The Fireless Cook Book / A Manual of the Construction and Use of Appliances for Cooking by Retained Heat, with 250 Recipes

Obviously, this arrangement will work equally well in keeping cold foods cool in summer, such as ice water, or cool drinks. Even frozen creams and ices, if packed well in a mould, covered tin pail or can, sealed and surrounded with a small quantity of ice and salt, and the whole thus insulated, will keep for many hours. To seal the mould, dip a narrow strip of muslin in melted fat and lay it quickly over the crack between the cover and mould.

III
THE REFRIGERATING BOX

As we have seen in the case of the insulating pail, the principle involved in cooking by retained heat may be reversed, and the heat may, by similar means, be excluded from foods which are to be kept cold. Ice-boxes and refrigerators are made with this end in view. They are constructed with heavy walls, usually, if not always, with an interlining of some non-conducting material, to exclude the heat of the atmosphere. Where such an article is needed permanently, or for large quantities of food, the various refrigerators on the market are better adapted to the purpose than a home-made box. But, in cases of temporary necessity or to supplement a refrigerator, the home-made refrigerating box will doubtless find a use. Ingenuity will suggest variations in the manner of applying the principle of insulation to keeping foods cold, but by way of suggestion two forms of refrigerating boxes are described below.

Take three or more stoneware crocks with well-fitting covers of the same material. The size of the crocks must be determined by the quantity of food to be kept. Good results in the way of temperatures have been obtained with those holding a half gallon, but the amount of food accommodated in them is, of course, small.

Proceed exactly as for packing a cooker, except that the crocks must be set in place so that all of them touch the central one, which is to be filled with ice.

Although any insulating material suitable for cookers will answer for a refrigerating box, sawdust will be found the easiest to handle, for the reason that its fine particles will more readily fill the acute angles between the crocks, which must be carefully packed or the insulation is not complete. It will be best to make one narrow cushion that may remain in place over the central crock, except when the ice is to be renewed, and two others, each of which can be removed singly when the crock under it is to be opened. Put the food into dishes or pails that can be removed with it and washed. This will obviate the necessity for taking out the crocks frequently and will mean a considerable saving of ice. In lieu of one solid piece of ice, broken pieces will be found to answer excellently. Fill the ice-crock as full as possible, and do not open it until it needs refilling. A little observation of your own individual box will be necessary to tell you just how long your crock of ice will last. It will probably be safe, in any case, to leave it two full days after filling it before opening it. If no foods that have not been reasonably cooled are put into the refrigerating box it is possible that the ice may last three or four days.

Aside from the efficiency of the insulation, the consumption of ice will depend largely upon the amount and temperature of the food in the other crocks and the frequency with which they are opened to the warm outside air; therefore chose as cool a place as possible for the box to stand, and open it only when necessary. Try to think of all the articles you want from it before taking off the cushion. Better results in the way of temperature can be obtained with these boxes than with many commercial refrigerators, although the skill and care in using either will be a large factor in the economy of ice. When it is necessary to open the box, let it be for as brief a time as possible, as every moment that it is open means an increase of temperature and, consequently, a loss of ice.

Another variety of refrigerating box may be made by thoroughly insulating a tin pail partly filled with ice, or a bread box, containing a crock for ice. Allow the same amount of insulation as that called for with the various packing materials used for hay-boxes or cookers, and pack them similarly. It will not often be necessary to remove the inner box if care is taken in handling the dishes of food; but when it is to be scalded, take it out, wash it well, boil or scald it with soda and water, and cool it again before replacing it in the packing.

IV
COOKING FOR TWO

While the fireless cooker is, perhaps, especially adapted to families of average size, or larger, there is no reason why small quantities of food cannot be equally well cooked, provided the cooker is properly made with that in view.

A large utensil will involve a great waste of gas and time, for in every case it will be necessary to heat a considerable quantity of water which is only required to fill the utensil. Select, instead, a two-quart pail, pack it very tightly in a moderately small box, allowing, however, the requisite thickness of insulation (see page 16). This will be suitable for much of the cooking to be done, such as vegetables, steamed breads, etc., that are cooked in much water; but for such articles as oatmeal, stews, puddings, and some vegetables, use a small pudding pan, just fitting into the pail and resting on its rim, with a cover that will closely fit the pan. The pail must always be filled with boiling water or food to touch the upper pan, and if these conditions are fulfilled and the food is put quickly, and while boiling hard, into a cooker which stands close to the range, it will be found to cook as perfectly as larger amounts. Two kinds of food can thus be cooked at once, but, when only water is used in the lower pail, it can be kept in the cooker during the meal, and will be hot when the time comes for washing the dishes.

The fact that almost all the recipes in this book tell the number of persons which they will serve will make the quantity to be cooked easy to ascertain. Where articles are to be cooked in moulds, as steamed breads, puddings, meat loaves, etc., one-half pound baking powder cans may be used. It will be safer to test them to see whether or not they leak. The only change in the method of cooking such dishes that will then be necessary is shortening the time of boiling previous to putting them into the cooker. Small cuts of meat will also require shorter preliminary boiling. One-half the time given will be found sufficient. The great majority of dishes may be cooked as directed in the full-sized recipes, without any change on account of the small quantity.

