Chapter XIII: Soups (3)

Mix one and one-half pints of thin Béchamel with one-half pint of chicken purée. Rub through tammy; add one-half pint of white consommé to the preparation, or the same quantity of boiled milk; heat without allowing to boil, and finish with cream when dishing up.

Garnish with twenty very small slices of chicken fillets, white asparagus-heads, and chervil _pluches_.

This soup may also be prepared as a velouté.

714—CRÈME REINE-MARGOT

Mix one-half pint of chicken purée with one pint of thin Béchamel. Rub through tammy; add one and one-half pints of white consommé and one-quarter pint of almond milk (No. 678). Heat without allowing to boil, and finish with cream.

Garnish with very small grooved quenelles of chicken forcemeat combined with one oz. of pistachio purée per three oz. of forcemeat.

This soup may also be prepared as a velouté.

715—POTAGE A L’AURORE

Wash one-quarter lb. of fine pearl barley in plenty of water. Put it into a stewpan with one quart of consommé, as much water, a faggot comprising parsley, celery, and chervil, and set to cook very gently for five hours. While the cooking progresses, take care to remove all the skin which forms on the surface, in order that the cooking-liquor may remain very clear.

When the barley is well cooked, transfer it to another stewpan, and add to it four tablespoonfuls of a thick and very red tomato purée, strained through muslin, and two tablespoonfuls of celery, minced in _paysanne-fashion_, stewed in butter, and finally cooked in consommé.

This excellent soup should not be made too thick.

716—POTAGE BAGRATION GRAS

Cut two-thirds lb. of very white fillet of veal into large dice, and stiffen these in butter without letting them acquire any colour. Add one and one-quarter pints of thin velouté with a veal base, and set to cook very gently.

Finely pound the veal; dilute the purée with velouté, and rub through tammy. Add one pint of white consommé; heat without boiling, and complete the preparation, when dishing up, with a leason of the yolks of three eggs diluted with four tablespoonfuls of cream and two oz. of butter.

Garnish with thin macaroni cut into short lengths, and send some grated cheese to the table separately.

717—POTAGE BAGRATION MAIGRE

Prepare one and one-half pints of fresh velouté, and mix therewith one-quarter pint of mushroom velouté. (For making this, see “Velouté Agnès Sorel,” No. 671.)

Heat without boiling; pass through a strainer, and finish, when about to serve, with the same leason as for ordinary velouté, and two and one-half oz. of butter. Garnish with one fillet of sole, poached very white, and cut into a _julienne_; twelve small quenelles of sole or whiting forcemeat finished with crayfish butter, and six crayfishes’ tails cut into small pieces.

718—POTAGE CHOISEUL

Prepare a “purée Conti” (No. 640) with an excellent _fumet_ of game.

Garnish with two tablespoonfuls of sorrel, _ciseled_ and cooked in butter, and two tablespoonfuls of poached rice.

719—POTAGE COMPIÈGNE

Prepare a light “Purée Soissonnaise”; butter it well, and add thereto as garnish three tablespoonfuls of _ciseled_ sorrel cooked in butter, and chervil _pluches_.

720—POTAGE DERBY

Add one-half pint of Soubise purée (No. 104) to one pint of “Crème de Riz” (No. 711) flavoured with a very little curry. Rub the whole through tammy.

Add one-half pint of white consommé, and heat without boiling. Complete, when about to serve, with an ordinary leason and three oz. of butter.

Garnish with twelve small quenelles of chicken forcemeat combined with one-third of its volume of foie-gras purée, one tablespoonful of little truffle pearls, and an equal quantity of poached rice, each grain of which must be kept distinct and separate.

721—POTAGE A LA DIANE

Cook one-half lb. of lentils with the usual garnish. Roast two medium-sized partridges, keeping them slightly underdone, and remove their fillets. Complete the cooking of the partridges with the lentils, drained of their cooking-liquor, in one pint of game consommé.

Prepare a royale (No. 209) with the reserved fillets.

When the birds are cooked, bone them; pound their meat, and add thereto the lentils and the cooking-liquor; rub through tammy.

Finish the purée with one and one-half pints of excellent thin game stock, and complete the soup, when dishing up, with two oz. of butter and two tablespoonfuls of reduced Madeira.

Garnish with the royale, cut into small regular crescents, and twelve small crescents of very black truffle.

