Henrietta Dwight - The Golden Age Cook Book

Peel the squash, slice thin, put in a saucepan and add boiling water to come nearly to the top of the squash. When nearly tender add an onion, a bay leaf and several sprigs of parsley. When tender mash through a fine sieve, return to the fire, let it come to a boil, stir in a heaping tablespoonful of butter, a heaping teaspoonful of flour, season with salt and pepper and a tiny pinch of mace. Have almost as much boiling milk as purée, remove from the fire and stir together, add two tablespoonfuls of cream, and serve at once.

Take two heads of nice, fresh lettuce, wash and drain and chop fine with half a small white onion, put in a saucepan with two heaping tablespoonfuls of butter, cook for about ten minutes, stirring all the time, then add two heaping tablespoonfuls of rice and a quart of milk. Let it boil for twenty minutes until the rice is perfectly tender, remove from the fire and press through a purée sieve, using a small potato masher, then strain and press again through a fine hair sieve; this will make it smooth. Season with salt to taste and a dash of cayenne pepper, and a small half teaspoonful of sugar. Put in a fresh saucepan, rub together two heaping teaspoonfuls of butter and an even teaspoonful of cornstarch and stir into the soup. Let it come to the boiling point and remove from the fire, adding at the last moment a quarter of a cupful of whipped cream. Serve with or without fried croutons.

Wash one pound of mushrooms, skin and stem them. Put the skins and stems in a saucepan with a cup of boiling water and boil ten minutes, strain and add to this water the mushroom flaps chopped very fine, and cook until tender, then press through a fine sieve. Melt two large heaping tablespoonfuls of butter in a saucepan, and stir into it two heaping tablespoonfuls of flour, and when smooth add a quart of rich milk, a whole clove of garlic, salt and pepper to taste. When it boils and thickens add the mushroom stock, let it boil up once, remove the clove of garlic, turn the soup into the tureen and serve.

Put a quart of green peas into a saucepan with a slice of white onion, cover with boiling water and cook until tender. Remove from the fire and press through a purée sieve with the water in which they were boiled. Return to the saucepan, set it back on the stove, let it come to a boil, add a pint of rich milk, salt and white pepper to taste, a dash of cayenne, and a large, generous tablespoonful of butter rubbed into an even tablespoonful of flour, adding a little of the liquid before stirring into the soup. Let it come to a boil, and add two tablespoonfuls of whipped cream just as it is poured into the tureen.

Wash carefully a third of a cup of rice and put it on the fire in a pint of boiling water with a white onion and a stick of celery, let it cook slowly for an hour, then stir in a quart of milk and let it come to a boil, add a heaping tablespoonful of butter, and press through a purée sieve. Put the soup back on the fire while beating an egg yolk with two tablespoonfuls of cream and a teaspoonful of parsley minced very fine. Remove the soup from the fire, stir in the egg and cream, pour into the tureen and serve.

Take two large handfuls of spinach, after it is washed and picked over, a small head of lettuce, a few sprigs of parsley, and a small white onion peeled and sliced. Put in a saucepan over the fire with a tablespoonful of butter, a dozen peppercorns and two cloves, and a very little boiling water, cover and stand it where the vegetables will only simmer. When they are tender rub together a generous heaping tablespoonful of butter and a heaping tablespoonful of flour, and stir it into the vegetables. Add a little boiling water, mash the vegetables smooth and press them through a fine sieve. Have the purée as thick as possible, return to the saucepan. Have ready a pint of boiling milk, beat two egg yolks with four tablespoonfuls of cream, pour a little of the boiling milk into them, and the rest into the purée, remove from the fire at once, then add the eggs and cream, pour into the tureen and serve immediately.

Take half a dozen small French carrots, wash and scrape them, put in a saucepan with boiling water and cook until tender, remove from the fire, mix with milk and press through a sieve. Melt two ounces of butter in a saucepan and rub into it a slightly heaping tablespoonful of flour, add a few grains of cayenne pepper, and stir in a little at a time the carrot purée until smooth like cream, add a few slices of cooked celery root (celeriac), and salt to taste, and pour into the purée. A tablespoonful of sherry, if liked, may be added. Serve with fried croutons.

Wash, peel and slice three celery roots, put them in a saucepan, cover with boiling water, cook until tender, and mash them through a purée sieve with the water in which they were boiled. Melt a good heaping tablespoonful of butter, stir into it a small tablespoonful of flour, and add to it the celery purée, season with a little cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Add three-quarters of a cup of macaroni previously boiled in water. As soon as it comes to a boil remove from the fire and add as much boiling milk as will make it the proper consistency. Beat two egg yolks with half a cup of cream and stir in quickly just before pouring the soup into the tureen. Care must be taken to do this off the fire, as celery soup is liable to curdle.

Soak a pint of marrowfat beans over night in water enough to cover them. In the morning drain, and put them on the fire with a small onion and a gallon of cold water, boil until tender and strain. Add to the stock a little summer savory, two ounces of butter and a cup of cream or rich milk, season with salt and pepper. When the soup comes to a boil, cut two slices of toast into dice, and four hard-boiled eggs in slices, put in the tureen and pour the soup over them and serve.

Grate the corn from six ears of sweet corn. Put the cobs into a quart and a pint of water and cook until all the sweetness is extracted – about half an hour. Remove the cobs and add a pint of tomatoes after they are skinned and sliced, a small onion cut in slices, a French carrot cut in dice, a quarter of a green pepper chopped fine, and the grated corn. Let it cook slowly until all are tender. Stir in two good tablespoonfuls of butter, salt and pepper to taste, pour into the tureen and serve.

Take three large carrots, wash and scrape and cut them into slices, put them in a saucepan with half an onion, a stick of celery, and a bay leaf, more than cover with boiling water and cook until tender. Remove from the fire, take out the bay leaf and rub the vegetables through a sieve with the water they were boiled in. Put back in the saucepan. Rub a generous tablespoonful of butter with half a tablespoonful of flour, and stir into the purée, add to it a cup and a half of boiling milk, stir until thick, add pepper and salt to taste. Take from the fire, and stir into it one egg yolk beaten with two tablespoonfuls of cream. Serve at once.

Prepare for cooking two small white onions, two French carrots and half a turnip cut in slices, and cook slowly in a pint of boiling water until they fall to pieces, cook with them until tender a celeriac root, remove from the other vegetables and put one side. Melt two ounces of butter in a saucepan, and stir in a slightly heaping tablespoonful of flour, an even dessertspoonful of curry powder, mix well together and then add a pint of milk. Strain the vegetables through a fine sieve, but do not press them, and add the stock therefrom to the milk, etc., in the saucepan, and salt to taste. Beat half a cup of cream with two egg yolks until light, remove the soup from the fire, mix a little of it with the eggs and cream, turn it back into the saucepan, stir well together and pour at once into the tureen in which you have already placed the celeriac cut in slices. If liked, two tablespoonfuls of Madeira may be added just before the soup is turned into the tureen. Serve with croutons.