For such purposes as preserving and baking (see page 228), a large pail will be needed, even by a family of two, and it is suggested that the cooker be packed first to accommodate such a pail, and the box then be made to receive also the two-quart pail by means of the space-adjuster described on page 22.

V
MEASURING

All measurements given in this book are made in standard half-pint cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, quarts, pecks, etc. The dry materials are leveled even with the top of the cup, spoon, or other measure by filling it heaping full, then pushing off with a knife that which lies above the top. When held level with the eyes, nothing should be seen above the cup or spoon, and yet the receptacle should be completely filled. Where standard cups, with divisions in thirds and quarters, are not to be obtained, it will be better to use a straight-sided glass if one can be found which holds an exact half-pint. It will be easier to get an accurate half or third of a cupful in such a measure than in one which grows smaller at the bottom, as most cups do. A cupful or spoonful of liquid is all that they can be made to hold.

Such materials as flour, powdered sugar, mustard, meal, and others, that pack as they stand, should first be sifted or stirred up, and must have any lumps pressed out. Do not shake such materials to level them, or they will settle and the measure will be incorrect. Half cupfuls or other fractions of a cupful of dry material, fat, etc., may be leveled with the back of a tablespoon.

To measure fractions of a spoonful, whether a teaspoon or a tablespoon, fill the spoon, level it, then with a knife divide halves lengthwise of the spoon; quarters crosswise of the halves; eighths by dividing these in halves; thirds crosswise; and sixths by dividing the spoon first in halves, then in thirds across the halves.

VI
TABLE OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

VII
TABLE OF PROPORTIONS

VIII
SEASONING AND FLAVOURING MATERIALS

Having always to substitute a familiar and time-worn flavouring, which is in the house, for the newer and particular flavour called for and required to give the distinctive “tang” to a dish, is what gives some people’s cooking a monotony that is no easier or less expensive to produce than a variety, if only the kitchen is as well supplied as it might be. Many different recipes can be made, using the same ingredients as a basis, by changing the flavouring, as in stews, cakes, etc. Macaroni and rice admit of a wide range of variation.

For the housekeeper who does not want all her cooking to taste alike, it will be found convenient to have always on hand a variety of flavouring and seasoning materials. A list is given below of the ones frequently called upon in this book; those which are commonly used in sweet dishes being grouped together, and those used in savoury dishes, such as soups, stews, etc., although in some cases these are used interchangeably:

Flavourings for Sweet Dishes

• Vanilla bean or extract
• Almond extract
• Orange rind and juice
• Lemon rind and juice
• Cinnamon
• Cloves
• Nutmeg
• Allspice
• Ginger
• Wine

Seasonings for Savoury Dishes

• Pepper
• Cayenne
• Curry powder
• Sage
• Summer savoury
• Sweet marjoram
• Thyme
• Bay leaves
• Worcestershire sauce
• Parsley
• Celery seed
• Celery leaves
• Dried peppers

Many of these can be prepared at almost no cost, and put away in tin cans or boxes, either whole or powdered with a mortar and pestle. The leaves of celery and parsley, the herbs and peppers may be washed well and hung near the kitchen stove or in the sun, if they can be kept free from dust and flies out of doors, or put into a warming oven. Orange and lemon rind make good flavourings for puddings and cakes, if correctly prepared, to vary the monotony of perpetual vanilla. The yellow part only of the rind should be grated, for cakes, or shaved off with a knife for custards and puddings, which can be strained to take out the pieces. Caramel is easy to make, and is useful in custards and creams.

To make caramel. Melt one cupful of sugar with one tablespoonful of water, in a frying-pan. Stir it constantly until it is a golden brown colour, add one-half cupful of water, one-half at a time. The sugar becomes very hot, and, if only a small amount of water is added, it does not cool it enough and will be so quickly turned to steam as to have almost the effect of exploding. If the sugar is allowed to become dark brown it will taste bitter. Such caramel is sometimes used to color gravies, but is not sufficiently delicate in taste for flavouring purposes.

Avoid using the same seasonings in every dish. It is better to put only a few flavours together for each dish than to mingle a great many and be obliged always to use the same. It is a good general principle, where several flavours are combined, to keep all somewhat equally balanced so that no one is conspicuously present. Public opinion seems to agree that the skilful cook is the one who makes something good, “but you can’t tell what’s in it.” This is done chiefly by the careful selection and equalizing of flavouring ingredients.