722—POTAGE ELISA

Prepare one and one-half pints of poultry velouté, and rub it through tammy. Complete with one-half pint of white consommé; heat without boiling, and finish, when dishing up, with an ordinary leason, two and one-half oz. of butter, and two tablespoonfuls of a _fondue_ of sorrel.

723—POTAGE FAVORI

Prepare one pint of a velouté of green asparagus; one-half pint of a velouté of lettuce, and one-half pint of poultry velouté. Put all three into a stewpan; add thereto the necessary quantity of white consommé to bring the soup to the correct degree of consistence; heat without boiling, and pass through a strainer.

Finish the soup, when dishing up, with an ordinary leason and two oz. of butter. Garnish with one tablespoonful of a _chiffonade_ of sorrel, and one tablespoonful of green asparagus-heads.

724—POTAGE GERMINY

_Cisel_ and melt in butter three oz. of shredded sorrel, and add thereto one and one-half pints of white consommé. A few minutes before serving, pour into the consommé a leason composed of the yolks of six eggs diluted with one-quarter pint of cream; set on the fire and stir, after the manner of an English custard, _i.e._, until the preparation begins to show signs of boiling.

Finish, away from the fire, with two and one-half oz. of butter, and add a pinch of chervil _pluches_.

_Remarks concerning the Possible Variation of this Soup._—The mode of procedure adopted in the case of the Germiny could, if necessary, be applied to all thick soups, and it would then constitute a class to which the term “Cream” would be better suited than it is at present to the soups thus designated.

Instead of the ordinary white consommé, which is used in its preparation, a consommé may be used in which such vegetables as carrots, turnips, peas, &c., are cooked, the latter being reserved for the garnish, while the cooking-liquor is thickened with egg-yolks and cream in accordance with the quantities and directions given in the above recipe.

A carrot cream, a cream of fresh peas, or of asparagus-heads, prepared in this way, would be much more delicate than those prepared after the ordinary recipes.

The essential point in this series of soups is the leason; this should consist of enough egg-yolks to render the preparations sufficiently thick and creamy.

725—POTAGE AUX HERBES

Cut two oz. of sorrel leaves into a _julienne_, and stew them in butter with one oz. of watercress leaves, one oz. of chervil _pluches_, and young pimpernel. Add one and one-half pints of water, the necessary salt, three medium-sized, peeled, and quartered potatoes, and cook gently.

Drain and reserve the cooking-liquor; crush the potatoes; dilute the purée with the cooking-liquor, and rub through tammy. Set to boil, and finish, when dishing up, with three oz. of Printanier butter with herbs, combined with a few leaves of sweet basil.

Add a pinch of chervil _pluches_.

726—POTAGE JUBILEE, otherwise BALVET

Prepare, according to the directions given (No. 648), one and one-half pints of a purée of fresh peas, and add thereto one-half pint of consommé of “La Petite Marmite.” Set to boil, and finish with two oz. of butter.

Garnish with the vegetables from the Marmite, prepared as for Croûte au Pot.

727—POTAGE LONGCHAMPS

Refer to the derivative soups of the “Purée de Pois” (No. 654).

728—POTAGE LAVALLIÈRE

Prepare one and one-half pints of “Crème de Volaille” (No. 713), finished with a leason of egg-yolks and cream; also two-thirds pint of “Crème de Céleri,” similarly finished, and combine the two creams.

Garnish with twelve small _profiterolles_, stuffed with chicken forcemeat, and a royale of celery in dice.

729—POTAGE MADELEINE

Prepare and combine the following purées:—One-third pint of artichoke purée, one-fifth pint of haricot-bean purée, one-seventh pint of Soubise purée. Add one pint of white consommé; set to boil; pass through a strainer, and finish, when dishing up, with two oz. of butter.

Garnish with two tablespoonfuls of sago poached in one-half pint of white consommé.

730—POTAGE MISS BETSY

Proceed exactly as for “Potage à l’Aurore” (No. 715), but (1) flavour potage Miss Betsy with curry; (2) substitute for the celery peeled, cored apples cut into dice and cooked in butter.

N.B.—Both these soups (Aurore and Miss Betsy) are subject to much variation. All that is needed is to alter the flavouring element and the garnish. Thus the quantity of tomato may be reduced by half, and combined with one-quarter lb. of peas and their cooking-liquor (the peas in this case being cooked in one pint of water with a little salt and sugar); or with the same quantity of French beans, asparagus-heads, or sorrel cooked in butter, &c.

