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Soup

Vegetable Soups

Collection of vegetable soup recipes from an old cookbook, including bean, potato, pea, tomato and others.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Abel, Mary Hinman, b. 1850 · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 31 ingredients
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Why it works: Cabbage and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Vegetable Soups

2 qts.

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the broth and beans

  1. If meat bones or trimmings are on hand, simmer them one to two hours in water.

  2. Use that broth instead of water in making any of the following soups.

  3. Soak the beans overnight in 2 qts. water.

  4. In the morning pour off the water and put on fresh water.

  5. Cook the beans with the onion and fat till very soft.

  6. Mash or press through a cullender to remove the skins.

  7. Add enough water to make 2 qts. of somewhat thick soup.

  8. Season.

Make the potato and pea soups

  1. Boil the potatoes, onions and salt in a little water.

  2. When very soft, mash them.

  3. Add a little at a time, stirring to keep it smooth, a qt. of hot water and 1 tablespoon beef fat in which 1 tablespoon flour has been cooked.

  4. Or use the fat for frying bread dice, and add the dice at the last minute.

  5. Put the peas and onion in boiling water and cook until very soft.

  6. Press through a cullender and season.

Make the tomato and vegetable soups

  1. Cook the flour in the fat, add the peeled tomatoes and a very little water.

  2. When they have cooked to pieces, mash them against the side of the pot, add the rest of the water and the seasoning.

  3. Cook the parsnips and potatoes till they fall to pieces, mash, and add seasoning.

  4. Heat the fat, add sugar, salt and pepper, then stir the vegetables in it till they begin to brown.

  5. Add 3 pts. water and simmer 1 to 2 hours, then serve without straining.

  6. Cut the corn from the cob and boil one hour.

  7. Add the flour which has been fried in the fat, season and strain.

  8. Heat the fat, add the chopped vegetables and sweat or steam for 10 minutes.

  9. Add flour, then the boiling water, and add the milk just before serving.

  10. Serve with fried bread.

Make the macaroni and cabbage soup

  1. Simmer the macaroni water, cabbage water, veal bones, rice and chopped onion together while the dinner cooks.

  2. Thicken with a little flour and serve with fried bread.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1683Calories
67 gProtein
56 gFat
226 gCarbs

Counts 14 of 17 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 14 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Beef100g cooked250
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Vegetable1 tbsp (14g)120
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Broccoli1 cup chopped (156g)55
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Macaroninot in our table0
Vealnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Abel, Mary Hinman, b. 1850. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,001 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef fat
Carries flavor and, when flour is cooked in it, forms a roux that thickens the soup.
Flour
Thickens the soup by swelling with liquid, giving body to the broth.
Milk
Adds richness and a creamy body when stirred in near the end.
Potatoes
Break down when soft and mash in, giving the soup body and smoothness.
Dried beans (in the method)
Soften during long cooking and thicken the soup as they break down.
Eggs
Not used in the method; left out.

The step that matters

Stirring in the fat and flour mixture. Adding the flour-thickened fat to hot liquid without steady stirring can form lumps, so the soup will not stay smooth. Stirring while adding keeps the starch dispersed evenly.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, milk, flour, butter, sugar, pepper, onion):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, milk, flour, butter, sugar, pepper, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

More vegetable soup recipes

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