Clearing Soups
Slightly beaten whites of eggs and broken egg shells are usually employed for clearing soup stock. After removing fat from the stock, place the portion to be cleared in an agateware saucepan using the white and shell of one egg to each quart of stock. After adding egg and shell to the cold stock stir until boiling point is reached and allow to boil for two minutes. Remove to back of stove and allow to simmer for half an hour. Remove scum, strain through two thicknesses of cheesecloth laid in fine sieve. Seasonings should be added before clearing. The cake of fat which forms on stock when cold should not be removed until stock is to be used, as in this way air is excluded. Fat should be removed with care in an entire cake, if possible, the small particles remaining being removed by passing a soft cloth moistened with very hot water around the edge and across the top of the stock. Blotting paper may also be used when fat is to be removed from hot stock. Strain and cool, as quickly as possible, as in this way there is less danger of fermentation. BINDING CREAM SOUPS AND PURÉES-These soups must be bound with a roux of flour and butter to prevent separation. Allow one tablespoon of butter and one of flour to each pint of soup to be bound. Place the butter in a saucepan and when it bubbles add the flour, allowing the mixture to cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly. If to be used for thickening white sauce or soup, do not allow the flour to become brown. If, however, the mixture into which it is to be stirred is dark in color, let the rour become a delicate brown.
MATERIALS-Beef is considered the best and cheapest material for the making of stock. The proper proportions are two-thirds lean meat and the remaining third, fat and bone. Where leftovers of meat are used for soup, small pieces of cooked meat, the carcasses of fowl, and all trimmings from chops should go into the soup kettle. Corned or smoked meats should not be used. Fowl should be used rather than chicken in the making of white stock, as it is not only less in price but contains more nutriment. The water in which a fowl has been boiled makes a very acceptable white stock, the fowl itself being utilized for other purposes.