Time.—1¼ to 1½ hours. Average Cost, about 9d. or 10d. without the stock. Seasonable at any time. Sufficient for 6 persons.
108.—CAULIFLOWER SOUP. (Fr.—Crême de Choufleur.)
Ingredients.—2 small cauliflowers, 1 oz. of ground rice (crême de riz), 1 gill of cream, 1½ pints of white stock, 2 ozs. of crushed tapioca, ½ an oz. of castor sugar, nutmeg, 1 pint of milk, salt and pepper.
Method.—Wash and trim the cauliflowers, cook them in salted water till tender, drain (keep the water), and rub the flower through a fine sieve. Bring the water in which the cauliflower has been cooked to the boil, stir in the crushed tapioca, and simmer for 20 minutes. Mix the crême de riz, or ground rice, with a little cold milk, boil up the remainder of the milk with the stock, stir in the ground rice, and cook, for a few minutes, stirring all the while; add the cauliflower water, season with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to taste, bring it to the boil, put in the cream and stir a little longer, but do not let it boil again. The purée is now ready for serving.
Time.—One hour. Average Cost, 2s. Seasonable at any time. Sufficient for 6 persons.
109.—CELERY CREAM WITH CROÛTONS. (Fr.—Crême de Céleri aux Croûtons.)
Ingredients.—3 heads of celery, 4 ozs. of butter, 3 ozs. of flour, 2 quarts of first stock, 1 pint of milk, ½ a pint of cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg, ½ a teaspoonful of castor sugar, croûtons of fried bread.
Method.—Trim the celery, pare off the green parts and wash thoroughly, cut it into small pieces, and blanch in slightly salted water. Drain well, and return to the stewpan with 3 ozs. of butter. Cook for a few minutes over a brisk fire without allowing the ingredients to brown; moisten with a little stock, add salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste, cover, and simmer slowly for 30 minutes. Mix the flour with the remainder of the butter in another stewpan, and cook a little without browning. Dilute with the milk, add the stock and partly cooked celery. Let it simmer until the celery is tender, then pass the whole through a fine sieve. Boil again, skim, add the sugar and more seasoning if needed, and lastly the cream. Re-heat the compound, without allowing it to boil and pour into a soup tureen. Serve the bread croûtons separately.
Time.—About 1½ hours. Average Cost, 4s. Seasonable from September to February. Sufficient for 8 to 10 persons.