IX
BREAKFAST CEREALS

That so cheap and easy a food to prepare as cereals should so often be unappetizing, and even indigestible, because of poor cooking, is partly due to ignorance of the great improvement in flavour which long cooking gives them, and partly to the difficulties attending such long cooking. No one wants to rise two hours before breakfast to cook a cereal which is advertised on the package to cook in ten minutes or less, and those who do not have coal fires burning through the night are somewhat at a loss to know how to keep cereals cooking over night. The fireless cooker seems to fill a long-felt want in this direction. At the cost of a fraction of a cent for fuel it accomplishes an all-night cooking without danger of scorching, boiling dry, or needing to be stirred. The fallacious idea that boiling temperature is necessary for cooking starches and starchy foods has been proved false. As a matter of fact, a temperature of 167 degrees Fahrenheit is sufficient for the starch grains of some cereals, while long-continued cooking at much below boiling point will serve to soften and rupture the woody fibre which surrounds and entangles the starch and other nutrients. The nitrogenous or tissue-forming substance is probably rendered less easily digestible by boiling, and is perfectly cooked at a temperature which will cook the starches. Merely reaching these temperatures for a short time is not sufficient, however, to produce well-cooked cereals. A further change affecting the flavour, and perhaps the digestibility, is accomplished by long cooking.

The length of time required depends upon the amount and character of the woody fibre, whether the grains are left whole or ground fine, and the degree of cooking they may have had in the course of manufacture. Rolled oats and wheat are steamed to some extent, and do not, therefore, require as much cooking as whole or cracked wheat and oats. Preparations of corn, having more woody fibre than any of the other cereals, will, unless cooked during manufacture, require more cooking than equally finely ground preparations from other cereals. Rice requires the least cooking of all, as it contains the least woody fibre.

Rolled Oats

• 2¹⁄₂ cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup rolled oats

Look over the oats and remove any husks or pieces. Put water, salt, and oats in a pan, or pail that fits into a cooker-pail, boil them for five minutes, or until slightly thickened, stirring them frequently, then put the pan over a cooker-pail of boiling water and put it into a cooker for from two to twelve hours. Although soft and digestible after two hours, it is greatly improved in flavour by longer cooking. If cooked over night it will need to be heated, somewhat, before serving. This can be done by putting it over the fire while still in the cooker-pail of water. When the water in the pail boils, the oatmeal may be served.

Serves four persons.

Cornmeal Mush

• 4 cups boiling water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cornmeal
• ¹⁄₂ cup cold water

Mix the meal with the cold water, add it to the boiling salted water; let it boil five minutes, stirring it frequently, then set it in a cooker-pail of boiling water and put it into a cooker for from five to ten hours. If the mush is to be used for frying, use two cupfuls of milk and two cupfuls of water, reserving one-half cupful of the milk cold to mix with the cornmeal. When cooked, pour it into a wet bread pan, and slice it when perfectly cold. If coarsely ground meal is used, sift it through a coarse sieve before cooking it, to remove the largest particles of bran. Granulated meal will not require sifting.

Serves six or eight persons.

Hominy Grits

• 5 cups water
• 1¹⁄₂ teaspoons salt
• 1 cup hominy grits

Add the hominy to the boiling salted water, boil it for ten minutes, and put it into a cooker for ten hours or more.

Serves six or eight persons.

Cracked Wheat

• ¹⁄₂ cup wheat
• 1 cup cold water
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups boiling water

Soak the cracked wheat in the cold water for nine hours or more; add the boiling water and salt, and let all boil hard for ten minutes in an uncovered pan. Place the utensil in a cooker-pail of boiling water and put it into a cooker for ten hours. Reheat it to the boiling point and cook it again for ten hours.

Serves four or five persons.

Steel Cut Oatmeal

• ¹⁄₂ cup oatmeal
• 1 cup cold water
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups boiling water

Cook it in the same manner as cracked wheat. Serves four or five persons.

Pettijohn’s Breakfast Food

• 2¹⁄₂ cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup Pettijohn’s Breakfast Food

Add the salt and cereal to the cold water, stir until it boils, boil it for five minutes, or until it has thickened, and put it into a cooker for from two to twelve hours. It is improved by the longer cooking.

Serves four or five persons.

Cream of Wheat

• 3¹⁄₂ cups boiling water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₂ cup cream of wheat

Put all together, stir until boiling, and put it into a cooker for from one to twelve hours.

Serves four or five persons.

Wheatlet

Cook it in the same way as cream of wheat.

Farina

Cook it in the same way as cream of wheat.

X
SOUPS

There are two classes of soup, (1) those made with meat stock, which is the water in which meat has been cooked, sometimes in combination with other materials for seasoning purposes, and (2) those made without meat stock.

Soups made with meat stock include:

Bouillon, made from lean beef, always served clear; or from clams.

Brown stock, made usually from beef, preferably one-half lean and one-half bone and fat, with seasonings of vegetables, herbs, and spices.

White stock, made from chicken or veal.

Consommé, made from several kinds of meat, seasoned highly with vegetables, herbs, and spices, and always served clear.

Broths or beef tea, made usually from lean mutton, lamb, or beef, and not clarified.

Soups made without meat stock include:

Cream soups, made from vegetable or fish stock with milk or cream and somewhat thickened with flour or corn-starch.

Purées, made from vegetables or fish put through a strainer, often with the addition of milk or cream. They also are thickened with flour or corn-starch and are usually thicker than cream soups. White stock also is sometimes used in purées.

