The Myrtle Reed Cook Book Part 43

Blend together two tablespoonfuls each of b.u.t.ter and flour. Add one quart of cold milk, and cook slowly until it thickens, stirring constantly. Add one cupful of cooked crab meat, two cupfuls of stewed and strained tomatoes, a pinch of soda, and salt and pepper to season.

Boil up once and serve.

PUReE OF ASPARAGUS

Cut the tops from two bunches of asparagus, and set aside. Boil the stalks in salted water until tender, and rub through a sieve. Add the pulp to three pints of boiling beef stock, and season with salt, pepper, and b.u.t.ter. Simmer fifteen or twenty minutes. Stir in three tablespoonfuls of cream, strain the soup, add the cooked asparagus tips, and serve. This soup may be thickened if desired.

PUReE OF GREEN PEAS

Boil four cupfuls of green peas in salted water with an onion, a small bunch of parsley, and two sprigs of mint. Rub through a colander and reheat. Add a cupful of veal stock, season with salt, pepper, and sugar, and thicken with one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter blended with one tablespoonful of flour, and rubbed smooth in the soup, while boiling.

Serve with croutons.

PUReE OF KIDNEY BEANS

Soak over night two cupfuls of red kidney beans. Drain, and cook slowly until very soft in enough beef stock to cover. Rub through a coa.r.s.e sieve. Add one-half cupful of salt pork, cut into dice and fried until brown and crisp, two onions, one carrot, and a tablespoonful of powdered sweet herbs. Add four cupfuls of beef stock, and simmer for an hour. Strain, add two tablespoonfuls of sherry or claret, reheat, and serve.

PUReE OF PEAS AND RICE

Rub through a sieve one cupful of cooked peas, and one cupful of cold boiled rice. Mix with six cupfuls of boiling beef stock, thicken with b.u.t.ter and flour, according to directions previously given, and serve very hot.

PUReE OF TOMATOES

Boil together for half an hour one can of tomatoes, and one large onion, chopped fine. Run through a sieve, return to the fire, and season with pepper, salt, and sugar. Blend together two tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, and one tablespoonful of flour. Add two cupfuls of cold milk, and cook until smooth and thick, stirring constantly. Add the tomatoes and a pinch of soda. Reheat, add half a cupful of cracker crumbs, and serve immediately.

PUReE OF TOMATOES AND MACARONI

Cook together for an hour, one can of tomatoes, a sprig of parsley, a teaspoonful of celery seed, a teaspoonful of sugar, a blade of mace, a bay-leaf, and a small onion chopped fine. Rub through a coa.r.s.e sieve, add two cupfuls of beef stock, season with salt and pepper, and thicken with one tablespoonful each of b.u.t.ter and flour, rubbed together and boiled in soup, while stirring. When thickened add one cupful of cooked macaroni, cut into small bits.

_CHICKEN SOUPS_

CHICKEN BOUILLON

Cut up a chicken, cover with cold water, add a small onion sliced, a stalk of celery cut fine, and a small bunch of parsley. Simmer until the meat falls from the bones, strain through cheese-cloth, cool, skim, reheat, season with salt and pepper, and serve in cups.

CHICKEN SOUP

Select an old fowl and cut it in pieces. Put into the soup-kettle, with a sliced carrot, two onions, two cloves, and water to cover.

Simmer for three or four hours, and strain. Reheat the liquor, add one cupful each of washed rice and meat of the chicken, a small turnip chopped, and a blade of mace. Simmer for three hours, rub through a sieve, season to taste, and serve.

CHICKEN AND TOMATO SOUP

Cut up a chicken, fry in b.u.t.ter with an onion, and a slice of ham chopped fine. Add two quarts of beef stock, two cupfuls of water, a small bunch of parsley, a tablespoonful of powdered sweet herbs, and salt and pepper to season. Add a can of tomatoes and cook until the meat falls from the bones. Remove the bones, chop the meat fine, reheat, and serve.

CREAM OF CHICKEN

Melt one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, add two tablespoonfuls of flour, and, when thoroughly blended, three cupfuls of chicken stock. Season to taste, add one cupful of boiling cream, and serve.

CREAM OF CHICKEN AND ASPARAGUS

Prepare Cream of Chicken according to directions given above, and add one cupful of cooked asparagus, which has been rubbed through a sieve.

Add the asparagus tops, cooked separately, and serve with unsweetened whipped cream.

CREAM OF CHICKEN AND BARLEY

Prepare Cream of Chicken according to directions given above, and add one cupful of barley which has been cooked in chicken stock. Add more cream if too thick.

CREAM OF CHICKEN AND CELERY

Chop fine one head of celery, and boil until soft in four cupfuls of chicken stock. Rub through a sieve, reheat, thicken with two tablespoonfuls each of b.u.t.ter and flour, boiled in the soup, while stirring, season to taste, add two cupfuls of boiling cream, and serve.

CREAM OF CHICKEN AND NOODLES

Prepare Cream of Chicken according to directions given above, and add one cupful of cooked noodles. Season with grated Parmesan cheese.

CREAM OF CHICKEN AND OYSTERS

Prepare Cream of Chicken according to directions given above, and add one cupful of cooked oysters with their liquor. Season with minced parsley and lemon-juice.

CREAM OF CHICKEN AND SAGO

Prepare Cream of Chicken according to directions given above, and add one cupful of sago which has been cooked in chicken stock. Dilute with boiling cream if too thick, and serve with whipped cream in each plate.

CREAM OF CHICKEN AND VERMICELLI

Prepare Cream of Chicken according to directions given above, and add one cupful of broken vermicelli, which has been cooked in chicken stock. Season with minced parsley, and grated Parmesan cheese.

CREAM CHICKEN BOUILLON