Kentucky receipt book

Meat and bones for soup must be absolutely fresh. Hock or shin of beef or end of rib roast and portions of neck and shoulder. The first mentioned furnish chiefly gelatine, the latter give flavor. A knuckle of veal, or the bone trimmed from a leg of mutton, and a few ounces of sliced ham may be used in making stock or soup. Sponge outside of meat with a cloth wrung out of warm water, but do not wet the freshly-cut surface of meat. Cut meat from bones and put in a soup kettle. Put a perforated pie pan in bottom to prevent meat touching the bottom. Cover with cold water and simmer one hour. There should be a close-fitting top on kettle. Then boil 5 minutes and put on back of range to simmer 8 hours. Consomme. Cut 3 pounds of lean beef in small pieces, with 1 large carrot and 1 large onion. Have the vegetables washed and peeled, then put with the beef 4 cloves, salt and pepper to taste, a very small piece of red pepper pod. Put this in a soup pot with 1 tablespoon of butter, then fill up the pot with stock from a boiled chicken. You can boil the carcass of a roasted turkey, and put this stock in instead of the chicken. Let it come to a good boil, skim thoroughly and set pot on back of range to simmer slowly 4 hours. Strain this and keep in cool place until the next day. Skim off all grease, put in porcelain kettle with the well-beaten white of 1 egg, let it come to a good boil and serve very hot. One teacup of sherry wine may be added if desired. Thickening for Soups. Soups are thickened with flour, corn starch or rice flour, 1 tablespoon for each quart of soup, heaping if flour is used; scant if rice flour or corn starch. Mix flour with cold water to a smooth paste, then add liquid until it is easily poured into soup. Let it boil 20 minutes. If butter is used, put in a saucepan, and when bubbling stir in flour quickly until smooth; then add gradually 1 cup of hot soup ; it should be thin enough to pour. In vegetable soups or purees as soon as butter and flour are blended it can be added to the soup. If a brown thickening is desired, melt the butter and let it become brown, then add the flour at once and stir quickly. Add water or soup gradually. Flour that is browned while dry colors, but does not thicken. Thickened soups should be of the consistency of good cream. Purees are thicker. To Clear Soup Stock. Remove fat and allow the white and shell of 1 egg for every quart of stock. If you wish to flavor the stock more highly, add % a saltspoon of celery seed, and the thinnest possible shavings from the rinds of half a lemon. Add also the lemon juice, and more salt and pepper if needed . Mix celery seed, lemon and egg with the cold stock and beat well. Stir constantly until liquid is hot, then allow it to boil 10 minutes. Put on back of range, and add ^ cup of cold water. Let it remain 10 minutes, then strain through cloth wrung out of hot water, which must be placed in a colander. Allow it to drain slowly. Serve as a clear soup. Heat to boiling point and have in tureen thin slices of lemon, 1 wine glass of sherry wine, yolks of hard boiled eggs, or delicately flavored force meat balls. Tomato Soup. Two cans of tomatoes, 2 pints of new milk, 6 butter crackers, 1 cooking spoon of butter, ^ teaspoon of soda, salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Eub the tomatoes through a sieve, put them into a saucepan and boil. Stir in the soda until it ceases to foam, add the milk, let it boil for 5 minutes, stirring all the time. Take from fire, add crackers, salt and pepper. Cream of Celery Soup.