Bisques are made like purees, except that pieces of vegetables, fish, meat, or game are served in them in addition.

SOUP MAKING

To make stock. Wash and cut the meat into small pieces or gash it frequently; crack the bone; let meat and bone soak in the cold water while preparing the seasonings; then add the seasonings, boil the stock ten minutes and put it into a cooker for from nine to twelve hours. When cooked, pour it through a wire strainer and set it away to cool. When cold, it should be kept in a refrigerator or other cold place. Be careful that the pail is well filled, or the soup will cool with the long cooking and may sour. If too small a quantity is cooked to fill the pail or pan it should be set over hot water. The cake of fat which forms on top when the stock is cold should not be removed until the soup is to be made, as it seals the stock and keeps out air and germs, thus helping to preserve it. When soup is to be made, the fat is taken off, the stock heated, and any desired seasonings or additions are put in.

To clear soup stock. Remove the fat, taste the stock, and if it needs more seasoning add it before the clearing. Put into each quart of the cold stock the slightly beaten white of one egg and one crushed egg-shell. Wash the egg before breaking it. Stir the stock constantly while heating it. Let it boil two minutes and set it in a cooker for one-half hour or more. Remove the scum and strain it through two thicknesses of cheese-cloth laid in a colander.

To remove fat from hot soup or broth. Skim off all that can be taken off with a spoon. With a succession of small pieces of soft brown paper take off the rest as if you were using blotting paper on the surface of the soup. When no spotted appearance is seen on the papers, the fat is all removed.

To bind soups. This name is given to the process of thickening cream soups and purées, the liquid and solid part of which would separate unless bound together. Melt the butter, and when it is liquid add usually an equal quantity of flour and rub them together till well blended. They are then added to the soup and stirred constantly till perfectly mixed. If the proportion of flour is greater than that of the butter it will be better to add a little of the soup to the flour and butter in a separate saucepan as for making white sauce, and when enough has been added to make a smooth sauce, it may be poured into the soup.

Brown Stock No. 1

• 3 lbs. shin of beef
• 3 qts. cold water
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon peppercorns
• 6 cloves
• ¹⁄₂ bay leaf
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 1 sprig sweet marjoram
• 2 sprigs parsley
• ¹⁄₂ cup carrot
• ¹⁄₂ cup turnip
• ¹⁄₂ cup celery
• ¹⁄₃ cup onion
• 1 tablespoon salt

Prepare the meat as directed for making stock, brown one-third of it in a frying pan with the fat. Wash the vegetables, scrape or pare them, and cut them in small pieces. Put all the ingredients together and bring them to a boil. When they have boiled for ten minutes put them into a cooker for from nine to twelve hours. Unless there is a large quantity of soup it is not safe to leave it more than twelve hours, lest it grow cold and sour; but nine or more quarts may safely be left for fifteen hours or more, provided the kettle is at least two-thirds full. Pour it through a wire strainer and cool it as rapidly as possible.

Brown Stock No. 2

• 1¹⁄₂ lbs. meat and bone, raw or cooked
• 1¹⁄₂ qts. water
• 6 peppercorns
• 3 cloves
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon shaved lemon rind
• 3 sprigs parsley
• ¹⁄₄ cup carrot
• ¹⁄₄ cup turnip
• ¹⁄₆ cup onion
• ¹⁄₄ cup celery
• 1 teaspoon salt

Do not use salt or smoked meats for soup stock, or any parts of meat which have become charred or blackened in the cooking. Very little of these would be enough to destroy the good flavour of soup.

Cut from the bones all the meat that is easy to get off. Tough ends from steak or roasts should be cut off before they are cooked, and saved for soup or stews. Cut meat for making soup in small pieces. Separate the bones at the joints and crack them if they are large. Soak the meat in the water while preparing the seasoning. Put all the ingredients together and bring them to a boil. Boil them for ten minutes and put them into a cooker for from nine to twelve hours, standing the pan or pail in a large pail of boiling water, unless this recipe fills the cooker pail. Strain the stock through a wire strainer, and cool it as rapidly as possible.

White Stock No. 1

• 1 chicken or fowl
• Water to cover the chicken
• Salt (1 teaspoon to 1 qt. water)

Cook chicken or fowl according to the directions given on page 131 for stewed chicken. The water in which the chicken was cooked makes white stock.

White Stock No. 2

• 2 lbs. knuckle of veal
• 2 qts. cold water
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 12 peppercorns
• ¹⁄₂ cup celery or 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 onion

Prepare the meat as directed for making stock. Pare and slice the onion; cut the celery in pieces. If celery cannot easily be obtained, substitute dried celery leaves, using three or four sprays, or use celery seed.

Put all the ingredients together, let them boil for ten minutes, and put them into a cooker for from nine to twelve hours. Set the pail or pan in a larger cooker-pail of boiling water unless the soup nearly fills the cooker-pail.

