The Skilful Cook Part 74

_Method._--Wash the celery well and cut it in pieces.

Simmer it in the stock for half an hour or more until quite tender.

Make a thickening of the flour; pour it into the soup and boil, stirring, for three minutes.

Then rub through a sieve.

Put it into the saucepan again.

Add the cream, stir and let it boil up.

Serve with fried _croutons_ of bread.

Oyster Soup.

_Ingredients_--2 dozen oysters.

1 pint of white stock.

2 oz. of b.u.t.ter.

2 oz. of flour.

1 teaspoonful of anchovy sauce.

A few drops of lemon juice.

Pepper and salt.

_Method._--Beard the oysters and cut them in two.

Put the beards into the stock and simmer them in it for a few minutes.

Melt the b.u.t.ter in another stewpan; mix in the flour smoothly; pour in the stock; stir and boil well.

Add the cream and let it boil in the soup.

Strain the oyster liquor and scald the oysters in it.

Put them in the soup and add the anchovy sauce and lemon juice.

Haricot Soup.

_Ingredients_--1 pint of haricot beans.

1 onion.

2 quarts of water.

1 pint of milk.

oz. of dripping.

Pepper and salt to taste.

_Method._--Soak the beans over night in cold water.

Boil them with the onion, dripping, pepper and salt, in three pints of water, from three to four hours, until quite soft.

Rub them with their liquor through a wire sieve.

Add the milk, and make the soup hot, stirring it over the fire until it boils.

Serve with fried _croutons_ of bread.

Note.--This soup is much improved if it is rubbed through a _hair_ sieve after it has been through the wire sieve.

Green Pea Puree.

_Ingredients_--2 pints of sh.e.l.led peas.

A large handful of pea-sh.e.l.ls.

2 or 3 leaves of spinach.

2 or 3 sprigs of parsley.

A few young onions.

A sprig of mint.

A small piece of soda.

1 lump of sugar.

3 pints of second stock.

2 tablespoonfuls of arrowroot.

Pepper and salt to taste.

_Method._--Wash the sh.e.l.ls well, and put them, with the peas and other vegetables, into boiling water, to which is added the soda and the sugar.

When quite tender, drain off the water, and put the vegetables into the stock, which should be made boiling.

Let it boil up.

Then rub through a hair sieve.

Make the soup hot; thicken with arrow-root; and, in serving, add, if liked, a little cream, or glaze.

Potage a l'Americaine.

_Ingredients_--3 pints of second stock.

2 tablespoonfuls of crushed tapioca.

8 good-sized tomatoes.

_Method._--Put the stock into a stewpan on the fire to boil.

When boiling, stir in the crushed tapioca.

Stir and cook for about ten minutes, until it is transparent.

Rub the tomatoes through a hair sieve