The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1883-07-28

why Is 1t that SO many people think
1t hard matter to have soup for din
ner. and why is it that those who have
The most available material for this
purpose often use it the least? Now, if
you are rich enough to have an expert
enced cook, she will either know how
to make certain number of good
soups or she will scorn any simple
methods you may suggest to her; but,
if you are not rich-have perhaps one
girl, who is only a good plain cook
there is every hope for you to begin
most dinners with tasty and nourish-
ing soup. thas been said that plate
ful of soup makes a warm place in the
stomach for the dinner proper, and
shat digestion is much aided thereby.
This may be so or not; but it is only
claimed now that it is good to have soup
for dinner, and that it is easy to have it,
too. For example, you need not go to
your butchers and spend fifty or sixty
cents for beef-bone or q knuckle of
veal. Don't you have roast beef once
a week-say rib roast; two or three
ribs? When you have had your one,
two or three meals from this, take the
bones remaining-crack them if you
can, leave them as they are if you
Garland put them over the fire with
gay two quarts of boiling water. Now
you need not take big iron pot for
this. 1t is heavy to lift and your ma
terial does not require it. Some par
ticular housekeepers will exclaim with
horror when say use large tin sauce
pan or skillet. Cover this, and just let
those bones cook all day, replenishing
with hot water as it boils away. you
cannot have your soup till tomorrow. :"
You ought not to have it till tomorrow.
The last thing at night pour off the
liquor and throw away the bones. If
you wish, strain the soup, which is now
what is called stock; but it will not bo
very bad if you don't for most of what
is undesirable will either sink to ths
bottom or form cake of fat on top.
Now, from these few bones please
make the following: A rice PURGE, q
vegetable soup, a tomato soup, potato
soup-almost anything except clear
soup. 1t all depends upon what you
put into it. Have in the house always
bottle of celery-salt, some bay leaves
and whole cloves. Five cents worth of
bay leaves, to be bought at druggists,
will last dozen years. Into perhaps a
quart or more of soup-stock, having re-
moved the cake of fat from the top, put
one hour before dinner, half an onion
sliced and three tablesponfuls Of we'll
washed rice. Let this boil gently. A
few minutes before dinner add salt
spoonful of celery-salt, pepper and
salt to taste. Chop little fresh parsley
fine and put into the tureen. It will not
flavor much, but viii look pretty. A
little here means q teaspoonful when
chopped. The rice meantime has
boiled itself into thickish Substance,
forming what is called a PURGE. The
color of your puree will be whitish, and
its taste will be good. Try it. For q
vegetable soup, chop fine one medium
sized carrot, hall turnip, one large
onion; add small bay feat and one
Glove, and boil with as little water as
possible for one hour. If you
have any cooked or uncooked to-
Gatoes, add few spoonfuls. Let the
soup stock come to a boil, skim and put
In the vegetables. Thicker slightly
with two tablespoonfuls of corn starch
or -four and your soup is done. For a
tomato soup, take the quart of stock
and let half an onion and half can of
tomatoes boil together for three-quar-
tiers of an hour. Strain, add tea
spoonful of sugar, salt and pepper, one
cup of milk, and, if the stock is not
very rich, small bit of butter. Thicker
with about two tablespoonful of -four,
rubbed to smooth paste with little
cold water or milk.
For potato soup, or PURGE rather, boil
five medium sized potatoes and one
onion together until the potatoes are
ready to fall to pieces. Drain well,
sprinkle with salt. Have the stock hot,
skinned. Then rub the potatoes
through a collander into the hot stock,
and to make it smoother stir in one or
two tablespoonfuls of -four, blended
smoothly in . little cold water as in the
tomato soup. Add pepper and tea
spoonful of chopped parsley.
have spoken so far only of beef
bones. A leg of mutton will furnish
Just as much material in the way of
bones as the beef. Then there are the beef.
steak and veal outlet bones, small ones
to be sure, but just put them on the fire
in small skillet, and they will be the
nucleus of another soup, orgive enough
more for another platef,ll. The guam
tity given here Is intended for family
of four. With larger family, ofcourse
there will be more bones, therefore more
soup possible. Neither is it claimed
~ - l.
soups. They are simply relish--a
preliminary to the dinner, and it is
hoped have been presented in such a
way as TO seem easy to make.-E. n
~, in ne Continent.