Bouillon

• 3 lbs. lean beef from round or shoulder
• 2 lbs. marrow bone
• 3 qts. cold water
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon salt
• ¹⁄₂ cup carrot
• ¹⁄₃ cup onion
• ¹⁄₂ cup turnip
• ¹⁄₂ cup celery

Prepare the meat as directed for making brown stock. Use the marrow fat for browning the meat. Boil all together for ten minutes and put them into a cooker for from nine to twelve hours. Strain the stock through a wire strainer and cool it. When cold, remove the fat and clear the soup as directed on page 59. Serve in bouillon cups with crisp crackers.

Serves fifteen to twenty persons.

Beef Broth

• 1 lb. lean beef from round or shoulder
• 1 pt. cold water
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt

Wash and chop the meat fine, removing any pieces of fat. Add the salt and let the meat soak for one hour in a cold place. In a small cooker-pail or pan set over a larger cooker-pail of hot, but not boiling water, heat the broth till it registers 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Slip the pails into a cooker for one-half hour. Strain the broth through a coarse wire strainer, remove all fat by the directions on page 59, and serve it immediately in a heated cup; or it may be chilled, or frozen to the consistency of mush.

Mutton Broth

• 3 lbs. mutton (from neck)
• 2 qts. cold water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Few grains pepper
• 3 tablespoons rice or
• 3 tablespoons barley

Wipe the meat, remove carefully all skin and fat, as these impart a rank flavour to mutton broth. Cut the meat into small pieces, or put it through a food chopper. Cover the meat and bones with the water, add the salt, and when boiling put them into a cooker for from nine to twelve hours. If barley is used, soak it over night and cook it in a small pail or pan set into or over the broth in the same cooker-pail. When broth and barley are both boiling, put the pails together and slip them into the cooker. Rice would be over cooked if treated in this way, and should be cooked in the strained broth, or separately, for one hour in the cooker. When the broth is done, strain it and remove every particle of fat as directed on page 59.

Consommé

• 3 lbs. lower part of round or shoulder of beef
• 1 lb. marrow bone
• 3 lbs. knuckle of veal
• 1 qt. chicken stock
• ¹⁄₃ cup carrot
• ¹⁄₃ cup turnip
• ¹⁄₃ cup celery
• ¹⁄₃ cup onion
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon shaved lemon rind
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 1 sprig marjoram
• 2 sprigs parsley
• ¹⁄₂ bay leaf
• 3 qts. cold water

Prepare the meat as directed for making brown stock, using the marrow fat to brown half of the meat. Soak the raw meat and bone in the cold water while browning the remaining meat and preparing the vegetables and seasonings. Prepare the vegetables as directed for making soup stock, and brown them in the butter. Bring all to a boil together, reserving the chicken stock. Boil for ten minutes, and put it into the cooker for from nine to twelve hours. Strain this stock through a wire strainer, add the chicken stock, and, if it is not seasoned sufficiently, add what seasoning it needs. Cool it as rapidly as possible, and when cold, clear it according to the directions on page 59.

It is served, usually, with custard cut into fancy shapes; or with noodles, macaroni, or other Italian pastes, which are first cooked as directed on page 143; or with delicate vegetables, such as peas or string beans, or other vegetables cut into fancy shapes; or with cooked chicken, cut in dice, and green peas. A poached egg is sometimes served in each plate of soup.

Serves sixteen or twenty persons.

Mock Turtle Soup No. 1

• 1 calf’s head
• 6 cloves
• 8 peppercorns
• 6 allspice berries
• 2 sprigs thyme
• ¹⁄₃ cup sliced onion
• ¹⁄₃ cup carrot cut in dice
• 1¹⁄₂ teaspoons salt
• 2 cups brown stock
• ¹⁄₄ cup butter
• ¹⁄₂ cup flour
• 1 cup stewed tomatoes, strained
• Juice ¹⁄₂ lemon
• Madeira wine

Clean and wash the calf’s head, reserving the tongue and brains to use for some other dish. Soak it for one hour in enough cold water to cover it. Boil it in a covered pail for twenty minutes with three quarts of salted water and the vegetables and seasoning, and put it into the cooker for from nine to twelve hours. Remove the head; cut off the face meat and reserve it; boil the stock until it is reduced to one quart. Strain and remove the fat from it as directed on page 59; or cool it, and remove the hard fat. Melt the butter, add the flour and stir it until it is well browned; then add the brown stock, one-half at a time, stirring it constantly, and allowing the mixture to boil before adding the second cupful of liquid. To this add the head stock, tomato, one cupful of the face meat cut in dice, and the lemon juice. Simmer for five minutes. Just before serving it add Madeira wine to taste, more salt and pepper, if desirable, custard cut in dice, and egg balls or forcemeat balls. If the soup is prepared, as it may be, some time before it is to be served, slip the pail into the cooker until time for serving. If kept many hours it will need to be reheated.

