SEASONING AND FLAVORING

[Sidenote: Condiments.]

The savoriness of a dish can often be much enhanced by adding a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, of mushroom or tomato catsup, of kitchen bouquet, by a few celery seeds, a bay-leaf, or a sprig of some dried herb. A little tarragon vinegar or a few capers will often much improve a salad.

[Sidenote: Almonds.]

[Sidenote: Orange peel.]

A half dozen chopped almonds will greatly improve a bread pudding or any other simple dessert. A few shreds of candied orange peel will give a delicious flavor to puddings, sauces, and cake.

A flavor of almonds, orange- or rose-water, sherry, or maraschino, will be an agreeable change from vanilla, and much more wholesome.

Some cooks feel they are called upon to do fancy cooking if expected to use a bay-leaf or an almond; others feel a receipt is extravagant or impracticable if it calls for anything in the line of flavors beyond salt and pepper, lemon juice, vanilla, or raisins; but there is no more extravagance in using different condiments than in using always the same, or those which from habit have established themselves in the favor of every housekeeper. None of the condiments are expensive, and so little is used at a time that one bottleful lasts a long time. All the flavoring extracts are the same price, and the expense of a few almonds is only nominal, therefore it is a pity not to have a variety of such articles in the dresser, and give variety to dishes by at least the very simple means of changing flavors. A cottage pudding with a little shredded orange peel, nuts, or cocoanut in it, or with a chocolate, wine, or meringue sauce, will be an agreeable change from the plain pudding with hard sauce. The same may be said of a corn-starch or a rice pudding, of a custard, and of many other things.

CROUTONS AND CROUSTADES

Croutons or crusts are used in pea, bean, and all cream soups, for garnishing all kinds of stewed dishes, and for any dish with which toast would be acceptable. When cut large and filled they are called croustades.

To make croutons or croustades, cut bread into the desired shape and saute the pieces in hot butter, or dip them in melted butter and toast them carefully in the oven, turning frequently, so they will be evenly colored; or they may be fried in smoking-hot fat. They should be crisp and dry and the color of amber.

They are made of various sizes and shapes to suit the uses they are to serve. For soups the bread is cut into cubes one quarter inch square or into fancy shapes; for garnishing meat dishes they are cut into diamonds, squares, triangles, and circles; for sippets to eat with boiled eggs, into strips one half inch wide and four inches long; for poached eggs, into circles four inches in diameter.

[Sidenote: For Soups.]

To make croutons for soup, cut bread into slices one quarter of an inch thick, take off the crust, then cut it into strips one quarter of an inch wide and then across into even squares; or with vegetable cutters cut the sliced bread into fancy shapes.

[Sidenote: Triangles.]

For triangles, cut a slice of bread one half inch thick, then into strips one and a quarter inches wide, then into pieces two or three inches long, then diagonally across.

[Sidenote: Pyramidal Pieces.]

For pyramidal pieces, cut the bread into one inch squares and cut diagonally across the cube. When used for garnishing they may be moistened a little on one side with white of egg, and will then stick to the dish sufficiently to hold in place. A circle of pyramidal pieces makes a good border to inclose minced meat, creamed fish, etc.

[Sidenote: Circles.]

Circles for poached eggs are cut with a biscuit cutter three inches in diameter, and may be toasted in the ordinary way if preferred.

[Sidenote: Boxes.]

For boxes cut bread from which the crust has been removed into pieces two and a half inches thick, two and a half inches wide and three and a half inches long, then with a pointed knife cut a line around the inside one half of an inch from the edge and carefully remove the crumb, leaving a box with sides and bottom one half inch in thickness. The boxes may be cut round if preferred, using two sizes of biscuit cutters. They are browned the same as other croutons, and are used for creamed spinach, creamed chicken, creamed fish, etc.

A five cent square loaf of bread cuts to good advantage.

1. Sippets to use with boiled eggs. 2. Pyramidal Pieces for Borders. 3, 4, 6. Bread Boxes. 5. Triangles for Garnishing. 7. Croustade for Poached Egg, Creamed Meats, etc. 8. Croutons for Soups.]

CHARTREUSE

Chartreuse is a liqueur made by the monks of the French monastery of Grande Chartreuse; but a class of dishes has also been given this name, where two or more foods are used one of which conceals the others. The story goes that on fast days the monks were thus able to indulge in forbidden food, and savory viands were hidden under cabbage or other severely plain articles. Chartreuses are made by lining a mold with rice, a vegetable, or a forcemeat, and filling the center with a different food. Two vegetables are sometimes so combined, but more often game or meats are inclosed in rice and served with a good sauce. (See illustration facing page 190.)

