Soups — From the COOKS.COM Culinary Archive.

SOUPS

  Nearly all parts of an animal may be used as food, but from some parts we can obtain the nutriment in only one way.  These are the bones and the gristle, tendons, and other gelatinous portions, some kinds of fat, and the lean meat which is tough and coarse in texture, or difficult to separate from the gristle and sinews embedded in it.  Many people consider these portions undesirable and dealers often have to dispose of them as refuse.  But when cooked slowly in water at a moderate heat a large part of their nutriment is dissolved in the water, and may be used in this liquid form.  The bony portions in roasted of baked meat are deemed even more undesirable, and are often thrown away as unfit for food.  But even if previously cooked, some nutriment may be obtained from them, and they should always be saved and used in soups, if only for their flavor.

  It is better to cook a large quantity at a time, as considerable time is required to extract all the nutriment; and the broth, when obtained, may be kept a week or more.

  This liquid in which the meat has been cooked is used in making soup; and because it can be stored or kept on hand and drawn upon when needed, it is called stock.

  In making soup our object is to draw the nutriment from the meat and bones into the water.  Cut the meat into small pieces, and soak in cold water before heating, to soften and loosen the fibres and extract all the nutriment possible.  Careless cooks soak the meat to cleanse it and then throw the water away.  Meat should be cleansed by wiping with a damp cloth.

  Use all kinds of meat, — beef, veal, mutton, or poultry, — either together or separately.  As each kind of meat has its distinctive flavor, a greater variety of soups may be made by using them separately.  A good soup may be made from a mixture of all the bones and fragments of meat which one may happen to have.  But to make the most nutritious and palatable soup both cooked and uncooked meats are needed; also bone, gelatin, fat, and a variety of seasoning material.

  The salts found in the blood and juices of uncooked flesh are valuable as food; therefore a small portion of raw, lean meat is essential in making soup.  Browned or roasted meat improves the flavor of the broth, because in such meats the flavor has been more highly developed.  The marrow found in the shin bone, and the browned fat of cooked meats, give a fine flavor; and portions containing gelatin afford a certain amount of nutriment, and by hardening like jelly when the stock is cold, it keeps longer than if it were in liquid form.  Vegetables which have been cut fine, sweet herbs, and spices, are used to season and flavor the stock.

  When the juices are drawn out and the water is red, draw the kettle forward where the water will almost boil, — just bubble on one side of the kettle.  This gentle heat, continued steadily and for a long time, will dissolve the gelatinous portions.  The water must bubble slightly, for if the temperature be allowed to fall too low the soup will sour.

  The kettle should be covered closely to keep in the steam and the savory odors which would be wasted by evaporation if it were uncovered.  It is wasteful to skim soup-stock.  The scum that rises as the water heats contains some of the very substances which are desired in the water.  They increase the flavor of the stock and should be retained.  After a time they settle as sediment, and all the sediment that is fine enough to go through the strainer should be used.  In clear soups it may be removed, but clear soups are not the most nutritious.

  After simmering several hours, or until the bones are clean and the meat is in shreds, strain the stock, and throw away the scraps.  This worthless residue of muscular fibre and bones is dry, tasteless, and useless as food.  When the fibrin from meat is desired it is better to cook the meat in other ways, as in stews, which are often miscalled soups.  Soup should not be considered a complete food but only as one of a variety of foods, — a stimulant to prepare the stomach for the heavier food.

  The stock will keep better if the fat be retained, as when cold it forms an air-tight covering.  As the fat is more easily removed when cold, make the stock the day before it is needed, and strain it into several small jars, that the amount required may be used without disturbing the remainder.

  When ready to use this stock for soup, take off all the fat, and save it for clarifying.  Heat the stock to the boiling-point, and serve it alone, or put with it any vegetable, rice, macaroni, barley, or tapioca, which has been previously cooked till tender.

A GENERAL RECIPE FOR STOCK

  Equal parts by weight of meat and bone, and one quart of water to every pound of meat and bone.  Where there is more bone than meat, or only cooked meat, water enough to cover is a correct proportion.  For every quart of water use:

  1 tsp. salt
  4 peppercorns
  4 whole cloves
  1 tsp. mixed sweet herbs
  2 tbsp. each vegetable cut fine

  If allspice, mace, and celery seed be used, less of each spice will be required.  The herbs are whole thyme, marjoram, summer savory and bay leaves.  Strip off the leaves and blossoms, break the small stalks in tiny pieces, mix them, and keep them in a tin box.  Use a teaspoon of the mixture, not of each herb.  The vegetables generally used are onion, carrot, turnip, celery, and parsley.  If you have only two kinds, use more of each.  They only give additional flavor to the broth.  When it is desired to eat them with the soup, cook them separately, and add to the soup just before serving.

  There are soups in which parts of the meat are served with the broth.  These are made from chicken, veal, ox-tails, and calf's head.  The meat is not cut as small as when it is to be used for stock.  As soon as it is tender, it is removed and added to the strained stock just before serving.  Soups made from light meats, veal and chicken, and from fish, are often made richer by the addition of eggs, or thickened with white sauce.

CONDENSED RECIPE FOR SOUP STOCK

  2 lbs. hind shin of beef
  2 qts. cold water
  6 whole cloves
  6 peppercorns
  1 bunch of sweet herbs
  1/2 inch blade mace
  2 tsp. salt
  1 small onion
  1/2 small carrot
  1/2 small turnip
  1 sprig parsley

  Wipe and cut the bones and meat into small pieces.  Put the marrow, bones, and cold water into the kettle.  Soak one half hour before heating.  Add spices, herbs, and the vegetables cut fine.  Simmer six or seven hours and strain.  When needed for soup remove the fat; heat the stock to the boiling-point; and season to taste.

MACARONI SOUP

  1 c. stock
  1/2 stick macaroni
  1/2 tsp. salt
  1 spk. pepper

  Cook the macaroni in boiling salted water about one half hour, or until tender.  Drain and cut into thin slices or rings; put them into the soup tureen with the salt and pepper and pour the boiling stock over them.

MIXED VEGETABLE SOUP

  1 c. stock
  2 tbsp. carrot
  2 tbsp. turnip
  1/4 tsp. salt

  Wash and scrape the carrot and pare the turnip.  Cut into quarter-inch dice.  Put into boiling, salted water and cook until tender.  Drain and add, with the salt, to the boiling stock.