Soup should never be greasy, and hence, before using the stock, every particle of the fat should be removed. To accomplish this, loosen the cake of fat from the dish with a knife, and if solid, it will sometimes come off whole; if soft, remove all that is possible without cutting into the stock, and afterwards wipe the top of the jellied stock with a cloth wrung out of very hot water, which will readily absorb any lingering portion of fat. If the stock is not jellied, skim off all the fat possible, and then turn the stock through a napkin wrung out of ice water. This will harden the grease, which will adhere to the napkin. It is always better to prepare stock long enough before it is needed to allow it to become perfectly cold; if, however, it is necessary to use the stock very soon after it is prepared, the fat may be quickly hardened by turning the stock into a dripping pan or some other shallow dish, and placing it on ice in a cool place; if there is no time for this, strain several times through a napkin wrung out of ice-cold water, removing the particles of fat each time and wringing the cloth anew before straining again. A little cold water poured into hot stock will also cause the grease to rise so that it can be easily skimmed off; but this method weakens the stock.

Stock may be prepared from one kind of meat only, or from two or more different kinds mixed together. Chicken stock is generally conceded to be better if a small portion of beef is combined with the fowl. Beef and veal are largely used together; but mutton on account of its strong flavor is better used alone.

Stock, when prepared from a single kind of meat, is termed simple stock or broth. When prepared from two or more kinds of flesh cooked together, or when stock prepared separately from different kinds of meat are mixed together, the result is termed compound stock or double broth. With either of these stocks as a foundation, an innumerable variety of soups may be prepared, either by serving them as plain broth or by the addition of some of the various grains and vegetables, the distinctive name of each soup being given it according to its princ.i.p.al solid ingredient.

TO CLARIFY SOUP STOCK.--Having removed all the fat from the stock, add to it before reheating, the sh.e.l.l of an egg, and the whole of one egg well beaten, with a little cold water, for every three pints of soup. Place the soup over the fire and stir it constantly to keep the egg from setting until it is hot. Simmer for fifteen minutes, removing the sc.u.m as it rises, and strain through a flannel cloth or napkin laid in a colander. It is also a good plan to place a fine wire strainer on the napkin to catch the sh.e.l.ls and sc.u.m. Do not squeeze the cloth or stir the liquid with a spoon to hasten the straining process. If the cloth is clogged so that the stock does not run through well, carefully change it in the colander so that the liquid will run down upon a clean portion. When strained, it may be reheated, seasoned, and served as clear soup.

_RECIPES._

ASPARAGUS SOUP.--This soup is prepared in every way like the one on page 276, except that while stock made from veal is used instead of milk. Green pea soup, celery soup, green corn soup, and green bean soup may be prepared according to the recipes already given for these soups by subst.i.tuting for milk the same quant.i.ty of the stock of veal or chicken.

BARLEY, RICE, SAGO, OR TAPIOCA SOUP.--Any kind of stock may be used in making these soups, though chicken and mutton stock are generally considered preferable. Prepare the grains, the sago, or the tapioca, by steaming or boiling till well cooked, and add to the stock, which should be at boiling temperature. Season and serve.

CARAMEL FOR COLORING SOUP BROWN.--Melt a half pint of sugar and one tablespoonful of water in a saucepan over the fire; stir constantly until it is of a dark brown color; then add a half pint of boiling water, simmer ten minutes, strain, and put into an air-tight can or bottle. When needed, mix such a quant.i.ty with the soup as will give the desired degree of color.

JULIENNE SOUP.--Take an equal proportion of carrot, parsnip, turnip, celery, and string beans, cut into thin pieces of inch lengths, sufficient to make one pint. Simmer the vegetables gently in a small quant.i.ty of water until tender, but not long enough to destroy their shape. Heat a quart of clear stock to boiling, add vegetables, salt to taste, and serve.

Other vegetables, as peas, asparagus, etc. may be used in the season.