[Sidenote: En Bellevue.]

Fruits are made into chartreuses by inclosing them in blanc-mange or puddings. When meats are molded in aspic jelly they are called "En Bellevue" as in this case they are not concealed.

1, 2. Small Pointed Knives for Vegetables, Boning, etc. 3. Fluted Knife for cutting potato straws, or cutting vegetables into fancy shapes. 4. Tuller Knife. Useful for pastry and all work done on a board. 5. Broad-bladed Knife or Spatula. 6. Saw. 7. Bread or Cake Knife. 8, 9. Small Wooden Spoons.]

FOOTNOTES:

[77-*] Cooking schools have recently adopted the rule of using even spoonfuls for every spoon measurement. This ensures great exactness.--M. R.

CHAPTER II

As nothing is easier than making good soups, they should be the first lesson in cooking.

They are one of the most nutritious and inexpensive foods presented, and have a very wide range, extending from the clear, transparent soups, through many degrees of consistency, color and material, to the heavy varieties which contain enough nourishment for a meal in themselves. The pot-au-feu as managed in the families of the French peasantry furnishes their chief source of diet. The pot on the fire receives every bit of nutritious material of every kind; by slow cooking the juices and flavors are extracted, and a savory combination is made which is both pleasant to the taste and satisfying to the hunger.

The stock-pot should be on every range, and its contents ever ready to be drawn upon, not only for soup, but for sauces, and for flavoring the numerous dishes which can be enriched and improved by stock.[84-*]

The many kinds of soups are variations of the few kinds of stock.

[Sidenote: Brown Stock, see page 88.]

The brown stock is made from beef, or from beef, veal, and fowl combined, and mixed vegetables.

[Sidenote: White Stock, see page 99.]

White stock is made of veal and chicken together, or from veal alone, seasoned with onion, celery, white pepper, and salt, nothing being used which will give color.

[Sidenote: Chicken Consomme or Broth, see page 98.]

Chicken stock is made from the fowl alone, and seasoned with celery, white pepper, and salt.

[Sidenote: Cream Soups, see page 105.]

Cream soups are made without stock, the basis being vegetables boiled and mashed to a puree by being pressed through a colander or sieve, then mixed with cream or milk and seasoned to taste.

[Sidenote: Soup Meats.]

The meats used for soups are: the lower or tough part of the round, the shin, and the neck pieces of beef, the knuckle of veal, and fowls. Mutton is not used except for mutton broth. A very little ham is sometimes used; game also gives good flavor.

Bones contain gelatine and cause the stock to jelly when cold.

[Sidenote: Soup Vegetables.]

The soup vegetables are onions, carrots, turnips, and celery. They are cut into small pieces and are sometimes fried before being added to the soup pot.

[Sidenote: The Bouquet.]

Parsley wrapped around peppercorns, cloves, bay-leaves and other herbs, excepting sage, and tied, makes what is called a bouquet. In this shape the herbs are more easily removed.

[Sidenote: Proportions.]

The proportions are one quart of cold water to a pound of meat, and to four quarts of water one each of the vegetables of medium size, named above, two sticks of celery, and a bouquet containing one root of parsley with leaves, one bay-leaf, twelve peppercorns, six cloves,--one sprig of thyme, and sweet marjoram if desired.

[Sidenote: The order of preparing Soups.]

In making good soup the first essential is a perfectly clean pot. I would emphasize the word clean. First have the pot thoroughly washed with soda and water to remove any grease, then scoured with sapolio to take off any bits of burned or hardened matter.

The meat should be wiped clean with a wet cloth and carefully examined to see if there are any tainted spots, then cut into pieces about one and a half inches square (except in the case where a round of beef is used, which is to be removed when tender and served as bouilli). The meat and bones must be put into cold water in order to extract the juices, and never be allowed to boil. Slow cooking best effects the object desired (see article on boiling, page 67). After the meat has stood fifteen minutes in cold water, put it on the fire, cover, and let it come slowly to the simmering-point, then place on the back of range to simmer for six hours or more. An hour before the cooking is completed, add the vegetables, cut into small pieces. When the soup is to be served clear, it is well to remove the scum as it rises, but this is not essential, for much of it comes off when the soup is strained, and perfectly clear soup requires clarifying in any case. The French receipts all say remove the scum, but as it is a nutrient part of the meat, unless clearness is desired, it seems better to let it remain during the period of cooking.