731—POTAGE MONTESPAN

Add one-half pint of somewhat thick tapioca to one and one-half pints of “Crème d’Asperges” (No. 697), prepared as directed. Garnish with very fine peas cooked in the English fashion.

732—POTAGE NÉLUSKO

Mix one and one-half pints of rather liquid poultry velouté with one-half pint of chicken purée. When serving, add an ordinary leason, and finish with two and one-half oz. of hazel-nut butter.

Garnish with very small quenelles of chicken forcemeat combined with one tablespoonful of hazel-nut powder per three oz. of the forcemeat.

733—POTAGE PETIT DUC

Take a fine woodcock; raise and reserve one of its fillets, and roast it, taking care to keep it very underdone. Then remove the other fillet, and with it prepare two _dariole-moulds_ of royale (No. 209). Finely pound what remains of the woodcock, and combine with the resulting purée one and one-half pints of game velouté prepared with essence of woodcock. Cover the stewpan and place it in the _bain-marie_ for thirty-five minutes. Now rub the whole through tammy; heat without boiling, and finish, when dishing up, with one and one-half oz. of butter, one and one-half oz. of cooked foie-gras purée, diluted with a few tablespoonfuls of the soup, one and one-half tablespoonfuls of cream, and one and one-half tablespoonfuls of burnt liqueur brandy.

Garnish with the royale cut into dice, and the reserved fillet of woodcock, stiffened in butter at the last moment, and cut into thin slices.

734—POTAGE RÉGENCE

Prepare one quart of barley cream in accordance with the directions under No. 712. Finish it, when dishing up, with an ordinary leason and one and one-half oz. of crayfish butter.

Garnish with twelve small, grooved quenelles of chicken forcemeat finished with crayfish butter; one tablespoonful of small pearl barley, well cooked; and six small cocks’ combs, freshly poached and very white.

735—POTAGE ROSSOLNIK

Prepare (1) one quart of light, poultry velouté combined with cucumber juice; (2) ten pieces of parsley root and the same quantity of celery root, turned to the shape of small, new carrots, and split crosswise at their base; (3) twenty small lozenges of salted cucumber.

Parboil the roots and the cucumber lozenges for fifteen minutes, and add them to the velouté when about to cook the latter. Cook the whole gently for forty minutes, despumating the velouté the while. Finish with one and one-half tablespoonfuls of cucumber juice, and an ordinary leason.

Garnish with small chicken-forcemeat quenelles.

736—POTAGE DE SANTÉ

Cook quickly, in salted water, three medium-sized, peeled, and quartered potatoes. When their pulps seem soft to the touch, drain them; rub them through a fine sieve, and dilute the resulting purée with one and one-half pints of white consommé. Add two tablespoonfuls of sorrel melted in butter, and finish the preparation with an ordinary leason and one oz. of butter.

Garnish with very thin roundels of French _soup-flute_ and chervil _pluches_.

737—POTAGE SIGURD

Prepare one pint of “Velouté Parmentier” and one pint of tomato velouté. Combine the two; heat, and finish, when dishing up, with two and one-half oz. of butter.

Garnish with twenty small quenelles of chicken forcemeat, combined with one coffeespoonful of chopped capsicum, or capsicum in dice, per three oz. of the forcemeat.

738—POTAGE SOLFERINO

Mince the white of two leeks, the third of a medium-sized carrot, and half an onion, and stew the whole in one and one-half oz. of butter. Add one-half lb. of pressed tomatoes cut into pieces, two medium-sized, peeled potatoes, minced; moisten with two-thirds pint of white consommé, and cook gently. Crush the vegetables; rub them through tammy; complete the purée with the necessary quantity of white consommé; set to boil, and finish, when dishing up, with two and one-half oz. of butter.

Garnish with twelve little balls of potato, raised by means of the spoon-cutter, and cooked in salted water; two tablespoonfuls of French beans cut into lozenges; and some chervil _pluches_.

739—POTAGE VIVIANE

Prepare one quart of “Crème de Volaille” (No. 713), and finish it with the usual leason. Garnish with one tablespoonful of artichoke-bottom, cut into dice, the same quantity of carrot dice, both gently cooked in butter, and one tablespoonful of truffle dice.

