Fifty Soups Part 1

Fifty Soups.

by Thomas J. Murrey.

REMARKS ON SOUPS.

Soups, like salads, present an excellent opportunity for the cook to display good taste and judgment.

The great difficulty lies in selecting the most appropriate soup for each particular occasion; it would be well to first select your bill of fare, after which decide upon the soup.

The season, and force of circ.u.mstances, may compel you to decide upon a heavy fish, such as salmon, trout, or other oleaginous fishes, and heavy joints and entrees.

Under these circ.u.mstances it must necessarily follow that a light soup should begin the dinner, and _vice versa_; for large parties, one light and one heavy soup is always in order.

There is as much art in arranging a bill of fare and harmonizing the peculiarities of the various dishes, as there is in preparing the colors for a painting; the soup represents the pivot upon which harmony depends.

Soups may be divided into four cla.s.ses: clear, thick, purees or bisques, and chowders. A puree is made by rubbing the cooked ingredients through a fine sieve; an ordinary thick soup is made by adding various thickening ingredients to the soup stock; clear soups are, properly speaking, the juices of meats, served in a convenient and appetizing form.

Chowders are quite distinct from the foregoing, being compounds of an infinite variety of fish, flesh, fowl, or vegetables, in proportions to suit the fluctuating ideas of the cook; the object sought is to prepare a thick, highly seasoned compound, without reducing the ingredients to the consistency of a puree.

SOUP STOCK.--The word stock when used in cooking means the foundation or basis upon which soups and sauces depend; it is therefore the most important part of soup making. Care should be exercised that nothing in the least tainted or decayed enters the stock pot; it is very desirable that soup stock be prepared a day or two before it is wanted; the seasoning should be added in moderation at first, as it is difficult to restore a soup that has been damaged by over seasoning.

Milk or cream should be boiled and strained and added hot when intended for soups; when eggs are used beat them thoroughly, and add while the soup is hot. Should they be added when the soup is boiling, they are very apt to separate, and give the soup the appearance of having curdled; the best plan is to beat up the egg with a little of the warm soup, then add it to the soup gradually.

In summer, soup stock should be boiled from day to day, if kept any length of time, else it may become sour: should this happen, add a piece of charcoal to the soup, boil, cool, and strain into freshly scalded earthen or porcelain-lined ware. On no account allow the soup stock to become cold in an iron pot or saucepan.

TO MAKE BEEF STOCK.--Take six pounds of soup meat, cut it up into good sized pieces, break the bones into small pieces, place them in the stock pot, and add five quarts of cold water and two ounces of salt; boil slowly for five hours, remove the sc.u.m as fast as it rises; cut up three white turnips and three carrots, add these to the soup with two stalks of celery, one large onion quartered, six cloves, teaspoonful of whole peppers, and a small bunch of herbs.

When the vegetables are thoroughly cooked, strain the soup into a large saucepan, and set it on back of range to keep hot, but not to boil, cut one pound of lean raw beef into fine pieces, put in into a saucepan, and add the whites and sh.e.l.ls of four eggs; season with salt, pepper, and a little chopped parsley or celery tops; squeeze these together with your hand for fifteen minutes, until they are thoroughly incorporated, then add to the warm soup; allow the soup to simmer slowly one hour; taste for seasoning; strain into crocks, or serve. This is now called consomme or bouillon, and is the basis of nearly all soups; such items as macaroni, sago, Italian paste, Macedoine, and, in fact, nearly all kinds of cereals and soup ingredients may be added to this stock at different times to produce variety; they should all be boiled separately before adding to the soup.

Calf's feet and knuckle of veal may be added to the original or first pot if a very strong stock is required.

VEAL STOCK.--Chop up three slices of bacon and two pounds of the neck of veal; place in a stewpan with a pint of water or beef stock, and simmer for half an hour; then add two quarts of stock, one onion, a carrot, a bouquet of herbs, four stalks of celery, half a teaspoonful of bruised whole peppers, and a pinch of nutmeg with a teaspoonful of salt; boil gently for two hours, removing the sc.u.m in the meantime. Strain into an earthen crock, and when cold remove the fat. A few bones of poultry added, with an additional quant.i.ty of water or stock, will improve it.