[Sidenote: Removing the Grease.]

When the soup has simmered five or six hours, it should be strained into an earthen bowl and left to cool uncovered. Under no circumstances let it stand in the pot after it is cooked. The grease will rise to the top and form a cake which can be easily removed when cold. Any little particles which may stick to the jelly may be wiped off with a cloth wet in hot water. Where a quantity of stock is made at one time, it is well to strain it into two or even three bowls; the grease forms an air-tight cover and will help to keep it from souring. Stock should be made the day before it is to be used in order to let the grease rise and the floating particles settle, but where it is needed at once, the grease that cannot be skimmed off with a spoon can be absorbed by passing tissue paper over it carefully.

[Sidenote: Clarifying.]

Soup can be made perfectly clear by taking the jellied stock from which every particle of grease and sediment has been removed, and stirring into it, while cold, the slightly-beaten white and crushed shell of one egg to each quart of stock. It must be stirred constantly until the soup is hot enough to coagulate the albumen, by which time it has thoroughly mixed with and imprisoned the fine particles which cloud the liquid. Let it boil violently for five minutes, then let it stand five minutes longer on the side of the range to settle. Strain through a fine cloth laid on a sieve. Let it drain through without pressing. In some cases a small bit of lemon rind used with the egg in clearing gives a pleasant flavor to the soup. After clearing it will ordinarily need to be heated again before serving. In high-class cooking, soups are cleared with chopped raw meat or chicken, which adds to, instead of detracting from the richness of the soup. The albumen of egg does not materially affect the quality of the soup, and is recommended for general practice.[87-*]

[Sidenote: Coloring.]

If a deeper color is wanted, it may be obtained by adding a very little caramel (see page 78) or a few drops of a preparation called "Kitchen Bouquet." Artificial coloring, however, is not so good as that obtained by browning the vegetables and part of the meat before adding them to the soup pot. (See brown stock, page 88.)

[Sidenote: Names.]

The meat soups are called broths, bouillon, or consomme, according to their richness.

The purees are thick soups made with or without stock, the basis being mashed vegetables or meat pounded to a paste.

[Sidenote: Meat Stock.]

Stock made of meat alone will keep better than where vegetables are used. In warm weather it is well to have it so prepared.

COMMON STOCK (POT-AU-FEU)

For this stock pieces of fresh or cooked meat are used, also all odds and ends, chicken bones, gravies, cooked or raw vegetables, etc. Water in which fish or vegetables (excepting cabbage or potatoes) have been boiled may or may not be used. They are put together cold and are simmered for five or six hours, then strained through a colander into an earthen bowl and left to cool uncovered. Clear soup should not be attempted with this stock, but it is good to combine with vegetables for vegetable soup, or with other mixtures like rice, bits of meat, chicken, gumbo, etc., for soup and to use for sauces and seasoning.

BEEF OR BROWN STOCK

8 lbs. of shin of beef. 8 quarts of cold water. 1 medium-sized carrot. 1 medium-sized turnip. 1 parsley root and leaves. 1 onion. 1 stick of celery. 12 peppercorns. 6 cloves. 1 tablespoonful of salt.

Rub with a wet cloth the outside of the shin of beef, which has been well broken by the butcher. Take the meat from the bones and cut it into small pieces. Put aside a half pound of the meat. Place the rest of the meat and the bones in a perfectly clean pot with the cold water, and let it stand fifteen to twenty minutes, or until the water is red; then place them on the fire and let them come slowly to the simmering point. Meanwhile, place in a saute-pan some of the marrow from the bones, or a tablespoonful of drippings. When the fat is hot put in the half pound of reserved meat and cook it until it is well browned. When the water in the pot has begun to simmer, put in the browned meat and rinse the saute-pan with a few spoonfuls of water so none of the value of the browned meat will be lost. This will give good color and also flavor to the soup. Place the pot where the water will simmer only, and leave it to cook for six hours, or until the meat is cooked to shreds and its nutriment fully extracted. Add the vegetables, which have been well washed, scraped, and cut into pieces, one hour before the cooking is completed, and add the salt just before removing the stock from the fire.

If a clear soup is not desired, the care to keep it below the boiling point is not essential. (See note, page 87.)

When the stock is done strain it through a close cloth or a fine sieve into an earthen bowl, and let it cool without covering.

When ready to serve, remove the grease, clear it if desired for transparent soup, add more pepper and salt to taste.

