Common Sense in the Household 5

Common Sense in the Household 5

Chop all the vegetables, except the tomatoes and cabbage, very finely,

and set them over the fire with rather over three quarts of water. They

should simmer gently for half an hour, at the end of which time the

cabbage must be added, having previously been parboiled and chopped

up. In fifteen minutes more put in the tomatoes and a bunch of sweet

herbs, and give all a lively boil of twenty minutes. Rub through a

cullender, return the soup to the fire, stir in a good tablespoonful of

butter, pepper, and salt, half a cup of cream if you have it, thickened

with corn-starch; let it boil up, and it is ready for the table.

 

 

OCHRA, OR GUMBO.

 

Ochra, or _okra_, is a vegetable little known except in the far South,

where it is cultivated in large quantities and is very popular. A

favorite soup is prepared from it in the following manner:—

 

2 qts. of ochras, sliced thin.

1 qt. of tomatoes, also sliced.

4 tablespoonfuls of butter.

2 lbs. of beef, cut into small pieces.

½ lb. corned ham or pork, also cut up.

 

Put the meat and ochras together in a pot with a quart of cold

water—just enough to cover them—and let them stew for an hour. Then

add the tomatoes and two quarts of _boiling_ water—more, if the liquid

in the pot has boiled away so as to expose the meat and vegetables.

Boil three-quarters of an hour longer, skimming often with a _silver_

spoon. When the contents of the vessel are boiled to pieces, put in

the butter, with cayenne pepper and salt, if the ham has not seasoned

it sufficiently. Strain and send up with squares of light, crisp toast

floating upon it.

 

 

CORN. ✠

 

1 large fowl, cut into eight pieces.

1 doz. ears green corn—cut from the cobs.

 

Boil the chicken with the cobs in a gallon of water until the fowl is

tender—if tough, the boiling must be slow and long. Then, put the corn

into the pot, and stew an hour longer—still gently. Remove the chicken

with a cupful of the liquid, if you wish to make other use of the meat.

Set this aside, take out the cobs, season the corn-soup with pepper,

salt, and parsley; thicken with rice or wheat flour, boil up once, and

serve without straining, if the corn be young and tender.

 

A tolerable fricassee may be made of the chicken, unless it has

boiled to rags, by beating up an egg and a tablespoonful of butter,

adding this to the cupful of reserved liquor from which the corn must

be strained. Boil this for a moment, thicken with flour, throw in a

little chopped parsley, pepper, and salt; pour, while scalding, over

the chicken, which you have arranged in a dish; garnish with circular

slices of hard-boiled eggs and curled parsley.

 

 

 

MEAT SOUPS.

 

 

BEEF SOUP (_à la Julienne_). ✠

 

6 lbs. of lean beef. The shin is a good piece for this purpose.

Have the bones well cracked, carefully extracting the marrow,

every bit of which should be put into the soup.

6 qts. of water.

 

The stock must be prepared the day before the soup is needed. Put the

beef, bones and all, with the water in a close vessel, and set it where

it will heat gradually. Let it boil very slowly for six hours at least,

only uncovering the pot once in a great while to see if there is danger

of the water sinking too rapidly. Should this be the case, replenish

with boiling water, taking care not to put in too much. During the

seventh hour, take off the soup and set it away in a cool place, until

next morning. About an hour before dinner, take out the meat, which

you can use for mince-meat, if you wish; remove the cake of fat from

the surface of the stock, set the soup over the fire, and throw in a

little salt to bring up the scum. When this has been skimmed carefully

off, put in your vegetables. These should be:—

 

2 carrots.

3 turnips.

Half a head of white cabbage.

1 pt. green corn—or dried Shaker corn, soaked over night.

1 head celery.

1 qt. tomatoes.

 

These should be prepared for the soup by slicing them very small, and

stewing them in barely enough water to cover them, until they break to

pieces. Cook the cabbage by itself in two waters—throwing the first

away. The only exception to the general dissolution, is in the case

of a single carrot, which should likewise be cooked alone and whole,

until thoroughly done, and set aside to cool, when the rest of the

vegetables, with the water in which they were boiled, are added to the

soup. Return the pot to the fire with the vegetables and stock, and

boil slowly for half an hour from the time ebullition actually begins.

Strain without pressing, only shaking and lightly stirring the contents

of the cullender. The vegetables having been added with all their

juices already cooked, much boiling and squeezing are not needed, and

only make the soup cloudy. Cut the reserved carrot into dice and drop

into the clear liquor after it is in the tureen,—also, if you like,

a handful of vermicelli, or macaroni which has been boiled tender in

clear water.

 

The seasoning of this excellent soup is a matter of taste. Some use

only salt and white pepper. Others like with this a few blades of mace,

and boil in the stock a handful of sweet herbs. And others fancy that,

in addition to these, a glass of brown sherry imparts a flavor that

renders it peculiarly acceptable to most palates. Send to table very

hot, and have the soup-plates likewise heated.

