The home cook book

an egg beaten into half a cup of cold water. Set on the fire and after the soup has come to boil add a cup of cold water and bring again to boil. Strain through a wet flannel or cheesecloth bag and serve in bouillon cups, capping the bouillon with whipped cream. CHICKEN SOUP Take the carcass of a roast chicken, crack the bones and put them in a kettle with two quarts of water. Cover and boil gently or simmer for two hours. Tip into a colander or sieve to get out the bones. But the soup back in the kettle. It will be about a quart. Add a tablespoon of minced onion, a teaspoon of salt, a dash of pepper, and the dark meat of the chicken cut in small dice or cubes. Bring to boil and serve. CHICKEN GUMBO Use the carcass of a roast fowl ; chicken is commonly used, but turkey, duck, or pheasant may be used if convenient. Mince the meat thoroughly fine. Crack and boil the bones ; the liquor so obtained makes a good stock for the gumbo. Make one quart. Chop fine six slices of bacon and fry in the bottom of your soup pot. Add two tablespoons of sifted flour. When brown add one large chopped onion and one large, minced, sweet pepper. Next add your chicken, also quarter of a pound of minced raw veal. When all is well browned, add one teacup of canned tomatoes. Next put in the quart of chicken liquor, a pinch of thyme, one bay leaf, one cup of chopped celery leaves and tops, one small pod of red pepper, a pinch of rosemary, one clove of minced garlic, and one teaspoon of chopped parsley; salt to taste. Boil up and then allow to simmer for an hour, that the veal may be thoroughly cooked. Before removing from the fire add a teaspoon of file. Serve with boiled rice, as in Oyster and Shrimp Gumbo. -, , 2 Vol. 2 CHICKEN GUMBO A ST. LOUIS RECEIPT Cut up one chicken, severing all the joints. Place it in a soup kettle on the back of the stove, and cook very slowly, adding one slice of pickled pork, about four inches long, and half a pound or a little more of fresh lean beef. Season highly with pepper and salt. Chop very fine one good-sized onion and one garlic seed. Mash together one heaping teaspoon of lard and one heaping teaspoon of flour. Add this to the onion and garlic and fry a nice brown. This done, pour over it one pint of hot water. Add one bunch of parsley, chopped fine. Cook slowly on the back of the stove one hour. One hour before dinner add the browned onion to the chicken and enough more hot water to stand about two inches above the chicken. Cook slowly. Have the chicken very tender. When ready to serve, take the kettle from the fire and stir in finely sifted file until it begins to rope, which you will discover by pouring it from a spoon. It is then ready to serve at once. Two handfuls of file are generally enough. Add more if needed. File is pulverized sassafras leaves. If you have no file, okra is very good. By some it is preferred. In case of using okra, take either the dried or the fresh. Half a pint of the dried will be sufficient ; of the fresh, one pint. Slice it quite thin. Okra should be added long enough before the soup is done to cook it tender, which will be about half an hour. To serve have ready hot boiled rice. As each plate of soup is served place a tablespoon of rice in the centre.