It is better not to add the milk to the tomatoes until just ready to serve, for fear of curdling.

=CREAM OF ASPARAGUS; CREAM OF GREEN PEAS; CREAM OF STRING BEANS; CREAM OR SPINACH; CREAM OF CORN; CREAM OF CELERY=

These soups are very delicate, and are much esteemed. They are all made in the same way. The vegetable is boiled until soft, and is then pressed through a sieve. A pint of the vegetable pulp is diluted with a quart of stock (the stock may be veal, beef, or chicken broth). It is thickened with a roux made of one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and two tablespoonfuls of flour, seasoned with pepper and salt, and is then strained again, so it will be perfectly smooth. It is replaced on the fire, a cupful or a half cupful of cream added, and the whole beaten with an egg-whip to make it light, and is served at once very hot. The French thicken cream soups with egg-yolks. In this case two yolks would be used for the above quant.i.ty. The beaten yolks are diluted with the cream, and cooked only just long enough to set the egg. It would curdle if allowed to boil.

b.u.t.ter is needed for seasoning, and where eggs are used it should be added in small bits before the cream and eggs. Where roux is used for thickening, there is enough b.u.t.ter in the roux.

=CREAM OF CLAMS=

25 large clams.

2 tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter.

2 tablespoonfuls of flour.

1-1/2 pints of milk.

Small slice of onion.

Dash of nutmeg.

Salt and pepper.

1/2 pint of cream.

Wash the clam sh.e.l.ls thoroughly with a brush and clear water.

Put them into a pot on the fire with one half cup of boiling water; cover and let steam until the sh.e.l.ls open; take out the clams and let the liquor settle; then strain it carefully, and set aside; remove the clams from the sh.e.l.ls; chop them, pound them in a mortar, and press as much of them as possible through a puree sieve. Put the milk into a double boiler with the slice of onion. Put the b.u.t.ter into a frying-pan, and when it bubbles, stir into it the flour, and let it cook a few minutes, but not brown; add enough of the milk slowly to make the roux liquid; then add it to the milk in the double boiler, first having removed the slice of onion; add a dash of nutmeg and of pepper, then the cream; when ready to serve, stir in the clam pulp and one pint of the clam liquor; taste to see if salt will be needed. After the clams are added to the milk, leave it on the fire only long enough to get well heated; if boiled, the milk will curdle. Beat a moment with an egg-whisk to make foamy. If the mixture is too thick, it may be diluted with milk or cream.

This is good for luncheon, served in small cups, the top covered with a spoonful of whipped cream.

=CREAM OF OYSTERS=

Scald a quart of oysters in their own liquor. Remove the oysters; chop and pound them in a mortar, then press as much of them as possible through a puree sieve.

Make a roux of one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and a heaping tablespoonful of flour. Dilute it with the oyster juice. Add the oyster pulp; season it with pepper, salt, and paprica, and keep it hot until ready to serve.

Just before serving add a half pint of whipped cream, and beat it well into the soup.[108-*]

FOOTNOTES:

[108-*] Any soup made of milk will be greatly improved by adding a cupful of hot cream just before serving.

A little fish stock improves clam or oyster cream soup.

=SOUP a LA REINE=

Put a chicken into three quarts of water. Simmer it slowly for two hours, or until the chicken is very tender. A half hour before removing it add a half pound of rice and a bouquet containing one root of parsley, one sprig of thyme, a thin slice of onion, and a stick of celery. Boil it until the rice is soft, then strain through a colander.

Let the broth cool and remove the grease. Remove the white meat from the bones of the chicken, put it with the rice in a mortar, and pound both to a pulp. Pa.s.s the pulp through a puree sieve, moistening it with a little stock to make it pa.s.s through easier. When ready to serve, add the puree to the stock, season with salt and pepper, and heat it thoroughly without boiling. Just before sending it to the table add a half pint of hot cream.

If desired the soup can be thickened with a little roux, or with fifteen blanched almonds chopped and pounded to a paste, using a little cream to prevent the almonds from oiling.

=BISQUE OF LOBSTER=

Put into a mortar equal parts of boiled lobster meat and boiled rice; pound them to a pulp; then add enough broth to dilute it; season with salt and paprica. Pa.s.s it through a sieve. Heat it without boiling, and then add enough Bechamel sauce to make it the consistency of cream soup; lastly, add to each quart of soup a quarter of a pound of lobster b.u.t.ter, adding a little at a time, and stirring until the b.u.t.ter is melted. Instead of the lobster b.u.t.ter, plain b.u.t.ter may be used, and the coral of the lobster, dried and pounded to a powder, stirred in at the same time. Serve croutons with the bisque.

=LOBSTER b.u.t.tER=

After the meat is removed from the lobster, take all the rest (except the lady, woolly gills and intestine), including the sh.e.l.l, and put it into a mortar with twice its weight of b.u.t.ter. Pound it to a pulp; then place it in a saucepan on the fire, and cook until the b.u.t.ter is melted.

Strain it through a cloth. Beat the strained b.u.t.ter until it is cold. If not a deep enough color, add a very little cochineal.

CHOWDERS

=POTATO CHOWDER=

6 good-sized potatoes.

1/4 lb. salt pork.

1 onion.

1 tablespoonful b.u.t.ter.

1 tablespoonful flour.

1 pint milk or cream.

1 pint water.

1 tablesp"ful chopped parsley.

1 teaspoonful salt.

1/2 teaspoonful pepper.

Cut the potatoes into dice, cut the pork into small pieces, and put it with the sliced onion into a frying pan, and fry until a light brown.

Put into a kettle a layer of potatoes, then a layer of onions and pork, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chopped parsley. Repeat this until all the potatoes, pork, onions, and parsley are in. Pour over them the grease from the pan in which the pork and onions were fried. Add one pint of water, cover, and let simmer twenty minutes. Scald the milk in a double boiler, and add it to a roux made of the flour and b.u.t.ter. Add this to the pot when the potatoes are tender, and stir carefully together, so as not to break the potatoes. Taste to see if the seasoning is right. Serve very hot.

This is a good dish for luncheon, or for supper in the country.

=FISH CHOWDER=

3 lbs. fresh fish.

3 large potatoes.

1 large onion.

1/2 lb. salt pork.

1 pint milk.

3 ship crackers.

Pepper and salt.

Cut the fish, the potatoes, and the onion into slices. Cut the pork into half-inch dice. Put the pork and the onion into a pan and saute them a light brown. Place in alternate layers in a large saucepan first potatoes, then fish, then pork and onion; dust with salt and pepper, and continue in this order until all the materials are used. Cover the whole with boiling water and let the mixture simmer for twenty minutes. Scald a pint of milk or of cream, take it off the fire and add one and a half tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter and three broken ship crackers or the same quant.i.ty of water biscuits. Arrange the fish mixture in a mound on a dish, cover it with the softened crackers, and pour over the whole the hot milk.

=CLAM CHOWDER=