Mock Turtle Soup No. 2

• 1 calf’s or lamb’s liver
• 1 calf’s heart
• 1 knuckle of veal
• Water to cover (about 2 qts.)
• ¹⁄₃ cup onion
• ¹⁄₃ cup turnip
• ¹⁄₃ cup celery
• 4 cloves
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 yolks of hard-cooked eggs
• ¹⁄₂ lemon
• Madeira wine

Wash the meat, cover it with cold water in a cooker-pail. Let it stand in a cold place while the vegetables are being prepared. Wash the vegetables and cut them in small pieces. Put them and the seasonings with the meat, bring all to a boil, and boil it for ten minutes. Put it into a cooker for nine hours or more. Strain it, and add to it one cupful of the heart and liver meat cut into small dice. Pour it into a tureen in which the lemon and the egg yolks, cut in quarters, have been placed. Add Madeira wine to taste. The remaining heart and liver may be used for stew or hash.

Serves ten or eleven persons.

Vegetable Soup with Stock

• 2 qts. brown stock
• ¹⁄₂ cup turnip
• ¹⁄₂ cup carrot
• ¹⁄₂ cup celery
• ¹⁄₂ cup cabbage
• ¹⁄₄ cup onion
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons rice or barley

Wash and pare the vegetables. Put all but the celery through a coarse food chopper. Cut the celery in fine pieces. Boil all the ingredients together hard for one minute. Put them into a cooker for three hours or more. If barley is used, soak it over night in cold water and boil it till soft; or cook it in the cooker with boiling salted water for five or six hours.

Cream of Celery Soup

• 2 cups white stock
• 3 cups celery, cut small
• 1 cup water
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups hot milk
• 1 cup hot cream
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon pepper

Cook the first four ingredients together in a cooker for three hours or more. Rub them through a sieve; bind the soup with the butter and flour, as directed on page 59, and add the milk, cream, and seasonings.

Serves six or eight persons.

Asparagus Soup

• 3 cups white stock, or
• 3 cups water in which asparagus has cooked
• 1 can asparagus, or
• 1 pt. cooked asparagus
• ¹⁄₄ cup butter
• ¹⁄₄ cup flour
• 2 cups hot milk
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon pepper
• 1 slice onion

If canned asparagus is used, drain and rinse it. Cut off the tips about an inch long, and reserve them. Put the stalks of asparagus, stock or asparagus water and onion into a cooker-pail. When boiling, put them into a cooker for two and one-half hours or more. Rub through a sieve, bind it with the butter and flour, as directed on page 59, and add the remaining ingredients and the tips.

Serves six or seven persons.

Tomato Soup with Stock

• 1 qt. brown stock
• 1 can or 1 qt. tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 4 tablespoons butter
• ¹⁄₃ cup flour
• 1¹⁄₂ teaspoons salt

Cook the first three ingredients for one hour or more in the cooker. Rub through a strainer, bind it with the butter and flour, as directed on page 59, and add the salt. Or bind the soup before putting it into the cooker, and strain it just before serving.

Serves eight or ten persons.

Creole Soup

• 1 qt. brown stock
• 1 pt. tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons chopped green sweet peppers
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• ¹⁄₄ cup butter
• ¹⁄₃ cup flour
• ³⁄₄ teaspoon salt
• Few grains of cayenne
• 2 tablespoons grated horseradish
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• ¹⁄₄ cup macaroni rings

Cook the pepper and onion in the butter for five minutes, add the flour, then the stock and tomatoes gradually, and cook all in the cooker for one hour or more. Rub it through a sieve, and add the remaining ingredients. The macaroni rings are made by cutting cooked macaroni into very short lengths. Do not soak macaroni for making rings.

Serves six or eight persons.

Ox Tail Soup

• 1 small ox tail
• 1¹⁄₂ qts. brown stock
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• Few grains of cayenne
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ¹⁄₄ cup Madeira wine
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• Flour

Cut the ox tail into small pieces, wash it, drain it, and sprinkle it with the salt, pepper, and flour. Brown it in the butter. Add it to the stock with the vegetables, which have been cut small or with French vegetable cutters. Put it into the cooker for two hours or more. Add the seasonings and lemon juice.

Serves six or eight persons.

Julienne Soup

• 1 qt. brown stock
• ¹⁄₄ cup carrot
• 2 tablespoons peas
• 2 tablespoons string beans
• ¹⁄₄ cup turnip

Clarify the stock and add the cooked beans and peas and the carrot and turnip, which have been cut into thin strips one and one-half inches long and cooked for two hours in the cooker. When boiling hot, serve it.

Serves four or five persons.

Macaroni Soup

• 1 qt. brown stock
• ¹⁄₄ cup macaroni rings

Cook the macaroni in boiling salted water for two hours in the cooker. Drain it in a colander. Cut it into very short lengths to make rings. Heat them in the stock.

