3662.—CARROT SOUP. (Fr.—Potage à la Crécy or Purée de Carottes.)
Ingredients.—10 fresh carrots, 1 onion, 1 leek, 3 ozs. of butter or 2 ozs. of dripping, 3 pints of boiling stock or water, a few rinds of bacon, sugar, salt and pepper, fried croûtons.
Method.—Prepare the vegetables and cut them into small pieces. Melt the butter or fat in a stewpan, put in the vegetables, cover with a close-fitting lid, and cook gently for 1 hour. Add the boiling water or stock and the bacon rinds, and continue the gentle cooking until the vegetables are reduced to a pulp. Pass the whole through a sieve or colander, then add sugar, salt and pepper to taste, re-heat and serve. The croûtons should be handed separately.
Time.—2 hours. Average Cost, 5d. to 6d. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons. Seasonable at any time.
3663.—CAULIFLOWER FRITTERS. (Fr.—Brignets de Chouxfleur.)
Ingredients.—2 large cauliflowers, salt, water (1 tablespoonful of salt to 2 quarts of water), 2 ozs. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of olive oil, 8 dessertspoonfuls of flour, a bunch of parsley, ¼ of a pint of vinegar.
Method.—Trim and cleanse the cauliflowers in the usual way, and half boil them in salt and water. Melt the butter in a little hot water, stir in the flour, oil and salt, making a batter which will run from the spoon; mix lightly with it the whites of 2 eggs well beaten up. Drain the cauliflowers thoroughly, divide them into branches, and shake the branches well in the vinegar, seasoned with salt and pepper; then dip them in the batter, and fry in deep fat, taking care that they do not stick to each other. Serve in pyramidal shape, and garnish with some sprigs of parsley.
Time.—½ an hour. Average Cost, 1s. Sufficient for 8 persons. Seasonable in summer.
3664.—CROÛTE AU POT.
Ingredients.—2 quarts of stock (see Pot-au-Feu, No. 3674), 2 carrots, ½ a turnip, 2 or 3 strips of celery, ¼ of a small cabbage, 1 or 2 ozs. of butter, small stale French rolls, 1 teaspoonful of chopped parsley, a pinch of grated nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Method.—Wash and prepare the vegetables, cut the carrots, turnip and celery into thin slices, and the cabbage into small pieces, and fry them in the butter for 10 minutes. Add the hot stock, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste, and simmer gently for ½ an hour. Meanwhile, cut the French roll into thin slices, and bake these in a moderate oven until browned on both sides. Place them in a soup tureen, moisten them with a little soup to prevent their floating, and pour the rest of the soup over them. Sprinkle the parsley on the top, and serve.