Sometimes the vegetables are cut into dice or fancy shapes with a vegetable cutter. It makes little difference about the shape, so that the pieces are small and uniform in size. Such vegetables as potatoes, carrots, or turnips, when used for soups, are easiest cut, after paring in the usual manner, by taking the vegetable in the left hand, holding it on the table or board between thumb and finger, and with the right hand cutting downward in even slices not over one third of an inch wide, to within a quarter of an inch of the bottom. Turn the vegetable and repeat the process, cutting across the first slices. Again lay the vegetable on its side, and make a third series of cuts, which will divide it into cubes. If several kinds of vegetables are used, those which require a longer time for cooking should be cut into smaller pieces.

TOMATO SOUP.--Into two quarts of boiling beef stock stir a teaspoonful of cornstarch well braided with a little cold water, and a pint of strained, stewed tomatoes. Boil a few minutes, and serve. A teaspoonful of sugar may also be added, if desired.

WHITE SOUP.--White soups are made from veal or chicken stock, seasoned with cream, flavored with onion or celery, and thickened with cornstarch or flour.

VERMICELLI OR MACARONI SOUPS.--Drop into boiling water and cook the macaroni about one hour, the vermicelli ten minutes. Drain well, dash cold water through them to separate the pieces, which are apt to stick together, and add to boiling stock (beef and veal are preferable) in the proportion of a pint of cooked macaroni or vermicelli to a quart of soup. Salt to taste and serve.

PUREE WITH CHICKEN.--Take a quart of chicken stock from which the fat has been removed. Add a stalk or two of celery cut into finger-lengths, and a slice of onion, and put to boil. Beat together the mashed yolk of two hard boiled eggs, and a half cup of sweet cream. Chop the white meat of the chicken until fine as meal and beat with the egg mixture. Add slowly a cup and a half of hot milk. Remove the celery and onion from the hot stock, and stir all together. Boil up, salt to taste, and serve. If too thick, a little more stock or milk can be added.

TAPIOCA CREAM SOUP.--Soak two tablespoonfuls of tapioca over night.

Heat a quart of stock prepared from the white meat of chicken, to boiling, in a saucepan. Then stir the tapioca in gradually. Move the saucepan to the side of the range where it will simmer till the tapioca is transparent. Have ready in a large dish a mixture prepared by beating together very thoroughly the yolks of three eggs and four tablespoonfuls of sweet cream. When the tapioca is clear, remove the stock from the range and pour it very gradually onto the egg mixture, stirring briskly all the time, so that the egg will not curdle. Season with salt if desired. The soup may be returned to the stove and warmed before serving if necessary, but it must not be boiled or allowed to stand a long time.

TABLE TOPICS.

Animal food is one of the greatest means by which the pure sentiment of the race is depressed.--_Alcott._

An English medical author says, "It is no doubt true that the constant use of animal food disqualifies the mind for literary application. We can scarcely imagine a philosopher living on horse flesh like a Tartar, or on buffalo meat like an Indian; and it is a fact that these tribes appear incapable of civilization until they acquire the habit of using a less stimulating diet, and begin to cultivate the fruits of the earth for their own use. The difference, in the success of Christian missions, between such people and those whose chief sustenance is farinaceous food, is very striking and worthy of especial notice. In the East, and in Polynesia, literature and Christian doctrines are seized upon with avidity. But in vain were the most earnest labors of the best men to introduce reading and writing among the American Indians until they had first been taught to grow corn and to eat bread."

An American gentleman traveling in the East met a Brahmin priest, who refused to shake hands with him for fear of pollution. The reason he a.s.signed was that Americans eat hogs. Said the priest, "Why, I have heard that in America they put hogs" flesh in barrels and eat it after it has been dead six months! Horrible!"

Pork is by no means a favorite food in Scotland. King James is said to have abhorred pork almost as much as he did tobacco. He said, "If I were to give a banquet to the devil, I would provide a loin of pork and a poll of ling, with a pipe of tobacco for digestion!"

