Good Things to Eat as Suggested by Rufus | Page 4

Season to
taste and serve with small squares of bread fried crisp in butter or olive
oil.
~CHICKEN GUMBO, CREOLE STYLE~--For about twelve or fifteen,
one young hen chicken, half pound ham, quart fresh okra, three large
tomatoes, two onions, one kernel garlic, one small red pepper, two
tablespoons flour, three quarts boiling water, half pound butter, one bay
leaf, pinch salt and cayenne pepper. To mix, mince your ham, put in the
bottom of an iron kettle if preferred with the above ingredients except
the chicken. Clean and cut your chicken up and put in separate
saucepan with about a quart or more of water and teaspoonful of salt;
set to the side of the fire for about an hour; skim when necessary. When
the chicken is thoroughly done strip the meat from the bone and mix

both together; just before serving add a quart of shrimps.
~CREAM OF CELERY SOUP~--Chop fine one head of celery and put
on to cook in one pint of water. Boil until tender, add one pint of milk,
thicken with a spoonful of butter, season to taste, and strain. Then add
one cupful of whipped cream and serve at once.
~EGG SOUP~--Beat three eggs until light, then add one-half cupful of
thick sweet cream and one cupful of milk, pour over this two quarts of
boiling water, set on the fire until it comes to a boil, season to taste,
then pour over broken bread in the tureen and serve.
~GREEN PEA SOUP~--Put one quart of green peas into two cups of
boiling water, add a saltspoon of salt, and cook until tender. Rub peas
and liquor through a puree strainer, add two cups of boiling water, and
set back where the pulp will keep hot. Heat two cups of milk, add a
teaspoon of flour rubbed into a rounding tablespoon of butter, season
with salt, pepper, and a level teaspoon of sugar. Add to the hot
vegetable pulp, heat to the boiling point, and serve.
~GREEN TOMATO SOUP~--Chop fine five green tomatoes and boil
twenty minutes in water to cover. Then add one quart hot milk, to
which a teaspoonful soda has been added, let come to a boil, take from
the fire and add a quarter cupful butter rubbed into four crackers rolled
fine, with salt and pepper to taste.
~ONION SOUP~--Cut three onions small, put one-quarter cup of butter
in a kettle and toast one tablespoon flour till bright yellow in color; in it
mix with this the onions, pour on as much broth as is wanted, add a
little mace and let boil, then strain, allow to cook a little longer, add
yolk of two eggs, and serve.
~PEANUT SOUP~--Made like a dry pea soup. Soak a pint and
one-half nut meats over night in two quarts of water. In the morning
add three quarts of water, bay-leaf, stalk of celery, blade of mace and
one slice of onion. Boil slowly for four or five hours, stirring frequently
to keep from burning. Rub through a sieve and return to the fire, when
heated through again add one cupful of cream. Serve hot with croutons.

~SAGO SOUP~--Wash one-half cup sago in warm water, add desired
amount of boiling broth (meat or chicken), a little mace, and cook until
the sago is soft, and serve.
~SALMON SOUP~--Take the skin and bones from canned salmon and
drain off the oil. Chop fine enough of the fish to measure two-thirds of
a cup. Cook a thick slice of onion in a quart of milk twenty minutes in a
double boiler. Thicken with one-quarter cup of flour rubbed smooth
with one rounding tablespoonful of butter. Cook ten minutes, take out
the onion, add a saltspoon of pepper, one level teaspoon of salt and the
salmon. Rub all through a fine strainer, and serve hot. The amount of
salmon may be varied according to taste.
~SORREL SOUP~--Wash thoroughly a pint of sorrel leaves and put in
a saucepan with two tablespoonfuls of butter, four or five of the large
outside leaves, a sliced onion, and a few small sprigs of parsley. Toss
over the fire for a few minutes, then sift into the pan two tablespoonfuls
of flour and stir until blended with the butter remaining. Transfer to the
soup kettle and pour in gradually, stirring all the time, three quarts of
boiling water. Cook gently for fifteen or twenty minutes, then add a
cupful of mashed potato and one of hot milk. Season with salt, pepper
and a little nutmeg. Have in the soup tureen some croutons of bread
toasted brown, pour the hot soup over them and serve. The sorrel
should be cut in fine pieces before cooking. This is one of the
delicacies of the early spring, its slightly acid flavor making it
particularly