CROUTONS, or fried bread crumbs for soups, are prepared in this way:--Cut slices of stale home-made bread half an inch thick, trim off all crust and cut each slice into squares; fry these in very hot fat; drain them on a clean napkin, and add six or eight to each portion of soup.

MARROW DUMPLINGS FOR SOUPS.--Grate the crust of a breakfast roll, and break the remainder into crumbs; soak these in cold milk; drain, and add two ounces of flour; chop up half a pound of beef marrow freed from skin and sinews; beat up the yolks of five eggs; mix all together thoroughly, if too moist add some of the grated crumbs; salt and pepper to taste; form into small round dumplings; boil them in the soup for half an hour before serving.

GLAZE.--Glaze is made from rich soup stock, boiled down until it forms a dark, strong jelly. It is used in coloring soups and sauces and for glazing entrees. It should be kept in a stone crock.

ARTICHOKE SOUP.--Melt a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of an egg in a saucepan; then fry in it one white turnip sliced, one red onion sliced, three pounds of Jerusalem artichokes washed, pared, and sliced, and a rasher of bacon. Stir these in the boiling b.u.t.ter for about ten minutes, add gradually one pint of stock. Let all boil together until the vegetables are thoroughly cooked, then add three pints more of stock; stir it well; add pepper and salt to taste, strain and press the vegetables through a sieve, and add one pint of boiling milk. Boil for five minutes more and serve.

ASPARAGUS SOUP.--Take seventy-five heads of asparagus; cut away the hard, tough part, and boil the rest until tender. Drain them, and throw half into cold water until the soup is nearly ready, and press the other half through a hair sieve. Stir the pressed asparagus into two pints of stock, and let it boil; add salt, pepper, and a small lump of sugar. Cut the remaining heads of asparagus into peas; put them into the soup, and in a few minutes serve. If necessary color with a little spinach green.

BARLEY SOUP.--Put into a stock pot a knuckle of veal and two pounds of shoulder of mutton chopped up; cover with one gallon of cold water; season with salt, whole peppers, and a blade of mace; boil for three hours, removing the sc.u.m as fast as it rises. Wash half a pint of barley in cold water, drain and cover it with milk, and let it stand for half an hour, drain and add to the soup; boil half an hour longer, moderately; strain, trim the meat from the bone, chop up a little parsley or celery tops, add a tablespoonful to the soup and serve.

BEEF TEA.--Take half a pound of lean beef; cut it up into small bits; let it soak in a pint of water for three-quarters of an hour; then put both into a quart champagne bottle with just a suspicion of salt. Cork tightly, and wire the cork, so as to prevent its popping out. Set the bottle in a saucepan full of warm water, boil gently for an hour and a half, and strain through a napkin. Beef tea, without the fibrine of the meat, if administered often to a patient, will tend to weaken, instead of strengthening the invalid; always add about a teaspoonful of finely chopped raw meat to a goblet of the tea, and let it stand in the tea for about five minutes before serving.

BISQUE OF CRABS.--Boil twelve hard-sh.e.l.l crabs for thirty minutes, and drain; when cold break them apart, pick out the meat carefully, sc.r.a.pe off all fat adhering to the upper sh.e.l.l, and save these for deviled crabs (an excellent recipe for deviled crabs may be found in "Salads and Sauces.")

Set the crab meat aside; put the under sh.e.l.l and the claws in a mortar with half a pound of b.u.t.ter and a cupful of cold boiled rice, and pound them as smooth as possible; then put this into a saucepan, and add a heaping teaspoonful of salt, a bouquet of a.s.sorted herbs, a dozen whole peppers, a blade of mace, and three quarts of stock; boil slowly for one hour, pour it through a sieve, and work as much of the pulp through the sieve as possible. Place the soup on the range to keep warm, but not to boil.

