General Rules For Soup Stock

Meat and bones for soup stock should be allowed to soak in cold water fully one hour before putting on the stove, to extract the juices. Soup stock should simmer on the back of the stove and not boil hard. The meat should be cut in small pieces and washed clean. Soup meat, when cooked, has no nutrition left in it. If properly made, the goodness of the meat is in the stock.

Use one quart of cold water to every pound of meat and bones. Add seasoning in the following proportions :

For every quart of water, one even teaspoonful of salt, three peppercorns, or a little ground pepper, two cloves, a celery root or the outside stalk, a sprig of parsley, a tablespoonful each of onion, carrot and turnip, a part of a bay leaf, a pinch of sage, summer savory, thyme and marjoram. It is not necessary to have all the herbs. A very nice flavored soup can be made with the vegetables alone.

If you wish to have a dark-brown stock, reserve part of the lean meat and part of the vegetables, and brown them in a little fat taken from the meat. A tablespoonful of browned sugar or caramel will also give a brown color to the stock. Do not remove the scum from the soup while it is cooking, as that is the albumen of the meat. As soon as the soup is done strain at once and set aside until cold and the fat has formed a cake on top. Remove the fat and reheat.

Soup stock should cook from six to eight hours.

Whole rice is sometimes served in a white soup. Boil the rice until tender then add to the soup.

Caramel For Coloring Soups And Gravies

Melt one cup of sugar with two tablespoonfuls of water in a sauce pan. Stir until it is a dark brown color. Add one cup of boiling water, let simmer for fifteen minutes. Bottle for use, when cool.

How To Clear Soup Stock

Remove the fat. Allow the white of an egg to every quart of stock. Mix the beaten white with the cold stock. Set on the fire, stirring all the time until it reaches the boiling point, then let it boil without stirring for ten minutes, draw it on the back of the stove and add one-half cup cold water. Let it stand for ten minutes, strain through a cheese cloth and colander.

Garnishes For Soups

Croutons

Cut stale bread into cubes and brown in butter in an omelet pan, or butter first, cut in cubes and brown in the oven. Serve with thick soups.

Egg Balls

Bub to a paste with a wooden spoon the yolks of bard-boiled eggs. Season with salt, pepper or paprica and melted butter, add enough raw yolk or white to mould them. Boll them in white of egg, slightly beaten, and dip in flour. Have them about one-half the size of a yolk. Fry them in butter. Serve one to each person.

Marrow Balls

Melt a tablespoonful of the marrow, beat it until creamy, then add to it a well-beaten egg and a little salt and pepper and as much soft 2 bread crumbs as it will take. Mould in little balls and cook them in boiling water for ten minutes. Place them in the tureen first before serving.