SOUPS
SOUPS.
Soups are of three kinds–clear soups, thick soups, and purées. A clear
soup is made by boiling fruit or vegetables (celery, for example) until
all the nourishment is extracted, and then straining off the clear liquid.
A little sago or macaroni is generally added and cooked in this. When
carrots and turnips are used, a few small pieces are cut into dice or
fancy shapes, cooked separately, and added to the strained soup. Thick
soups always include some farinaceous ingredients for thickening (flour,
pea-flour, potato, etc.). Purées are thick soups composed of any vegetable
or vegetables boiled and rubbed through a sieve. This is done, a little at
a time, with a wooden spoon. A little of the hot liquor is added to the
vegetable from time to time to assist it through.
1. BARLEY BROTH.
1 carrot, 1 turnip, 4 leeks or 3 small onions, 4 sprigs parsley, 4 sticks
celery, 1 tea-cup pearl barley, 3 qts. water. (The celery may be omitted
if desired, or, when in season, 1 tea-cup green peas may be substituted.)
Scrub clean (but do not peel) the carrot and turnip. Wash celery, parsley,
and barley. Shred all the vegetables finely; put in saucepan with the
water. Bring to the boil and slowly simmer for 5 hours. Add the chopped
parsley and serve.
2. CREAM OF BARLEY SOUP.
Make barley broth as in No. 1. Then strain it through a wire strainer.
Squeeze it well, so as to get the soup as thick as possible, but do not
rub the barley through. Skin 1/2 lb. tomatoes, break in halves, and cook
to a pulp very gently in a closed saucepan (don’t add water). Add to the
barley soup, boil up once, and serve.
In cases of illness, especially where the patient is suffering from
intestinal trouble, after preparing as above, strain through a fine
muslin. It should also be prepared with distilled, or clean boiled
rain-water.
3. CLEAR CELERY SOUP.
1 head celery, 2 tablespoons sago, 2 qts. water.
Wash the celery, chop into small pieces, and stew in the water for 2
hours. Strain. Wash the sago, add it to the clear liquid, and cook for 1
hour.
For those who prefer a thick soup, pea-flour may be added. Allow 1 level
tablespoon to each pint of soup. Mix with a little cold water, and add to
the boiling soup. One or two onions may also be cooked with the celery, if
liked.
4. CHESTNUT SOUP.
1 lb. chestnuts, 1-1/2 oz. nutter or butter, 2 tablespoons chopped
parsley, 1 tablespoon wholemeal flour, 1-1/2 pints water.
First put on the chestnuts (without shelling or pricking) in cold water,
and boil for an hour. Then remove shells and put the nuts in an enamelled
saucepan with the fat. Fry for 10 minutes. Add the flour gradually,
stirring all the time, then add the water. Cook gently for half an hour.
Lastly, add the parsley, boil up, and serve.
It is rather nicer if the flour is omitted, the necessary thickness being
obtained by rubbing the soup through a sieve before adding the parsley.
Those who do not object to milk may use 1 pint milk and 1 pint water in
place of the 1-1/2 pints water.
5. FRUIT SOUP.
Fruit soups are used extensively abroad, although not much heard of in
England. But they might be taken at breakfast with advantage by those
vegetarians who have given up the use of tea, coffee and cocoa, and object
to, or dislike, milk. The recipe given here is for apple soup, but pears,
plums, etc., may be cooked in exactly the same way.
1 lb. apples, 1 qt. water, sugar and flavouring, 1 tablespoon sago.
Wash the apples and cut into quarters, but do not peel or core. Put into a
saucepan with the water and sugar and flavouring to taste. When sweet,
ripe apples can be obtained, people with natural tastes will prefer no
addition of any kind. Otherwise, a little cinnamon, cloves, or the yellow
part of lemon rind may be added. Stew until the apples are soft. Strain
through a sieve, rubbing the apple pulp through, but leaving cores, etc.,
behind. Wash the sago, add to the strained soup, and boil gently for 1
hour. Stir now and then, as the sago is apt to stick to the pan.
6. HARICOT BEAN SOUP.
2 heaped breakfast-cups beans, 2 qts. water, 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
or 1/2 lb. tomatoes, nut or dairy butter size of walnut, 1 tablespoon
lemon juice.
For this soup use the small white or brown haricots. Soak overnight in 1
qt. of the water. In the morning add the rest of the water, and boil until
soft. It may then be rubbed through a sieve, but this is not imperative.
Add the chopped parsley, the lemon juice, and the butter. Boil up and
serve. If tomato pulp is preferred for flavouring instead of parsley, skin
the tomatoes and cook slowly to pulp (without water) before adding.
7. LENTIL SOUP.
4 breakfast-cups lentils, 1 carrot, 1 turnip, 2 onions, 4 qts. water, 4
sticks celery, 2 teaspoons herb powder, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 oz.
butter.
Either the red, Egyptian lentils, or the green German lentils may be used
for this soup. If the latter, soak overnight. Stew the lentils very gently
in the water for 2 hours, taking off any scum that rises. Well wash the
vegetables, slice them, and add to the soup. Stew for 2 hours more. Then
rub through a sieve, or not, as preferred. Add the lemon juice, herb
powder, and butter (nut or dairy), and serve.
8. MACARONI SOUP.
1/2 lb. small macaroni, 2 qts. water or vegetable stock, 3/4 lb. onions or
1 lb. tomatoes.
Break the macaroni into small pieces and add to the stock when nearly
boiling. Cook with the lid off the saucepan until the macaroni is swollen
and very tender. (This will take about an hour.) If onions are used for
flavouring, steam separately until tender, and add to soup just before
serving. If tomatoes are used, skin and cook slowly to pulp (without
water) before adding. If the vegetable stock is already strong and
well-flavoured, no addition of any kind will be needed.
9. PEA SOUP.
Use split peas, soak overnight, and prepare according to recipe given for
lentil soup.
10. POTATO SOUP.
Peel thinly 2 lbs. potatoes.