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Noodle Balls
Roll the noodle paste as directed above, fold it double and with a tin cutter make circles about one-fourth inch in diameter. Toss these balls into hot fat, using a wire frying basket. In about a minute they will turn a delicate brown and puff into balls. Drain on soft paper and serve with soup. As these soften quickly, it is better not to put them in a tureen, but pass them after soup has been served.
PÂTÉ À CHOUX-Heat one-half teaspoon each of lard and butter and two and one-half tablespoons of milk. When at the boiling point add one-fourth of a cup of flour and a pinch of salt. Stir constantly, remove from fire and stir in an egg, unbeaten, and continue stirring until the egg is well mixed with the other ingredients. When cool, drop small pieces from tip of teaspoon into deep, boiling fat. When brown and crisp, drain on brown paper. If desired, two tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese may be added to this recipe.
Two fried soup garnishes on one page: little discs of egg noodle dough that puff in hot fat, and a savory choux paste fried rather than baked. Both are last-minute work — they go soggy within minutes of meeting liquid.
- The hinge: fry to orderThe original says the noodle balls soften quickly and should be passed after the soup is served rather than put in the tureen. Fry them while the soup is being ladled and serve them in a bowl alongside.
- "Noodle paste as directed above"This refers back to a noodle recipe earlier in the book, not reproduced here; noodle paste of the period was typically flour, egg and salt, rolled very thin. Any firm egg pasta dough will do, rolled to about 1/16 inch so the discs puff instead of turning leathery.
- That "one-fourth inch" cutterA quarter-inch round is barely larger than a peppercorn; the figure may be a misprint, or a measure of something other than the diameter. Discs of about 3/4 to 1 inch fry and puff reliably.
- Fat temperatureThe book gives no figure for "hot fat" or "deep, boiling fat"; in modern terms aim for roughly 370-375F. Below that the dough absorbs grease and stays pale; much hotter and the outside browns before steam can inflate the center.
- Frying basketA wire basket keeps the light discs from sinking onto the pan bottom and lets you lift the whole batch at once, which matters when a minute is the whole cooking time. A spider or slotted spoon works if you fry in small batches.
- Choux quantitiesThe paste is tiny — 2 1/2 tablespoons milk, 1/4 cup flour, one egg — and yields perhaps two dozen small puffs. The original adds the flour to the liquid at the boiling point; add it all at once and beat until the paste pulls from the pan side before the egg goes in. Work the egg in while the paste is still warm rather than cold, when it combines far more easily.
- Frying choux safelyFried choux puffs expand hard and can burst. Keep the pieces small, drop them a few at a time, and give them long enough that the interiors are hollow and dry rather than pasty — roughly three to four minutes at 370F for teaspoon-sized pieces.
- Parmesan versionThe two tablespoons of grated Parmesan make this a savory cheese beignet, fried choux rather than baked. Salt lightly if you add cheese; the paste already carries a pinch.
- Draining"Soft paper" and "brown paper" mean unprinted absorbent paper — use paper towels, and drain in a single layer so steam does not soften the shells.
Fried soup accessories turn up in turn-of-the-century American cookbooks, alongside croutons, cheese straws and marrow balls, because a clear consommé was expected to arrive with something crisp to bite. The second half of this entry is ordinary pâte à choux — the name means "cabbage paste," traditionally traced to the puffs' resemblance to small cabbages — put to a savory, deep-fried use rather than baked into éclairs. The Butterick Publishing Company, better known for dress patterns, also issued a cook book.