--_Scott._

The Hindu would as soon think of becoming a cannibal as of eating swine"s flesh. It is stated that the Indian mutiny so frightful in its results originated in a fear among the Sepoys that they would be forced to eat pork. A lady in India had an amusing experience which ill.u.s.trates the Hindu sentiment on the subject of pig. Arriving late at a grand dinner, she and her husband saw the first course being carried in as they went down the hall. A row of khitmutgars was drawn up, waiting to follow the dish into the dining-room, and serve their respective employers; as a dish of ham was carried by, each man gravely and deliberately spat upon it! Needless to say, Mrs. B.

and her lord waited for the second course.

Both the ancient Syrians and Egyptians abstained from flesh-eating out of dread and abhorrence, and when the latter would represent any thing as odious or disagreeable by hieroglyphics, they painted a fish.

Yes, Aga.s.siz does recommend authors to eat fish because the phosphorus in it makes brains. So far you are correct. But I cannot help you to a decision about the amount you need to eat--at least with certainty. If the specimen composition you send is about your fair usual average, I should judge that perhaps a couple of whales would be all you want for the present; not the largest kind, but simply good, middling-sized whales!--_Mark Twain"s Letter to a Young Author._

FOOD FOR THE SICK

[Ill.u.s.tration: Food for the Sick]

There is no branch of the culinary art which requires more skill than that of preparing food for the sick and feeble. The purpose of food at all times is to supply material for repairing--the waste which is constantly be chosen with reference to its nutritive value. But during illness and convalescence, when the waste is often much greater and the vital powers less active, it is of the utmost importance that the food should be of such a character as will supply the proper nutrition. Nor is this all; an article of food may contain all the elements of nutrition in such proportions as to render it a wholesome food for those in health, and not be a proper food for the sick, for the reason that its conversion into blood and tissue lays too great a tax upon the digestive organs. Food for the sick should be palatable, nutritious and easily a.s.similated. To discriminate as to what food will supply these requisites, one must possess some knowledge of dietetics and physiology, as well as of the nature of the illness with which the patient is suffering; and such a knowledge ought to be part of the education of every woman, no matter to what cla.s.s of society she belongs.

There are no special dishes suitable alike for all cases. Hot b.u.t.tered toast, tea, rich jellies, and other dainties so commonly served to the sick, are usually the very worst articles of diet of which they could partake. As a general rule, elaborate dishes are not suitable.

Well-cooked gruel, a nicely broiled steak, a gla.s.s of milk, or some refreshing drink often serve far better than foods which combine a greater variety of ingredients, and require more extensive preparation.

The simplest foods are always the best, because the most readily a.s.similated.

Scrupulous neatness and care in all the minute particulars of the cooking and serving of food for invalids, will add much to its palatableness. The clean napkin on the tray, the bright silver, and dainty china plate, with perhaps a sprig of leaves and flowers beside it, thinly sliced bread, toast or cracker, and the light cup partly filled with hot gruel, are far more appetizing to the invalid than coa.r.s.e ware, thickly cut bread, and an overflowing cup of gruel, though the cooking may be just as perfect. Anything that suggests excess or weight fatigues the sick. The appearance of milk served in a bowl, water in a mug, beef-tea in a saucer, though seemingly a trivial thing, is often sufficient to remove all desire for food.

So far as practicable, the wants of the patient should be antic.i.p.ated, and the meal served, a surprise. The capricious appet.i.te of an invalid may sometimes be coaxed by arranging his simple food upon a tray so planned that in the napery and service-ware used, some one particular color predominates, and if this color be selected to accord or harmonize as far as possible with the food allowed, the _tout ensemble_ presents a pleasing fancy, which will tempt the eye, and through its influence, the appet.i.te of the patient. For example: an invalid whose dietary must consist of fruit and grains, might be served to a "purple" dinner, with bill of fare including a fresh, cool bunch of purple grapes, a gla.s.s of unfermented grape juice, a saucer of blackberry mush, a plate of nicely toasted wafers, Graham puffs or zwieback, with stewed prunes, or a slice of prune toast served on dishes decorated with purple. Tie the napkin with a bow of purple ribbon, and place a bunch of purple pansies just within its folds. The monotonous regimen of a poor dyspeptic which poached eggs, beaten biscuit, wheat gluten, eggnog, with, perhaps, stewed peaches or an orange, are served on gilt-band china with a spray of goldenrod, a bunch of marigolds, or a water-lily to give an additional charm.

