To accomplish this, care must be taken that the roots and herbs are perfectly well cleaned, and that the water is proportioned to the quantity of beef and other ingredients.  Generally a quart of water could be allowed to a pound of meat for soups, and 1/2 of the quantity for gravies.  In making soups or gravies, mild stewing or simmering is incomparably the best.  It may be remarked, however  a really good soup can not ever be made but in a well-closed vessel, although, perhaps, greater wholesomeness is got by an occasional exposure to the air.  Soups will, generally, take from three to six hours doing, and are far better prepared the day before they’re wanted.

When the soup is cold, the fat could be much more easily and completely removed ; and when it is poured off, care must be taken not to disturb the settlings at the base of the vessel, which are so fine that they’ll escape thru a sift.  A tamis is the best strainer, and if the soup is strained even though it is hot, let the tamis or material be formerly soaked in cold water.  Clear soups must be perfectly clear, and thickened soups about the consistence of cream.

To thicken and give body to soups and gravies, potato-mucilage, arrow-root, bread-raspings, isinglass, flour and butter, barley, rice, or oatmeal, in a little water rubbed well together, are used.  A piece of boiled meat battered to a pulp, with a bit of butter and flour, and rubbed through a sieve, and continuously incorporated with the soup, will be found an excellent addition.  When the soup appears to be too thin or too weak, the cover of the boiler should be taken off, and the contents permitted to boil till some of the watery parts have evaporated ; or some of the thickening materials, above mentioned, should be added.  When soups and gravies are kept from day to day in hot weather, they deserve to be warmed up every day, and put into fresh scalded pans or tureens, and placed in a cool basement.  In temperate weather, every other day might be sufficient.

Varied herbs and veggies are needed for the purpose of making soups and gravies.  Of these the principal are, Scotch barley, pearl barley, wheat flour, oatmeal, bread-raspings, pease, beans, rice, vermicelli, macaroni, isinglass, potato-mucilage, mushroom or mushroom ketchup, champignons, parsnips, carrots, beetroot, turnips, garlic, shalots and onions.  Cut onions, fried with butter and flour till they’re browned, and then rubbed through a sift, are excellent to increase the colour and flavor of brown soups and sauces, and form the foundation of many of the fine relishes furnished by the cook.  The older and drier the onion, the stronger will be its flavor.  Leeks, cucumber, or burnet vinegar ; celery or celery-seed battered.

The latter, though equally strong, does not communicate the delicate sweetness of the fresh plant ; and when used as a substitute, its flavour should be corrected by the addition of a little bit of sugar.  Cress-seed, parsley, common thyme, lemon thyme, orange thyme, knotted marjoram, sage, mint, winter tasty, and basil.  As fresh green basil is rarely to be gained, and its fine flavor is soon lost, the best way of preserving the extract is by pouring wine on the fresh leaves.

For the seasoning of soups, bay-leaves, tomato, tarragon, chervil, burnet, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, mace, black and white pepper, essence of anchovy, lemon-peel, and juice, and Seville orange-juice, are all taken.  The latter provides a finer flavor than the lemon, and the acid is much milder.  These materials, with wine, mushroom ketchup, Harvey’s sauce, tomato sauce, combined in diverse proportions, are, with other ingredients, manipulated into a nearly unlimited variety of glorious soups and gravies.  Soups, which are intended to constitute the principal part of a meal, actually ought not to be flavoured like sauces, which are only designed to give a relish to some particular dish.

Do you like to cook? If so, visit cooking101.org and get easy recipes you can use everyday to make delicious meals for the entire family and you might also want to take a look at recipe for chicken stock.

Technorati Tags: cooking, easy cooking, Simple Soup, soup

When the cold winds blow, nights draw in and a nip of frost chills the air there is nothing better than a pot of soup waiting for you to return home and just needing to be heated up to make a restoring meal that warms you right through.

Vegitarian Italian recipes include heartwarming tasty soups.
The great thing about soups is that they are easy to make in double or triple quantities, so that on the weekend you can cook up a big pot of soup and have some for lunch, before refrigerating or freezing the rest for mid-week suppers. A good winter soup will even improve in flavour with the keeping and my favorite Italian lentil soup is one of these. Two or even three days after making, its flavour has developed into a robust but mellow richness that is perfectly comforting and needs nothing more than some crusty bread to make a satisfying and nutritious meal.

There is nothing fancy about this soup, its origins are the local recipes from the home  kitchens of rural Italy where you use good ingredients and don’t need to mess with them. If you are a dedicated foodie and can get your hands on some Castelluccio lentils from the high Piano Grande in the Apennine mountains of Italy, then these are just the best, but any variety of small brown lentil works well here.

Lentil Soup Recipe
1 medium onion
2 carrots
2 sticks celery
3 tablespoons olive oil
tin tomatoes chopped with their juice
1 cups brown lentils rinsed and checked for bits
1 l stock or water
salt and pepper

Chop the onion, carrots and celery quite finely. Warm the olive oil in a heavy based pan and saut the vegetables gently till softened. Add the tomatoes and cook over a medium heat with the lid off until all the liquid has evaporated and you have a thick sauce consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the lentils and cook for a minute stirring, before adding the stock or water. This soup is tasty enough just to use water here, but if you happen to have some ham stock in the freezer left over from the Christmas gammon it will add a whole new dimension to the soup. Simmer for about 40 minutes until the lentils are tender. The cooking time depends on the variety of lentils, so you can check after 30 minutes. Add more water if the soup gets too thick as the lentils can absorb a lot of water. Serve with crusty bread and butter and perhaps a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan on top.

This makes enough for four to six good servings, but you can easily double the amounts and freeze half for another day. Or if you are having the soup two days running and want to vary it a little, on the second day add some more water to it and once it is heated throw in a couple of handfuls of a small pasta shape to cook in the soup. The pasta will take on the flavour of the soup and make a wonderfully hearty complete meal. You never know, even kids who profess not to like anything as healthy as a lentil could be tempted by the pasta and discover that lentils actually are quite tasty after all!

Copyright Kit Heathcock 2008

Pizza Recipe:  Learn the secrets of making pizza from inside the pizzeria itself. How to make Pizza just like a pizzeria does in your own home and even better than you can get from the Pizzeria.

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Italian Three-Bean Chili

Vegetarian! It’s hearty and flavorful, yet it isn’t heavy. Serve with a simple side salad. Healthy recipes hand-picked for good taste and nutrition. Includes low fat, low calorie, good source of calcium or fiber, or low sodium recipes

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Italian soup recipes include the famous authentic italian recipes, lentil soup and Minestrone.  

Gluten Free Italian Recipes: Vegetarian Mushroom and Green Bean

My sweetie is not one for following recipes, so this is as close as I could get to his steps. If you haven’t made risotto before, don’t stress. Just make sure you have plenty of warmed broth on hand and add it slowly to the rice

Tuscan Tomato Soup With Basil Recipe

A recipe for Tuscan Tomato Soup With Basil containing (28 oz. size) whole peeled tomatoes with basil, pureed extra-virgin olive oil frozen chopped onions crushed garlic Italian seasoning white wine, preferably Chardonnay freshly chopped basil leaves. …  Vegetarian Cooking for Non-Vegetarians.

By: Kit M. Heathcock Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Kit Heathcock is a freelance writer and editor and has worked and travelled in Italy for many years. She shares her passion for food and many recipes on her site Food and Family and is also co-creator of A Flower Gallery, home of original flower pictures.

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