor very decidedly. In addition, this treatment of the onions gives just a little color to the soup.

CREAM-OF-ONION SOUP

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Sufficient to Serve Four

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Slice the onions and brown them in a frying pan with 2 tablespoonfuls of the butter. Make white sauce of the flour, the remaining butter, and the milk. Add to this the browned onions, salt, and pepper. Heat thoroughly and serve.