Sorrel Soup.—Sorrel is an excellent ingredient for soup. Its acid leaves are much appreciated by the French; the wild sorrel may be used, but now that truck gardeners are cultivating it extensively, it will be found less troublesome to use the latter.
The Germans make the best sorrel soup; their recipe is as follows:—Wash and pick over two quarts of sorrel; remove the stems; then cut the sorrel into pieces. Heat two ounces of butter in a small saucepan; add the sorrel and a few blades of chives; cover without water and allow it to steam for half an hour. Stir to prevent burning; sprinkle over this a tablespoonful of flour free from lumps. Now add three quarts of well-seasoned veal stock; taste for seasoning; boil once, and send to table with croutons or small bits of toast. This an excellent spring and summer soup.
Spring Soup.—Take two quarts of nicely seasoned veal stock; place it on the range to keep hot, but not to boil. Cut into neat strips four young carrots, four young spring turnips, and two spring leeks; add them to the stock. Now add half a pint of fresh green peas; boil gently for fifteen minutes; taste for seasoning, and serve.
Tomato Soup.—Cut four ounces of ham into dice; slice two onions, and fry with ham in two ounces of butter; when browned turn them into a saucepan containing three quarts of stock or corned-beef water, and add three carrots, two turnips, and one long red pepper, and a dozen outer stalks of celery. Simmer gently for one hour; then add a quart of canned tomatoes; boil gently for another hour; rub the whole through a sieve, and simmer again with the liquor a few minutes; add salt, and serve with fried bread crumbs.
Turkey Soup.—Take the remains of a cold roast turkey, trim off all the meat, break up the bones, and put them into a saucepan; cover them with two quarts of veal stock; salt and cayenne to taste. Boil gently for one hour; strain and skim. Now add the flesh of the turkey; simmer gently; dissolve a tablespoonful of rice flour in a little cold milk, and add it to the soup. Let it come to a boil; taste for seasoning, and serve with croutons.
Vegetable Soup.—Wash and clean two carrots and two turnips; cut them into slices, and cut each slice into small narrow strips; put them into a saucepan with four stalks of celery cut into inch pieces, a dozen button onions, one long red pepper, and a teaspoonful of salt; add three quarts of soup stock; boil until the vegetables are tender, add a lump of sugar, and serve. The carrots and turnips may be cut into fancy shapes with a vegetable cutter.
Vermicelli Soup.—Take one quarter of a pound of vermicelli; break it into pieces, and boil it for five minutes; drain and add it to three pints of strong soup stock. Boil once; draw to one side, and simmer gently for twenty minutes. Should any scum arise, remove it; taste for seasoning, and send to table with a little Parmesan cheese.
COOKERY BOOKS.
By Thomas J. Murrey,
Formerly professional caterer of the Astor House, New York;
Continental Hotel, Philadelphia, and other leading hotels.