740—POTAGE WINDSOR

_Blanch_ and cool one small, boned calf’s foot, and cook it gently in a good white-wine _mirepoix_. Prepare one and one-half pints of “Crème de Riz” (No. 711), and add thereto the cooking-liquor of the calf’s foot, strained through muslin.

Finish this cream, when about to serve, with an ordinary leason, one and one-half tablespoonfuls of a slight infusion of turtle-soup herbs, and one and one-half oz. of butter.

Garnish with a _julienne_ of half of the calf’s foot and twenty small quenelles consisting of a purée of hard-boiled egg-yolks and chicken forcemeat, these two preparations being in the proportion of two-thirds and one-third respectively.

741—SOUPE AUX ABATIS DE VOLAILLE A L’ANGLAISE

Cut the necks into three, the gizzards into four, and the pinions into two. Brown one-half lb. of these giblets in a thick-bottomed stewpan with one oz. of butter. Sprinkle with one tablespoonful of flour; slightly colour the latter, and moisten with one quart of white consommé and one pint of water. Add a faggot containing one stick of celery, and set to cook gently for three hours.

When the pieces of giblets are cooked, drain them, trim them, and put them into a stewpan with one dessertspoonful of parboiled rice and a heaped tablespoonful of the white of celery, minced and fried in butter. Strain the cooking-liquor of the giblets, through a strainer, over the enumerated garnishes; set to cook gently for another quarter of an hour; season strongly with pepper, and serve.

742—SOUPE AUX CERISES

Stone two-thirds lb. of small, fleshy cherries, and put twenty aside for garnishing purposes. Put the others into a sugar-boiler with two-thirds pint of hot water, a small strip of lemon rind, and a fragment of cinnamon, and set to boil quickly for eight minutes.

Also boil in another sugar-boiler one-half pint of Port or Bordeaux wine. Crush half of the cherry-stones in the mortar; put them into the boiled wine, and let them infuse, away from the fire.

Rub the cooked cherries through a fine sieve; dilute the purée with the juice thickened by means of one tablespoonful of fecula moistened with cold water; add the cherries put aside for the garnish, and one-half tablespoonful of castor sugar, and again set to boil for four minutes.

Complete the preparation with the infusion strained through muslin; pour it into the soup-tureen, and add a few _biscottes_.

For the sake of variety, lady’s-finger biscuits may be substituted for the _biscottes_.

743—COCKY-LEEKI SOUP

Set half a fowl to cook very gently in one and one-half pints of light and clear veal stock with a few aromatics.

Also prepare a _julienne_ of the white of three leeks; stew this in butter without colouration, and complete the cooking thereof in the cooking-liquor of the fowl, strained and poured carefully away.

Pour the preparation into the soup-tureen, and add the meat of the fowl, cut into a _julienne_.

Serve some stewed prunes separately, but this is optional.

744—SOUPE AUX FOIES DE VOLAILLE

Make a roux from one and one-half oz. of butter and as much flour. When it has acquired a nice, light-brown colour, moisten it with one quart of white consommé or brown stock, and set to boil, stirring the while.

Add one-half lb. of raw chickens’ livers rubbed through a sieve, and set to cook for fifteen minutes. Rub the whole through tammy; season strongly with pepper; heat, and complete the preparation, at the last moment, with one-quarter lb. of sliced chickens’ livers, tossed in butter, and one wineglass of good Madeira.

745—SOUPE JULIENNE DARBLAY

Cook quickly in salted water two small, peeled, and quartered potatoes. Drain them, rub them through a fine sieve, and dilute the purée with one and one-half pints of white consommé. Add three tablespoonfuls of a _julienne_ made in accordance with the above recipe; heat, and finish the preparation with an ordinary leason and one and one-half oz. of butter.

746—MINESTRONE

Brown the minced white of two small leeks and one-third of an onion, also minced, in one oz. of chopped, fresh breast of bacon, and one-half oz. of grated, fat bacon. Moisten with one and one-half pints of white consommé, and add one-third of a carrot, one-third of a turnip, half a stick of celery, two oz. of small cabbage, and one small potato, or one-half of a medium-sized one, all of which vegetables must be finely minced.

About twenty-five minutes after the soup has started cooking, complete it with two tablespoonfuls of peas, a few French beans cut into lozenges, and one and one-half oz. of rice, or the same quantity of very thin macaroni broken into very small pieces.