FOR MACARONI, NOODLE, VERMICELLI, VEGETABLE OR PRINTANIERE, JULIENNE, TAPIOCA, AND CROUTE-AU-POT SOUPS,

Take as much of the beef stock as will be needed, allowing one half pint for each person, remove all the grease, heat it, and season to taste. Just before serving add any of the above articles, which must have been boiled separately. The soup will then have the name of the ingredient used.

[Sidenote: Julienne.]

Julienne does not differ from the vegetable soup except in the form given the vegetables. For julienne, the outside or deep yellow of the carrot, turnip, and celery are cut, with a knife which comes for the purpose, into thin, thread-like pieces about two inches long. The shredded vegetables must be boiled before being added to the soup, and care used to prevent their breaking or becoming too soft to hold their form, or they may be fried in butter until tender. Green peas, asparagus tips, and flowerets of cauliflower may also be added. (See illustration facing page 92.)

[Sidenote: Printaniere.]

Any vegetables may be used for vegetable soup, but judgment should be shown in the combination. They may be made ornamental by being cut into fancy shapes with cutters, or into balls with a small potato scoop, or they may be cut into dice.

1, 2, 3. Cutters used for cutting vegetables for Printaniere Soup. 4. Vegetables prepared for Printaniere Soup. 5. Knife for cutting vegetables into Julienne. 6. Julienne.]

[Sidenote: Tapioca.]

Pearl tapioca boiled to clearness makes a very pretty thickening to clear soup.

[Sidenote: Croute au Pot.]

Small pieces of toast or thin shavings of stale bread are added to the tureen just before serving to make the _croute-au-pot_. The soup should be served before the bread dissolves or gets very soft.

For julienne, tapioca, and _croute-au-pot_, the soup should be perfectly clear and a deep amber color.

[Sidenote: Garnishes for Soups.]

Other garnishes which may be added to soups are: Force-meat balls (see page 92); yolks of hard-boiled eggs; egg balls (see page 92); royal custard (see page 92); fried croutons (see page 81); noodles (see page 93); dumplings (see page 170); thin cross-cuts of celery; thin slices of lemon, one for each plate; grated Parmesan cheese (passed); macaroni cut into pieces one eighth of an inch thick, making rings; sweet potato balls (see page 94); marrow balls (see page 94); green pea timbale (see page 94); harlequin slices (see page 94); with consomme, a poached egg for each portion.

THICKENING FOR SOUPS

Roux (see page 79) makes the best thickening for soups which are not clear, using brown or white roux according to the color of the soup. Thin the roux with a little soup, so it will be smooth before adding it to the soup kettle. Roux added to pea, bean, and potato soups prevents their separating.

A thickening of eggs is made as follows: Beat two or three yolks and dilute them with a half a cupful of cream or milk or cold soup. Stir in a few spoonfuls of the hot soup to warm it. Remove the soup from the fire and stir in slowly the egg mixture, return it to the fire to cook the egg, but do not let it boil, or it may curdle.

Clear soups are sometimes thickened by using one teaspoonful of arrowroot to a quart of soup. Mix the arrowroot with a little of the cold soup, turn it into the hot soup, and cook until it becomes clear. A clear soup so thickened may be flavored with sherry.

FOOTNOTES:

[84-*] It is not meant to imply that the stock-pot should never be removed from the range and that articles should be added at any time. When the nutriment is extracted from one collection of materials, the stock should be strained off, the pot thoroughly cleaned, and a new stock started as soon as enough materials have again accumulated.--M. R.

[87-*] It will be difficult if not impossible to make a perfectly clear and brilliant soup from stock where bones have been used, if the stock has been subjected to boiling heat. Boiling dissolves the lime in the bones, and this gives a cloudiness which clarifying will not entirely remove.--M. R.

GARNISHES FOR SOUPS

A CUSTARD TO SERVE WITH CONSOMME

2 yolks. 1 entire egg. 1/3 teaspoonful of salt. Dash of cayenne. 1/2 cupful of beef stock.

Beat the eggs well, but not to a froth. Add one third of a teaspoonful of salt and one half cupful of clear beef stock. Pour the mixture into a small pan or flat dish, so it will be about one half inch deep. Set the pan into another one containing hot water and place them in a very moderate oven, so that the custard will set without bubbles and without browning on top. Let the custard become perfectly cold. Without removing it from the pan, cut it into cubes one half inch square, or into fancy forms, with vegetable cutters.

These pieces should be placed carefully in the consomme after it is in the tureen, allowing three or four pieces to each portion of soup.