Okra Soup

Okra Cream Soup

Have a pint of okra cut in thin slices. Put it in a quart of salted water, boiling in a porcelain kettle, and cook till tender, nearly half an hour. Then add a quart of fresh milk, a large tablespoon of butter mixed with two tablespoons of flour and cook till the soup thickens. Add more butter if your taste demands, and also pepper. Serve hot with wafers or bread sticks.

Orka Gumbo With Crabs Or Halibut. A New Orleans Dish

To a tablespoon of boiling beef dripping add quarter of a pound of minced boiled ham and two slices of minced raw bacon. When browned, add two tablespoons of sifted flour brown well. Add two minced onions and brown. Add one dozen thinly sliced spears of okra and fry the whole until the okra begins to brown. Then add one teacup of canned tomato, one pinch of thyme, a dash of cayenne pepper, and one bay leaf. Brown all thoroughly. Add one pint of raw crab meat which you have picked from the shells. Leave the meat of the claws in the claws, put them in the gumbo, and add one quart of boiling water. Allow the soup to boil for half an hour, cooking the crab thoroughly. Add two minced cloves of garlic and one teaspoon of minced parsley. Serve with rice.

The same rule serves for plain okra gumbo leaving out the crab meat. Minced halibut makes a fine substitute for crab. The fish must be used raw.

Okra Gumbo

Follow the directions for "Gumbo with Crabs," omitting the crab meat.

Clam & Shrimp Soup

Clam Soup

Have three dozen clams. Wash, scrub, and rinse the shells. Put them in a kettle. Add threefourths of a cup of water. Cover and heat Boil till the clams open. Set off the fire and pick out the shells. Cut the hard part from the clams, throw it away, and put the soft parts in a bowl. Add three cups of milk to the liquor of the clams, and stir in a tablespoon of butter blended with a tablespoon of flour. When the flour has slightly thickened the soup, drop in the soft part of the clams. Boil up, add salt, and also a dash of cayenne if your taste wishes, and serve hot.

Clam Chowder

Fry in a pot five slices of fat pork till the fat is half drawn out. Take out the pork and chop it, adding two goodsized onions. Slice three potatoes and have at hand a quart of clams. In the fat that remains in the pot from the fried pork put a layer of clams with a seasoning of red peppers. On the clams put a layer of pork and onions, and then a layer of potatoes. Next put in a layer of crackers broken up.

Repeat these layers in order till you have used up clams, pork, onions, and potatoes. Cover with water and stew an hour. Add a little milk and boil up before serving. Thicken with a little flour if it is needed.

Lobster Bisque

Take one can of lobster. Cut the meat in small pieces, cover with one quart of water, and boil in a saucepan twenty minutes. In a separate saucepan put two quarts of milk. Mash together two tablespoons of butter and one tablespoon of flour. When the milk comes to boil, add the mixed flour and butter and one teacup of crackers rolled very fine. When the lobster is done add it to the thickened milk. Stir all together, season with red pepper, and salt to taste. Let boil just long enough to thicken. It is then ready to serve.

Shrimp Gumbo

A Louisiana Dish  hull the raw shrimps. To one tablespoon of boiling beef dripping add two tablespoons of sifted flour. When browned, add one large minced onion and brown thoroughly. Add one pint of raw shrimps. Brown, stirring constantly, taking care not to mash the shrimps. When half cooked, add two tablespoons of canned tomatoes, one clove of minced garlic, one bay leaf, a pinch of thyme, and summer savory, salt to taste, and a dash of cayenne pepper. Add one quart of beef tea, or water in which a chicken has been boiled. Water will do if you have not these. Boil until the shrimps are tender. Add a teaspoon of file powder before removing from the fire. Serve with plain boiled rice.

Mock Bisque

Cook half a can of tomatoes soft enough to strain. If you are using fresh tomatoes take a cup and a half when cooked. In another saucepan cook one tablespoon of flour in one tablespoon of butter and stir in one quart of milk. Season to your taste with salt and when ready to serve stir in a pinch of soda. Lastly, add the strained tomatoes and serve at once.

Mock Oyster Soup

Wash and scrape ten salsify roots, and as you work put them in cold water to keep the roots from turning black. When they are cleaned, cut in small pieces and cover with boiling water. Boil till tender, which will be in from thirty minutes to an hour. Put the salsify through a colander or sieve and return to the saucepan with three cups of milk, and the water in which the salsify cooked, which will be boiled away to about a cupful. Add a small onion minced, half a teaspoon of salt, and when the soup boils stir in a tablespoon and a half of flour blended with a tablespoon of butter. Serve after the soup thickens with the flour, adding a dash of cayenne.

Beef Soup

Beef Stew With Rice