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Tomato Bisque
Chop 2 cupfuls of fresh tomatoes; 1 pint of skimmed gravy or of strong stock; 1 cupful of fine bread crumbs soaked half an hour in hot milk; 1 teaspoonful of butter cooked with 1 of flour; some chopped parsley; cook together five minutes, run through a vegetable sieve; stir in the stock and the seasoning, and return to fire. Simmer twenty minutes, then add the soaked crumbs and parsley. Cook five minutes, stir in a little baking soda, and serve at once. Canned tomatoes can be used if fresh ones are not at hand.
A thin, old-style bisque thickened with bread rather than cream. The wording runs the steps together, so read it as: cook the tomatoes with the butter-and-flour roux, sieve, add stock, simmer, finish with crumbs.
- The soda is the hingeThe soda -- a pinch of baking soda cuts some of the tomato acid, which helps keep the milk-soaked crumbs from curdling. Note that the recipe adds it at the very end, after the crumbs have already gone in; the amount is left as "a little," and too much turns the soup flat and soapy.
- "Skimmed gravy"Meat stock or pan juices with the fat lifted off after chilling, not thickened gravy in the modern sense. A pint of good unsalted beef or chicken stock does the same job.
- ProportionsOne teaspoon each of butter and flour is a very small roux for a pint of stock; the bread crumbs carry most of the body. If you want a thicker soup, take the roux up to a tablespoon of each.
- SievingA "vegetable sieve" is a food mill or a conical strainer worked with the back of a ladle. It removes skins and seeds, which is the point; a blender will not, so strain after blending.
- CrumbsFine crumbs from a plain white loaf, soaked in enough hot milk to cover. The recipe does not say whether they should be dry or fresh.
- SeasoningNone is specified. Salt, black or white pepper, and a little sugar if the tomatoes are sharp.
- Canned tomatoesTwo cupfuls of canned tomatoes with their juice substitute directly; reduce the stock slightly to compensate for the extra liquid.
- YieldRoughly a quart to a quart and a half, serving four as a first course.