Part 1 (1/2)

Twenty Quick Soups.

by Sarah Tyson Heston Rorer.

CREAM OF ASPARAGUS

Wash one bundle of asparagus, cut off the tips and throw them into a pint of boiling water, add a teaspoonful of salt, and simmer gently for fifteen minutes. Strain them and save the water; to this water add the remaining part of the bundle, cut into small pieces. Cook fifteen minutes and press through a colander. Put one quart of milk into a double boiler; rub together two tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter and two tablespoonfuls of flour. Add a little of the hot milk to this and work until perfectly smooth, then stir into the milk and cook five minutes.

Heat the asparagus mixture, turn the milk quickly into it, season, add the asparagus tips, and serve. This cannot be boiled or it will curdle.

CREAM OF CORN

Score each row of grains on six ears of corn; then, with the back of the knife press it out carefully and throw the cobs into a kettle; cover with a quart of water, bring to boiling point and strain. Now, add the sc.r.a.ped corn to the water. Rub together two tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter and one of flour. Stir it into this corn mixture and bring to boiling point, then add one pint of hot milk; season and serve.

CREAM OF LETTUCE

Wash and pull apart two good-sized heads of lettuce. Throw them into a hot saucepan, shake over the fire until the lettuce leaves simply melt.

Sprinkle over a teaspoonful of salt, then press through a sieve. Put one quart of milk in a double boiler. Rub together two tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter and two of flour, add it to the milk and stir until it thickens.

Chop sufficient parsley to make two tablespoonfuls and pound it in a mortar. Put this in a bowl; mix it with the lettuce that has been pressed through the sieve. Stir in the milk, then add a half teaspoonful of beef extract, dissolved in a little of the hot milk; season and serve.

CREAM OF BEETS

Take four cold, boiled beets and grate them. Dissolve a teaspoonful of beef extract in one pint of boiling water. Add it to the beets, and when they reach the boiling point add one pint of hot milk; stir in a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, palatable seasoning of salt, and when it reaches the boiling point, add tablespoonful of arrow-root dissolved in two tablespoonfuls of cold water. Bring to boiling point again, and serve.

TOMATO SOUP

Cut six large tomatoes into small pieces. Put them into a saucepan with one pint of water, or stock, add tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, slice of onion, bay leaf and a sprig of parsley. Cook slowly twenty minutes and press through a sieve sufficiently fine to remove the seeds. Return this soup to the fire, add tablespoonful of arrow root moistened in two tablespoonfuls of cold water, another tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and a palatable seasoning of salt and pepper, and serve with squares of toasted bread.

CLEAR TOMATO WITH SAGO

Put one pint of stewed tomatoe into a saucepan, add slice of onions, bay leaf and sprig of parsley. Simmer ten minutes. Cover four tablespoonfuls of pearl sago with a pint of cold water and soak for twenty minutes.

Now, stand this over the back part of the stove until the sago is perfectly clear, and the water almost boiling hot. Add to the tomatoes one pint of boiling water and two tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, then press through a sieve. Return to the fire, add a teaspoonful of salt, half teaspoonful of pepper and then the sago. Serve at once. This soup may be varied by adding, instead of the pint of water to the tomatoes, a pint of stock.

BROWN BROTH

Boil and cut into dice one young carrot, one onion and one potato. Put two ounces of b.u.t.ter in the frying-pan, throw in the vegetables and stir carefully until they are a golden brown. Then skim them out and put them in a saucepan. Cover with one quart of boiling water, add a bay leaf and simmer gently twenty minutes. Press through a puree sieve, return these to the kettle, add a teaspoonful of kitchen bouquet and palatable seasoning of salt and pepper. Serve with cheese b.a.l.l.s.

CHEESE b.a.l.l.s

Put a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and a quarter of a cup of water over the fire to boil. Stir in quickly a quarter of a cup of flour and stir for a minute. Take from the fire and add one well-beaten egg and two tablespoonfuls of grated cheese. Drop this mixture into a greased baking pan, and bake in a quick oven fifteen minutes. The paste should not be larger than a good sized bean as you drop it on the pan. A very good way to make them is to put this mixture in a pastry bag and press it through a plain tube, and cut it off into small b.a.l.l.s.