The new Annie Dennis cook book

Soups are thickened with flour, cornstarch, or rice flour. Mix the flour with a very little cold water or milk until it is a smooth paste. Then add more liquid until it can be poured easily into the hot soup. Cook the soup fifteen or twenty minutes after thickening is added. Where butter and flour are used melt the butter and when melted and bubbling stir in the flour quickly; cook together. Then add gradually about a cupful of the hot soup ; let it cook, thicken, and then stir it into the hot soup. Cook fifteen minutes. Soup may be thickened with bread instead of flour. The bread should be dried and browned slightly and added to a small amount of stock, simmered until soft and crushed. Then dilute with more soup. One-half cupful of dried bread for a quart of finished soup is quite as thick as most people like. Rye bread is excellent for this purpose. CLEAR SOUP To Clear Soup Allow the white and shell of 1 egg for each quart of stock. Break the egg, beat slightly ; break shell in small pieces, and add to the cold stock. Set over the fire, stirring constantly until boiling point is reached. Boil two minutes, simmer twenty minutes, skim, strain through double thickness of white cheesecloth placed over a fine sieve. This is now ready to serve as clear soup, simply heating to the boiling point. If you wish to season soup more highly add seasoning to stock before clearing. Tomato Soup The contents of one large can of tomatoes put into a stew pan with as much boiling water and let come to a boil ; take off and strain ; put over the fire again. In a small pan put one tablespoonful of flour, one of butter, one of sugar, half an onion and a spray of parsley ; chop all together, and let it brown, but be careful not to burn ; turn this into the tomatoes, mix thoroughly and strain. Serve with squares of toast on top. Carrot Soup a la Cressy Put three ounces of butter into a sauce pan and as it melts add a large onion, finely chopped, four ounces of lean ham, cut in tiny dice, two tablespoonfuls of chopped celery and the red part of twelve carrots, grated. Stew over a moderate fire, stirring frequently, until the vegetables acquire a nice color, then add two quarts of well flavored stock and simmer for about two hours. Skim carefully, pass the soup and as much of the vegetables as possible, through a sieve, pressing the pulp through with the back of a wooden spoon; then season to taste, with cayenne and salt, reheat and serve, with a handful of toasted dice thrown in just as it is turned into the tureen. ^ Chicken Soup Put on a young chicken, which has been well cleansed and washed, in two quarts of cold water, and let it boil steadily until the liquid is reduced to one quart. From time to time, after it begins to boil, skim it carefully so that no scum is left on it. About ten minutes before removing it from the fire, throw into it a small sprig of thyme and one or two sprigs of parsley, and season to taste with salt. If herbs are objected to, substitute chipped celery. When removed from the boiler, skim off all the grease, and strain out the meat and herbs and serve the soup clear. Consomme