This done, set to cook again for thirty minutes. A few minutes before serving, add to the soup one small, crushed clove of garlic, three leaves of sweet basil, and a small pinch of chopped chervil _pluches_; mix the whole with one-half tablespoonful of grated bacon.

Send to the table, separately, at the same time as the soup some freshly grated Gruyère.

747—MILLE-FANTI

First make the following preparation:—Beat two small eggs to a stiff froth, and mix therewith one and one-half oz. of the crumb of very good white bread, one oz. of grated Parmesan, and a little nutmeg. Boil one and two-thirds pints of white consommé, and pour the above preparation therein, little by little, stirring briskly the while with the whisk. Then move the stewpan to the side of the fire, put the lid on, and set to cook gently for seven or eight minutes.

When about to serve, stir the soup with a whisk, and pour it into the soup-tureen.

748—MULLIGATAWNY SOUP

Cut a small fowl, or half a medium-sized one, into little pieces, and put these in a stewpan with a few roundels of carrot and onion, a small bunch of parsley and celery, one-half oz. of mushroom parings and one quart of white consommé. Set to boil, and then let cook gently.

Also lightly brown in butter half a medium-sized onion, chopped; besprinkle it with one dessertspoonful of fecula and one coffeespoonful of curry; moisten with the cooking-liquor of the fowl, strained through a sieve; boil, and set to cook gently for seven or eight minutes. Now rub the whole through tammy, and leave it to despumate for twenty minutes, adding one tablespoonful of consommé, from time to time, with the view of promoting the despumation, _i.e._, the purification of the soup.

When about to serve, finish the preparation with three or four tablespoonfuls of cream. Pour the whole into the soup-tureen; add a portion of the meat of the fowl, cut into thin slices, and serve separately two oz. of rice à l’Indienne.

749—SOUPE AUX GOMBOS OU OKRA

This soup is held in high esteem by Americans. It is served either with garnish, as I direct below, or as a consommé, hot or cold, or in cups, after it has been strained.

Fry one medium-sized chopped onion in two oz. of butter, without letting it acquire any colour. Add one-quarter lb. of fresh lean bacon, or raw ham cut into medium-sized dice; fry for a few minutes, and add about one lb. of boned chicken-meat cut into large dice (the white parts of the chicken are used in preference); let these ingredients stiffen well; take care to stir fairly often, and moisten with two quarts of white chicken consommé. Boil, and set to cook gently for twenty or twenty-five minutes with lid on.

Now add about one-half lb. of peeled gombo, cut in coarse _paysanne-fashion_, and three or four medium-sized tomatoes, peeled, _concassed_, and with their seeds withdrawn.

When the gombos are well cooked, carefully remove all grease from the preparation; test the seasoning, and, if necessary, add a few drops of Worcestershire sauce.

Garnish the soup with two or three tablespoonfuls of plainly-cooked rice.

N.B.—This soup is excellent if it be finished with one-quarter pint of cream per quart. A cream of gombos may also be prepared, which may be garnished with the dice of chicken meat. In the latter case, the garnish of rice is optional.

750—SOUPE A LA PAYSANNE

Finely mince one small carrot, one small turnip, one leek, one-third of a stick of celery, one-third of an onion, and some cabbage leaves. Stew the vegetables in one oz. of butter; moisten with one and one-half pints of white consommé, and set to boil. A few minutes having elapsed, add two small potatoes minced like the other vegetables, and complete the cooking gently. Send separately some roundels of _soup-flutes_.

751—SOUPE AUX POIREAUX ET POMMES DE TERRE, otherwise A LA BONNE FEMME

Finely mince the white of four medium-sized leeks. Put this into a stewpan with one oz. of butter, and stew gently for a quarter of an hour. Then add three medium-sized quartered potatoes, cut into roundels the thickness of pennies. Moisten with one pint of white consommé; add the necessary quantity of salt, and set to cook gently. When about to serve, finish the soup with one pint of boiled milk and one and one-half oz. of butter; pour it into the soup-tureen, and add twelve roundels of French _soup-flutes_, cut as thinly as possible.

752—SOUPE AUX ROGNONS

Proceed exactly as for “Soupe aux Foies de Volaille,” but substitute for the garnish of sliced livers one of calf’s or sheep’s kidney cut into large dice, or sliced, and briskly tossed in butter just before dishing up.

Finish the soup similarly to the preceding one, _i.e._, with Madeira.