Cassell's Vegetarian Cookery. A. G. Payne
goes such a long way that one bottle would probably last a family of six persons twelve months. As we have said, it can be made at home, but the process, though not difficult, is troublesome. It is made as follows:—A quantity of spinach has, after being thoroughly washed, to be pounded in a mortar until it becomes a pulp. This pulp is then placed in a very strong, coarse cloth, and the cloth is twisted till the juice of the spinach is squeezed out through the cloth. The amount of force required is very considerable and is almost beyond the power of ordinary women cooks. This juice must now be placed in a small enamelled saucepan, and must be heated till it becomes thick and pulpy, when it can be put by for use. It will probably be found cheaper to buy spinach extract than to make it, as manual labour cannot compete with machinery.
Barley Soup.—Take two tablespoonfuls of pearl barley and wash it in several waters till the water ceases to be discoloured. Put this in a saucepan with about two quarts of water, two onions sliced up, a few potatoes sliced very thin, and about a saltspoonful of thyme. Let the whole boil gently for four or five hours, till the barley is quite soft and eatable. Thicken the soup very slightly with a little white roux, season it with pepper and salt. Before serving the soup, add a tablespoonful of chopped blanched parsley.
N.B.—When chopped parsley is added to any soup or sauce, such as parsley and butter, it is very important that the parsley be blanched. To blanch parsley means to throw it for a few seconds into boiling water. By this means a dull green becomes a bright green. The best method to blanch parsley is to place it in a strainer and dip the strainer for a few seconds in a saucepan of boiling water. By comparing the colour of the parsley that has been so treated with some that has not been blanched, cooks will at once see the importance of the operation so far as appearances are concerned.
Beetroot Soup.—This soup is better adapted to the German palate than the English, as it contains both vinegar and sugar, which are very characteristic of German cookery. Take two large beetroots and two good-sized onions, and after peeling the beetroots boil them and mince them finely, adding them, of course, to the water in which they were boiled, or still better, they can be boiled in some sort of stock. Add a very small quantity of corn-flour, to give a slight consistency to the soup, as well as a little pinch of thyme. Next add two tablespoonfuls of vinegar—more or less according to taste—a spoonful of brown sugar, and a little pepper and salt.
Bean Soup, or Purée of Red Haricot Beans.—Put a quart of red haricot beans into soak overnight, and put a little piece of soda in the water to soften it. The next morning put the beans on to boil in three quarts of water, with some carrot, celery and onion, or the beans can be boiled in some stock made from these vegetables. After the beans are tender, pound them in a mortar, and then rub the whole through a wire sieve, after first removing the carrot, celery and onion. Add a teaspoonful of pounded sugar and about two ounces of butter. Fried or toasted bread should be served with the soup. If the soup is liked thin, of course more water can be added.
Bean Soup, or Purée of White Haricot Beans.—Proceed exactly as in the above recipe, only substituting white haricot beans for red. It is a great improvement to add a little boiling cream, but of course this makes the soup much more expensive. Some cooks add a spoonful of blanched, chopped parsley to this purée, and Frenchmen generally flavour this soup with garlic.
Bean Soup, Green.—Boil a quart of ordinary broad-beans in some stock or water with an onion, carrot and celery. Remove the skins when the beans are tender and rub the beans through a wire sieve. Colour the soup with a little spinach extract—(vegetable colouring, sold in bottles)—add a little piece of butter, a little powdered sugar, pepper and salt. The amount of stock or water must depend upon whether it is wished to have the purée thick or thin. Some purées are made as thick as bread sauce, while some persons prefer them much thinner. This is purely a matter of taste.
Bean Soup from French Beans.—This is an admirable method of using up French beans or scarlet runners when they get too old to be boiled as a vegetable in the ordinary way. Take any quantity of French beans and boil them in some stock or water with an onion, carrot, or celery for about an hour, taking care, at starting, to throw them into boiling water in order to preserve their colour. It is also a saving of trouble to chop the beans slightly at starting, i.e., take a bunch of beans in the left hand and cut them into pieces, say an eighth of an inch in thickness. Boil them till they are tender, and then rub the whole through a wire sieve. Add a little butter, pepper and salt, and colour the soup with spinach extract—(vegetable colouring, sold in bottles). Serve toasted or fried bread with the purée, which should be rather thick.
Cabbage Soup.—Take a white cabbage and slice it up, and throw it into some stock or water, with some leeks and slices of turnip. Boil the whole till the vegetables are tender, flavour with pepper and salt. This is sometimes called Cornish broth, though in Cornwall a piece of meat or bones are generally boiled with the vegetables. As no meat, of course, is used, too much water must not be added, but only sufficient liquor must be served to make the vegetables thoroughly moist. Perhaps the consistency can best be described by saying that there should be equal quantities of vegetables and fluid.
Carrot Soup.—If you wish this soup to be of a good colour, you must only use the outside, or red part, of the carrot, in which case a dozen large carrots will be required. If economy is practised, half this quantity will be sufficient. Take, say, half a dozen carrots, a small head of celery, and one onion, and throw them into boiling water for a few minutes in order to preserve the colour. Then drain them off and place them in a saucepan, with a couple of ounces of butter to prevent them sticking and burning, and place the saucepan on a very slack fire and let them stew so that the steam can escape, but take care they don’t burn or get brown. Now add a quart or two quarts of stock or water and boil them till they are tender. Then rub the whole through a wire sieve, add a little butter, pounded sugar, pepper, and salt. The amount of liquid added must entirely depend upon the size of the carrots. It is better to add too little than too much, but the consistency of the soup should be like ordinary pea soup; it does not do to have the soup watery. If only the outside parts of carrots are used, and this red part is thrown, at starting, into boiling water to preserve its colour, this soup, when made thick, has a very bright and handsome appearance, and is suitable for occasions when a little extra hospitality is exercised. The inside part of the carrot, if not used for making the soup, need not be wasted, but can be used for making stock, or served in a dish of mixed vegetables on some other occasion.
Cauliflower Soup.—Take three or four small cauliflowers, or two large ones, soak them in salt and water, and boil them in some water till they are nearly tender. Take them out and break the cauliflower so that you get two or three dozen little pieces out of the heart of the cauliflower, somewhat resembling miniature bouquets. Put the rest of the cauliflower back into the water in which it was boiled, with the exception of the green part of the leaves, with an onion and some of the white part of a head of celery. Let all boil till the water has nearly boiled away. Now rub all this through a wire sieve, onions, celery, cauliflower, and all; add to it sufficient boiling milk to make the whole of the consistency of pea soup. Add a little butter, pepper, and salt; throw in those little pieces of cauliflower that had been reserved a minute or two before serving the soup. It is an