SOUPS MADE WITHOUT STOCK

Vegetable Soup

• ¹⁄₃ cup carrot
• ¹⁄₃ cup turnip
• ¹⁄₂ cup celery
• ¹⁄₂ cup onion
• 1¹⁄₂ cups potato
• 1 pt. tomatoes
• 5 tablespoons butter
• ¹⁄₂ tablespoon parsley
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper
• 1 qt. water

Wash the vegetables, scrape the carrot, pare the turnip, potatoes, and onions, remove the leaves and strings from the celery, and cut the vegetables in small pieces, or put all except the potatoes and celery through a coarse food chopper. Measure the vegetables after they are prepared. Put them all, except the potatoes and parsley, into a frying pan with the butter, and cook them for ten minutes; add the potatoes and cook them for two minutes more, then put all the ingredients, except the parsley, together in a cooker-pail, and when they are boiling put them into a cooker for three hours or more. Add the parsley just before serving. “Left-over” vegetables, in pieces, may be added, in place of an equal measure of any of the first five given.

Serves six or eight persons.

Bean Soup

• 1 pt. beans
• 2 qts. water or stock
• 1 onion
• ¹⁄₂ lb. lean, raw beef, if stock is not used
• 2 tablespoons Chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2¹⁄₂ teaspoons salt
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper
• 2 stalks celery

Wash and soak the beans over night, cut the meat small, and pan-broil the pieces in a dry, hot frying pan till brown. Put all the ingredients except the butter and flour into a cooker-pail, and when they are boiling put them into a cooker for from nine to twelve hours. Rub the soup through a strainer, and bind it.

Serves eight or ten people.

Black Bean Soup

• 1 pt. black beans
• 2 qts. water
• 1 small onion
• 2 stalks celery, or
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon celery salt
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon pepper
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon mustard
• Cayenne
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1¹⁄₂ tablespoons flour
• 2 hard-cooked eggs
• 1 lemon

Soak the beans over night, drain them and add the two quarts of water. Cook the onion in one-half of the butter; add onion and celery to the beans, and, when boiling, put them into a cooker for from eight to twelve hours. Rub the soup through a strainer, add the seasonings, bind it, and when it has boiled for five minutes pour it over the sliced eggs and lemon in a soup tureen.

Serves eight or ten persons.

Tomato Soup

• 1 can tomatoes, or
• 1 qt. raw tomatoes
• 1 pt. water
• 12 peppercorns
• 1 small bay leaf
• 4 cloves
• 1 slice onion
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon soda
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour

Cook the first six ingredients together in a cooker for one hour or more. Strain, add the salt and soda, and bind it. If it is not to be served at once it may stand in the cooker, to keep hot, for an indefinite period.

Serves six or seven persons.

Purée of Lima Beans

• 1 cup dried lima beans
• 3 pts. water
• 2 slices onion
• 2 slices turnip
• 1 cup cream or milk
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper

Wash the beans and soak them over night. Drain them, and, when boiling, cook them with the prepared onion and turnip and the water in a cooker for four hours or more. Rub this through a strainer, add the seasoning and cream or milk, and bind it.

Serves seven or nine persons.

Baked Bean Soup

• 3 cups cold baked beans
• 3 pints water
• 2 slices onion
• 2 stalks celery
• 1¹⁄₂ cups tomato
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon Chili sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon pepper

Cook the first five ingredients in a cooker for three hours or more, rub them through a strainer, bind this with the butter and flour, as directed on page 59, and add the seasonings.

Serves eight or ten persons.

Green Pea Soup

• 1 can marrowfat peas, or
• 1 pt. shelled peas
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 pt. water
• 1 pt. milk
• 1 slice onion
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₆ teaspoon pepper

If fresh peas are used take those which are too old to be good to serve as a vegetable. If canned peas are used, drain and rinse them, add the sugar, water, and onion, and, when boiling, put them into a cooker for two hours or more. Rub them through a strainer, add the hot milk and seasoning and bind the soup with the butter and flour, as directed on page 59.

Bean and pea soups are very nourishing and should not be followed by a rich, hearty meal.

Serves five or six persons.

Potato Soup

• 3 potatoes
• 1 pt. milk
• 1 pt. water
• 2 slices onion
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1¹⁄₂ teaspoons salt
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon celery salt
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon pepper
• Cayenne
• 1 teaspoon chopped parsley

Scrub and pare the potatoes and cut them into small pieces. Cook them in a cooker with the water and onion for one and one-half hours or more, standing the pail or pan in a larger cooker-pail of boiling water. Rub the soup through a sieve, bind it, and add the seasoning.

Serves five or six persons.

Fish Chowder

• 4 lbs. cod, haddock, or other firm white fish
• 4 cups potatoes (in ³⁄₄ inch dice)
• 1 onion, sliced
• 4 cups scalded milk
• 1¹⁄₂ inch cube fat salt pork
• 1 tablespoon salt
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons butter
• ²⁄₃ cup oyster crackers

Skin the fish (see page 82), cut the flesh into two-inch pieces, put the head, tail, and bones into a small cooker-pail or pan, add two cups of cold water and bring it to a boil. Set this into a larger cooker-pail of boiling water to which one teaspoonful of salt has been added for each quart of water. Put the potatoes in this lower pail and, when boiling, cook all in the cooker for one hour.

Cut the pork into small pieces, try out the fat in a frying-pan and fry the onion in it. When the fish and potatoes are cooked, drain off the fish-liquor, add all the ingredients except the milk and crackers to it, bring it to a boil and place it in the cooker for one-half hour. Add the milk and pour the chowder over the crackers in a tureen.

