Pea Or Lentil Soup

Dried peas contain a high degree of nourishment, and deserve to be more generally in favour than they are.

Lentils, which are a foreign variety of pea, are even more nutritious than those of English growth, and it is well known that the "Revalenta Arabica" is prepared from them. The flour of peas, which is sold "to thicken soup in a few minutes," is, as a rule, destitute of the fine dietetic quality of the dried vegetable itself, and there is no valid reason for its use. As a rule, when pea soup is given at dinner the other dishes should be light, not because the peas are in themselves indigestible, but because, combined with food of an equal value, the digestive organs may be too severely taxed. Thus fish pie, as in the above menu, is suitable, as are all dishes containing but a small proportion of animal food.

Peas are excellent for children in combination with milk, and in some cases a puree, made of equal quantities of well boiled rice and peas, will be found more suitable than peas alone.

Dried peas should always be soaked, and, where large quantities are used, it is desirable to grind them, as they then take less time to cook. Put the peas to soak in cold water for twelve hours, skim off any which float on the surface, drain, and tie them loosely in a cloth, which plunge into a saucepan containing plenty of cold water and a piece of washing-soda the size of a hazel-nut to each quart. The time the peas will take depends much on their quality; but they should be soft in less than three hours. When done take the peas out of the cloth; if they will not beat up easily to a pulp, pass them through a coarse sieve, using milk or broth to facilitate the process.

When perfectly smooth, mix the prepared peas with broth of any sort in which a liberal allowance of fresh vegetable roots, turnips, carrots, onions, and celery has been boiled. If liked, a pinch of curry powder is an excellent addition. An economical and nourishing pea soup can be made with peas, prepared as directed, mixed in the broth in which bacon or fat pork has been boiled; care must be taken not to make the soup salt. Dried and sifted mint is usually served with pea soup, and in cases where there has not been vegetables boiled in the broth and it is not too salt, celery salt may be used to advantage. Fried or toasted bread should be served separately.

Fish Pie

Take a pound of any cooked fish very carefully picked from bone, and mix it with a sauce made as follows: Boil the bones in a small quantity of water for twenty minutes, when cold mix a gill of the liquor with two ounces of fine flour, and stir over the fire until it thickens, add two ounces of butter, keep stirring rapidly until well-mixed in, take the sauce off the fire, mix in an egg, a large teaspoonful of essence of anchovy, the same quantity of lemon juice, a large pinch of salt and a small one of cayenne pepper. The sauce should be very thick, and some care will be required in stirring it over the fire. Mix the picked fish and the sauce together. Put a layer of fine mashed potatoes at the bottom of a tail-dish, then all the fish, and over this another layer of potatoes. Smooth the top over neatly, and bake in a moderate oven for twenty minutes. If preferred, the potato can be spread on a bright tin dish, the fish be placed high in the centre of it, and then be thoroughly covered over with potato. This has a better appearance than when cooked in a tart-dish, but is not so nice, as too much potato is required to cover the fish up thoroughly.

Boiled Oatmeal Pudding

This is a cheap and nice family pudding. - Mix a quarter of a pound of coarse oatmeal in half-a-pint of cold water, and stir on to it a pint of boiling milk or water, add an ounce of shred suet or any other fat, two eggs, a little spice, sugar to taste, and, by way of a treat, two ounces of sultana raisins. Put the pudding into a greased basin, cover with a cloth, and boil for an hour and a half.

Make a sauce to eat with the pudding as follows:- Boil an ounce of currants in half-a-pint of water for five minutes, break up the currants with a spoon, and stir in a tablespoonful of flour mixed smooth in a little cold water, add a little spice and sugar to taste. Children like the sauce without the currants if sweetened with treacle.