Beat up the yolk of one egg, and add it slowly to a quart of warm milk previously boiled; whisk the milk into the soup; taste for seasoning.

Now take the crab meat and heat it in a little boiling water, drain, put it into a hot soup tureen, pour the soup over it and serve.

BISQUE OF LOBSTER.--Procure two large live lobsters; chop them up while raw, sh.e.l.ls and all; put them into a mortar with three-fourths of a pound of b.u.t.ter, three raw eggs, and one quarter of a pound of cold boiled rice: pound to a paste, moisten with a little water or stock, then set aside. Fry out two slices of bacon fat, add to it one minced onion, a tablespoonful of chopped celery tops, one chopped long red pepper, one sliced carrot, and a quart of stock, boil and pour the whole into a saucepan. Add the lobster and three pints more of stock; boil slowly for two hours; strain, and rub the ingredients through a sieve.

Return to the soup; keep it warm, but do not allow it to boil. If too thick, add a little more stock; add salt to taste. Boil one quart of cream; whisk it into the soup; taste again for seasoning; pour it into a hot soup tureen, and send to table.

This soup can be prepared by following receipt for bisque of crab, or it may be prepared by adding boiled lobster to a strong veal stock, and colored red by pounding the coral with b.u.t.ter, and adding this to the soup.

BOUILLE-ABAISSE.--Take six pounds of cod-fish; cut it up into small pieces; chop two red onions; put them in a stewpan with an ounce of b.u.t.ter; let them brown without burning. Now add the fish and four tablespoonfuls of fine olive-oil, a bruised clove of garlic, two bay leaves, four slices of lemon peeled and quartered, half a pint of Shrewsbury tomato catsup, and half a salt-spoonful of saffron. Add sufficient hot soup stock to cover the whole; boil slowly for half to three-quarters of an hour; skim carefully while boiling; when ready to serve add a tablespoonful of chopped celery tops.

CAULIFLOWER SOUP.--Fry half an onion in a very little b.u.t.ter; when it is a light brown add a tablespoonful of minced raw ham and two or three stalks of celery, then add a quart of soup stock; simmer slowly for half an hour. Boil for twenty-five or thirty minutes one medium-sized head of cauliflower in water slightly salted. Strain the contents of the frying-pan into a saucepan, and add one quart more of stock. Drain the cauliflower; rub it through a fine sieve into the stock; boil just once; draw to one side of the fire; taste for seasoning. Now dissolve a teaspoonful of rice flour in half a cupful of cold milk; whisk the soup thoroughly; pour into a hot tureen, and serve.

CHESTNUT SOUP.--Remove the outer peel or coating from twenty-five Italian chestnuts; pour scalding water over them, and rub off the inner coating. Put them into a saucepan with one quart of soup stock, and boil for three-quarters of an hours; drain; rub them through a colander, then through a sieve, with one tablespoonful of cracker dust, or pound to a paste in a mortar; season with salt and pepper; add gradually the stock in which they were boiled; add one pint more of stock; boil once, and draw to one side of the fire.

Beat up the yolks of two raw eggs; add them to one quart of warm milk; whisk the milk into the soup; taste for seasoning; pour into a hot tureen, and send to table with croutons.

CHICKEN BROTH FOR THE INVALID.--Procure a dry-picked Philadelphia roasting chicken; cut it in halves; put one half in the ice box; chop the other half into neat pieces; put it into a small saucepan; add one quart of cold water, a little salt and a leaf of celery; simmer gently for two hours; remove the oily particles thoroughly; strain the broth into a bowl; when cooled a little, serve to the convalescent. Serve the meat with the broth.

CHICKEN SOUP.--Take three young male chickens; cut them up; put them in a saucepan with three quarts of veal stock. (A sliced carrot, one turnip, and one head of celery may be put with them and removed before the soup is thickened.) Let them simmer for an hour. Remove all the white flesh; return the rest of the birds to the soup, and boil gently for two hours. Pour a little of the liquid over a quarter of a pound of bread crumbs, and when they are well soaked put it in a mortar with the white flesh of the birds, and pound the whole to a smooth paste: add a pinch of ground mace, salt, and a little cayenne pepper; press the mixture through a sieve, and boil once more, adding a pint of boiling cream; thicken with a little flour mixed in cold milk; remove the bones, and serve.