Serves twelve or sixteen persons.

Connecticut Chowder

Make this in the same manner as fish chowder, substituting two and one-half cups of stewed or canned tomatoes for the milk. The tomatoes may be added to the other ingredients when they are put together. If desired, crumble the crackers and add them just before serving.

Serves ten or twelve persons.

Clam Chowder

• ¹⁄₂ pk. clams in the shell or 1 qt. clams
• 1 qt. potatoes, cut in ³⁄₄ inch dice
• 1 cup water
• 1¹⁄₂ inch cube fat salt pork
• 1 tablespoon salt
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon pepper
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 qt. scalding hot milk, or
• 6 or 8 soda crackers, broken or crumbled
• 2¹⁄₂ cups stewed tomatoes

Wash the clams in a strainer, pick them over, to see that there are no bits of shell with them, and cut off the soft parts. Chop the hard parts or cut them into small pieces. Cut the pork into pieces, try out the fat, and fry the onion in it. Put all the ingredients together, except the crackers and the milk, if that be used, into a cooker-pail. Bring them to a boil and put them into the cooker for from one to two hours. Reheat the soup and add the milk and crackers.

Serves ten to sixteen persons.

Split-pea Soup

• 1 pt. split peas
• 1 soup bone (2 lbs.)
• 2 qts. cold water
• 2³⁄₄ teaspoons salt
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper

Soak the peas over night and drain them. Wash the bone, boil it for ten minutes in the water and skim it, add the peas and seasoning, bring all to a boil and put it into the cooker for four hours or more. Take out the bone and serve the soup without straining it. The peas must be cooked until they fall to pieces easily when well beaten. If desired, the meat may be taken from the bone, cut into small pieces and served in the soup.

Oyster or Clam Stew

• 1 qt. oysters or clams
• 1 qt. milk
• ¹⁄₄ cup butter
• 1¹⁄₂ tablespoons salt
• ¹⁄₆ teaspoon pepper

Heat the milk till it boils. Heat the oysters or clams in their liquor which has been strained through cheese-cloth. Add the pepper and the hot milk and put the stew at once into a cooker for one-half hour or more. Oysters will keep for some hours without curdling if they do not boil after the milk is added and if the salt is put in just before serving. It will be safer to keep the clams and milk separate while in the cooker and combine them just before serving. Less salt will be needed for clams than for oysters.

SOUP GARNISHES

Noodles

• 1 egg
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• Flour to make a stiff dough

Beat the egg until it is evenly mixed, add a little flour, through which the salt has been mixed. Gradually add more flour until a dough is made that can be rolled out very thin. Knead it a few minutes, then roll it as thin as possible. Let it stand for fifteen or twenty minutes covered with a towel, then roll it like jelly-roll and cut, from the end of the roll, very narrow slices. Unroll these strips and lay them on a board, covered lightly with a towel or clean cloth, to dry. When perfectly dry they are ready to use, or may be put away in covered cans or boxes and kept in a cool place.

If noodles are used as a vegetable they should be prepared as macaroni, except that they must not be soaked before cooking.

Egg Balls

• 4 eggs, cooked
• 1 egg, raw
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon butter
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon pepper

Put the eggs into enough cold water to more than cover them (at least one quart for every four eggs), bring this to a boil and put it into a cooker for twenty minutes. Drop the eggs into cold water, take off the shells and when they are cold carefully remove the whites, leaving the yolks whole. These may be dropped into soup as they are, or they may be mashed, mixed with the butter and salt and enough egg yolk, or egg white or whole egg, beaten, to moisten them, so that they may be moulded into balls about the size of a hard-cooked yolk. Roll these in flour and sauté them in butter.

Forcemeat Balls

• ¹⁄₄ cup fine, soft crumbs
• ¹⁄₄ cup milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• ²⁄₃ cup raw fish or meat
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon butter

Cook the bread and milk to a paste, cool it, add the beaten egg and fish or meat, forced through a fine meat-chopper or chopped and then ground fine with a mortar and pestle. Mould it into balls, lay them in a pan with the flour and shake it until the balls are floured; then sauté them with the butter, shaking the pan carefully from time to time, till the balls are browned on all sides. Or the balls may be dropped into boiling soup and put into the cooker for one-half hour.

Croûtons

Cut slices of bread one-half inch thick, spread thinly with butter. Cut the slices into strips one-half inch wide, and these into dice one-half inch thick. Put them into a baking-pan, and brown them in a hot oven, stirring them about frequently that they may be brown evenly. Add them to the soup just before serving, or pass them after serving.

Soup Sticks

Prepare the bread exactly as for croûtons, except that the strips of bread are not cut into dice. If desired the strips may be sprinkled with grated cheese after they are cut. Lay them side by side with enough space between them to allow them to brown on the sides. Serve them as an accompaniment to soup.

Crisp Crackers

Split plain, thick crackers; spread the rough sides slightly with butter, and brown them delicately in a hot oven.