1 cup dried beans, Kidney, Navy or Lima 1/4 cup oil 1/4 onion 1 clove of garlic 1 sprig of parsley 1 piece of celery 1 cup canned tomatoes
Soak the beans over night. Boil until tender. Many cooks put the beans to cook in cold water with a pinch of soda. When they come to a boil, pour off this water and add fresh.
Chop fine the onion, garlic, parsley and celery and put them to fry in the oil with salt and a generous amount of pepper. When the vegetables are a delicate brown add to them two cups of the broth from the beans, and the tomatoes. Let all come to a boil and pour the mixture into the kettle of beans from which some of the water has been drained, if they are very liquid. This soup may be served as it is or rubbed through a sieve before serving. Croutons or triangles of dry toast make an excellent addition.
1 cup cooked chicken 1/4 cup bread crumbs 1/4 cup milk Yolk of 1 egg, if desired 5 or 6 blanched almonds 1 quart chicken stock 1 slice stale bread Fat for deep frying
Grind the meat and almonds in a meat grinder, or chop very fine. Soak the bread crumbs in the milk, and rub all these ingredients to a very smooth paste. Add the hot broth. If you wish the soup to be richer and have a more milky consistency use the yolk of an egg, which should be beaten and have a few tablespoons of the hot broth stirred into it before adding to the soup. Do not let the soup boil after the egg is added or it will curdle.
Cut the stale bread into cubes and fry in deep fat. Put these croutons in the soup, and send it to the table with a dish of grated cheese.
Many kinds of vegetables may be used for this soup, carrots, celery, cabbage, turnips, onions, potatoes, spinach, the outside leaves of lettuce or greens of any variety.
Select three or four kinds of vegetables. Shred or chop coarsely cabbage or greens, and slice or cut in cubes the root vegetables. Put them over the fire with a small quantity of cooking oil or butter substitute, and let them fry until they have absorbed the fat. Then add broth and cook until the vegetables are very tender. Fry croutons of stale bread in oil and serve them in the soup.
In this, as in other recipes, water may be used instead of broth if the latter is not available, and bouillon cubes or beef extract added just as the hot soup is removed from the fire.