CHICKEN SOUP, NO. 2.--Cut up one chicken, put into a stewpan two quarts of cold water, a teaspoonful of salt, and one pod of red pepper; when half done add two desert spoonfuls of well washed rice: when thoroughly cooked, remove the bird from the soup, tear a part of the breast into shreds (saving the remainder of the fowl for a salad), and add it to the soup with a wine-gla.s.s full of cream.

CLAM BROTH.--Procure three dozen little-neck clams in the sh.e.l.l; wash them well in cold water; put them in a saucepan, cover with a quart of hot water; boil fifteen minutes; drain; remove the sh.e.l.ls; chop up the clams, and add them to the hot broth with a pat of b.u.t.ter; salt if necessary and add a little cayenne; boil ten minutes, pour into a soup tureen, add a slice of toast, and send to table. This is the mode adopted when we do not have a clam opener in the house.

Raw, freshly opened clams should be chopped fine and prepared in the manner above described. The large clams are better for chowders than for stews and broth.

CLAM CHOWDER.--Chop up fifty large clams; cut eight medium-sized potatoes into small square pieces, and keep them in cold water until wanted.

Chop one large, red onion fine, and cut up half a pound of larding pork into small pieces.

Procure an iron pot, and see that it is very clean and free from rust; set it on the range, and when very hot, throw the pieces of pork into it, fry them brown; next add the onion, and fry it brown; add one fourth of the chopped clams, then one fourth of the chopped potato, and two pilot crackers quartered, a teaspoonful of salt, one chopped, long, red pepper, a teaspoonful of powdered thyme and half a pint of canned tomato pulp. Repeat this process until the clams and potato are used, omitting the seasoning; add hot water enough to cover all, simmer slowly three hours. Should it become too thick, add more hot water; occasionally remove the pot from the range, take hold of the handle, and twist the pot round several times; this is done to prevent the chowder from burning. On no account disturb the chowder with a spoon or ladle until done; now taste for seasoning, as it is much easier to season properly after the chowder is cooked than before. A few celery tops may be added if desired.

CONSOMMe.--This is nothing more than beef stock, with a little more attention given to clarifying it. It is always acceptable if the dinner to follow is composed of heavy joints and side dishes. If the party consists of more than twenty, serve one thick soup and one light soup or consomme.

CONSOMMe COLBERT.--Prepare a strong consomme; add to two quarts of it a tablespoonful each of shredded young turnips and carrots and a tablespoonful of green peas; simmer until the vegetables are tender; taste for seasoning.

Poach four eggs in hot water in the usual manner; send these to table with the soup. In serving add one poached egg to each plate. It is well always to poach two extra eggs to be used should any of the others be broken in the service.

CREAM OF CELERY.--Cut up six stalks of celery into half-inch pieces; put them into a saucepan with one red onion quartered, one blade of mace, salt, and a few whole peppers; add a quart of veal stock, and boil for one hour. Rub the ingredients through a sieve; put the pulp into a saucepan, and add one quart more of veal stock; boil; then draw to one side of fire to keep hot.

Boil three pints of cream; strain it into the soup; whisk the soup at the same time (if not thick enough to suit your taste add a little flour); taste for seasoning; pour it into a hot tureen; serve with small pieces of toast or croutons.

CREAM OF RICE.--Wash thoroughly a half pound of rice; pick out all imperfect or colored grains; put it into a saucepan and add two quarts of stock. Boil slowly for one hour; then rub the rice through a sieve twice; return it to the stock; season with salt and pepper. Care must be exercised that the rice does not adhere to the bottom of the saucepan.

Simmer until wanted. Beat up the yolks of two eggs; add them slowly to a quart of warm, milk previously boiled; whisk the milk into the soup, which must not be very hot; then pour it into a hot tureen, and serve.