Foods which are ordered to be served hot, should be _hot,_ not merely warm, when they reach the patient. To facilitate this, let the dish in which the food is to be served, stand in hot water for a few moments; take out, wipe dry, turn in the hot food, place on the tray, and serve.

An oil stove, alcohol lamp, or a pocket stove is very convenient for warming gruels, broths and other similar foods, as either can be made ready for use in a moment, and will heat the small quant.i.ty of food necessary for an invalid in one fourth the time in which it could be accomplished over the range, if necessary to reduce the fire.

In the preparation of food for the sick, a scrupulously clean dish for cooking is of the first importance. It is a good plan in every household to reserve one or two cooking utensils for this purpose, and not be obliged to depend upon those in daily use. Utensils used for the cooking of fruits, vegetables, meat, etc., unless cleaned with the utmost call will sometimes impart a sufficiently unpleasant flavor to the food to render it wholly unpalatable to an invalid whose senses are preternaturally acute.

GRUELS

These simple foods, the base of which is usually some one of the grains, play an important part in the dietary for the sick, if properly prepared; but the sloppy messes sometimes termed gruel, the chief merit of which appears to be that they "are prepared in ten minutes," are scarcely better than nothing at all. Like other dishes prepared from the grains, gruel needs a long, continuous cooking. When done, it should be the very essence of the grain, possessing all its nutritive qualities, but in such form as to be readily a.s.similated. For the making of gruels, as for the cooking of grains for any other purpose, the double boiler is the best utensil.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Gruel Strainer.]

If it is desirable to strain the gruel before serving, have a fine wire strainer of a size to stand conveniently within a large bowl or basin, turn the gruel into this, and rub it through with a wooden or silver spoon, using a second spoon, if necessary, to remove that which hangs beneath the sieve. On no account use the first spoon for the latter operation, as by so doing one is apt to get some of the hulls into the gruel and destroy its smoothness. When as much of the gruel as possible has been rubbed through the sieve, pour the strained liquid into a clean dish, reheat to boiling, and season as desired before serving. An extension strainer which can be fitted over any sized dish is also serviceable for straining gruels.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Extension Strainer.]

Gruels, like all other foods, should be retained in the mouth for proper insalivation, and it is well to eat them with wafers or some hard food, when solid food is allowed.

_RECIPES._

ARROWROOT GRUEL.--Rub a dessertspoonful of _pure_ arrowroot to a thin paste in two tablespoonfuls of cold water, and stir it into a half pint of boiling water, or, if preferred, a cup and a third of boiling milk, and stir rapidly until thickened and clear. If desired, a little lemon peel for flavoring may be infused in the water or milk, before adding the arrowroot. Sweeten, if allowed, and serve.

BARLEY GRUEL.--Wash three heaping tablespoonfuls of pearl barley, drop it into a pint of boiling water, and parboil five minutes. Pour this water off and add a quart of fresh boiling water. Let it simmer gently for three hours. Strain, season, and serve. A small piece of lemon rind added to the gruel a half hour before it is done, gives it a very agreeable flavor. Equal quant.i.ties of milk and barley gruel make a very nourishing drink; the milk, however, should not be added to the gruel until needed, as in a warm atmosphere it undergoes quite rapid change, and is likely to ferment. A little lemon juice, with sugar to sweeten to taste, is sometimes preferred as seasoning for barley gruel.

EGG GRUEL.--Heat a cup of milk to boiling, and stir into it one well-beaten egg mixed with one fourth cup of cold milk. Stir constantly for a few minutes till thickened, but do not allow it to boil again.

Season with a little salt, or if preferred and allowed, a little loaf sugar.