 

 

VEAL SOUP WITH MACARONI. ✠

 

3 lbs. of veal knuckle or scrag, with the bones broken and meat

cut up.

3 qts. water.

¼ lb. Italian macaroni.

 

Boil the meat alone in the water for nearly three hours until it is

reduced to shreds; and the macaroni until tender, in enough water to

cover it, in a vessel by itself. The pieces should not be more than an

inch in length. Add a little butter to the macaroni when nearly done.

Strain the meat out of the soup, season to your taste, put in the

macaroni, and the water in which it was boiled; let it boil up, and

serve.

 

You can make macaroni soup of this by boiling a pound, instead of a

quarter of a pound, in the second vessel, and adding the above quantity

of veal broth. In this case, send on with it a plate of grated cheese,

that those who cannot relish macaroni without this accompaniment may

put it into their soup. Take care that the macaroni is of uniform

length, not too long, and that it does not break while stewing. Add

butter in proportion to the increased quantity of macaroni.

 

 

BEEF SOUP (_brown_).

 

3 lbs. beef cut into strips.

3 onions.

3 qts. water.

 

Put beef and water into the saucepan and boil for one hour. Meanwhile,

slice the onions and fry them in butter to a light brown. Drop into the

pot with a teaspoonful of cloves, half as much pepper, same quantity

of mace as pepper, a pinch of allspice, and a teaspoonful of essence

of celery, if you cannot get a head of fresh celery; also half a

teaspoonful of powdered savory or sweet marjoram, and a teaspoonful of

Worcestershire sauce. Stew all for two hours more, or until the beef

has boiled to pieces. Strain the soup and return to the fire. Salt to

taste, and just before taking it off, pour in a glass of brown sherry

or Madeira wine.

 

 

MUTTON OR LAMB BROTH. ✠

 

4 lbs. mutton or lamb—_lean_—cut into small pieces.

1 gallon water.

½ teacupful rice.

 

Boil the unsalted meat for two hours, slowly, in a covered vessel.

Soak the rice in enough warm water to cover it, and at the end of this

time add it, water and all, to the boiling soup. Cook an hour longer,

stirring watchfully from time to time, lest the rice should settle and

adhere to the bottom of the pot. Beat an egg to a froth and stir into a

cup of cold milk, into which has been rubbed smoothly a tablespoonful

rice or wheat flour. Mix with this, a little at a time, some of the

scalding liquor, until the egg is so far cooked that there is no danger

of curdling in the soup. Pour into the pot, when you have taken out the

meat, season with parsley, thyme, pepper, and salt. Boil up fairly, and

serve. If allowed to stand on the fire, it is apt to burn.

 

This soup may be made from the liquor in which a leg of mutton has been

boiled, provided too much salt was not put in with it. It is especially

good when the stock is chicken broth. For the sick it is palatable and

nutritious with the rice left in. When strained it makes a nice white

table soup, and is usually relished by all.

 

 

VERMICELLI SOUP. ✠

 

4 lbs. lamb, from which every particle of fat has been removed.

1 lb. veal.

A slice of corned ham.

5 qts. water.

 

Cut up the meat, cover it with a quart of water, and set it back on the

range to heat very gradually, keeping it covered closely. At the end

of an hour, add four quarts of boiling water, and cook until the meat

is in shreds. Season with salt, sweet herbs, a chopped shallot, two

teaspoonfuls Worcestershire sauce, and when these have boiled in the

soup for ten minutes, strain and return to the fire. Have ready about

a third of a pound of vermicelli (or macaroni), which has been boiled

tender in clear water. Add this; boil up once, and pour out.

 

 

MOCK-TURTLE OR CALF’S HEAD SOUP. ✠

 

1 large calf’s head, well cleaned and washed.

4 pig’s feet, well cleaned and washed.

 

This soup should always be prepared the day before it is to be served

up. Lay the head and feet in the bottom of a large pot, and cover with

a gallon of water. Let it boil three hours, or until the flesh will

slip easily from the bones. Take out the head, leaving in the feet,

and allow these to boil steadily while you cut the meat from the head.

Select with care enough of the fatty portions which lie on the top of

the head and the cheeks to fill a teacup, and set them aside to cool.

Remove the brains to a saucer and also set aside. Chop the rest of the

meat with the tongue very fine, season with salt, pepper, powdered

marjoram and thyme, a teaspoonful of cloves, the same of mace, half

as much allspice, and a grated nutmeg, and return to the pot. When the

flesh falls from the bones of the pig’s feet, take out the latter,

leaving in the gelatinous meat. Let all boil together slowly, without

removing the cover, for two hours more; take the soup from the fire

and set it away until the next day. An hour before dinner, set on the

stock to warm. When it boils strain carefully, and drop in the meat you

have reserved, which, when cold, should be cut into small squares. Have

these all ready as well as the force-meat balls. To prepare these, rub

the yolks of five hard-boiled eggs to a paste in a Wedgewood mortar,

or in a bowl, with the back of a silver tablespoon, adding gradually the brains to moisten them, also a little butter and salt.