Cut the tops from two bunches of asparagus, and set aside. Boil the stalks in salted water until tender, and rub through a sieve. Add the pulp to three pints of boiling beef stock, and season with salt, pepper, and butter. Simmer fifteen or twenty minutes. Stir in three tablespoonfuls of cream, strain the soup, add the cooked asparagus tips, and serve. This soup may be thickened if desired.
PURÉE OF GREEN PEAS
Boil four cupfuls of green peas in salted water with an onion, a small bunch of parsley, and two sprigs of mint. Rub through a colander and reheat. Add a cupful of veal stock, season with salt, pepper, and sugar, and thicken with one tablespoonful of butter blended with one tablespoonful of flour, and rubbed smooth in the soup, while boiling. Serve with croutons.
PURÉE OF KIDNEY BEANS
Soak over night two cupfuls of red kidney beans. Drain, and cook slowly until very soft in enough beef stock to cover. Rub through a coarse sieve. Add one-half cupful of salt pork, cut into dice and fried until brown and crisp, two onions, one carrot, and a tablespoonful of powdered sweet herbs. Add four cupfuls of beef stock, and simmer for an hour. Strain, add two tablespoonfuls of sherry or claret, reheat, and serve.
PURÉE OF PEAS AND RICE
Rub through a sieve one cupful of cooked peas, and one cupful of cold boiled rice. Mix with six cupfuls of boiling beef stock, thicken with butter and flour, according to directions previously given, and serve very hot.
PURÉE OF TOMATOES
Boil together for half an hour one can of tomatoes, and one large onion, chopped fine. Run through a sieve, return to the fire, and season with pepper, salt, and sugar. Blend together two tablespoonfuls of butter, and one tablespoonful of flour. Add two cupfuls of cold milk, and cook until smooth and thick, stirring constantly. Add the tomatoes and a pinch of soda. Reheat, add half a cupful of cracker crumbs, and serve immediately.