ON A COLD DAY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 January 1940, Page 8

ON A COLD DAY

WHAT ABOUT SOME SOUP? The best base for soup is lean and uncooked meat in the proportion of a pound to a quart of water. Meat bones well broken up and added lend a very delicate flavour. With a combination of meats such as beef, mutton, veal, and ham-bones you will have a more highly-flavoured soup than by using any one meat. It is well to remember that it is the meat and bones from the legs that are rich in gelatine, and these should be purchased in preference to all others for soup-making. Soup should have merely the flavour of salt, and there should be in it the warm tone which the judicious use of pepper gives. Other flavourings are sage, thyme, mint, parsely, bay-leaves, mace, cloves, celery-seed and onions. Many of these may be used in one soup, but they should be so delicately blended that no one is conspicuous. TEN-MINUTE SOUP. Take 2oz margarine, 2oz flour, 2-J pints milk and water, or milk and white stock, 3 or 4 tablespoons tomato ketchup, seasoning. Melt the mragarine, add the flour, and mix them until well blended. Stir in the milk and water or stock and stir until the soup boils and thickens. Let it boil gently for a few minutes, then add tomato ketchup and seasoning to taste. If liked, a 'few drops of cochineal may be added to improve the colour of the soup. If too thcik, thin the soup down with a little more liquid. This makes an excellent emergency soup. WHITE VEGETABLE SOUP. Take 1 lb potatoes, 1 large parsnip. 1 onion, l.pint of warm water, 3 cups milk, I small dessertspoon cornflour, i and pepper and salt to season. Slice 1 the potatoes, the parsnip and the ' onion, and fry them in butter. Do not : let them colour. Then add water, and boil till tender., Mash it through a : colander, add the milk, thicken with 1 cornflour and a little butter, and serve 1 with fried cubes of bread. 1 OYSTER SOUP. t Three pints fish stock, 2oz butter, ; 1 pint milk, salt and cayenne, 3 dozen oysters. 2oz flour, some lemon rind, a ( teaspoon anchovy sauce. Beard the oysters and put beards , into the stock with a piece of mace and * lemon rind and simmer for half an , hour. Then strain. Melt butter, add r flour, and cook well without browning. Add the stock and milk and cook for . 3 minutes after it comes to the boil, ] stirring well. Then add flavouring. . Put oysters into a hot soup tureen and j pour the hot soup over. ; If preferred, you can cook the oyscers for a few moments in the soup, . but don’t on any account boil the j oysters, as it hardens them and makes ■ them unfit for use. POTATO AND LEEK SOUP. Take 4 leeks, It pints stock or vege- ! table water, J-pint milk, 4 large potatoes. seasoning. Cook the vegetables, together with i the salt and pepper to taste, in water ' for half an hour. Strain off the water and keep one and a-half pints for thinning, if there is no stock. Pass the vegetables through a fine sieve, and add the stock or vegetable water, and lastly the milk. Cook gently for a few minutes. A little cream may be < added instead of .or in addition to, the milk, but the soup must not be cooked after the cream has been mixed with