Dried Pea Soup

The "Queen" Cookery Books. No. 1. Soups · S. Beaty-Pownall · 1902
Source
The "Queen" Cookery Books. No. 1. Soups
Status
success · extracted 4 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (15)
For the soup base
For thickening (French method)
For thickening (alternative method)
For frying herbs (if using alternative thickening)
Seasoning
Instructions (16)
  1. Wash the peas well to remove all dust.
  2. Place the peas in a pan with three pints of water, 3oz. or 4oz. of whole onions, 2oz. of celery (or celery seed tied up in a piece of muslin), three to four ounces of carrots, a bunch of herbs (parsley, thyme, &c.) and an ounce or so of salt.
  3. Bring this all to the boil, then draw the pan to the side and let it all simmer steadily, till on pressing the peas between your fingers they will crush easily.
  4. To make them cook more quickly and tenderly, add to this stock during the cooking—from half hour to half hour—half a gill of cold water, never using in any case more than half pint of cold water in this way.
  5. Let the stock just boil up again each time after adding the cold water.
  6. As soon as the peas are nicely cooked drain them off, putting aside the liquor in which they cooked.
  7. Rub the peas through a wire sieve (or the tamis-pressoir mentioned above), moistening them with about a third of the liquor as you sieve them.
  8. Return this purée to the pan, with the rest of the liquor; allow it just to boil up.
  9. Draw the pan to the side of the stove and let it stand for half an hour, stirring it now and again with a wooden spoon lest it should catch.
  10. Add the liaison in two ways.
French method
  1. Slice down diagonally one or two ounces of breadcrumb, place this in the tureen with three or four ounces of butter, and pour the nearly boiling soup upon it, stirring the latter well to melt the butter.
Alternative method
  1. Rub up one ounce of cornflour, or ordinary flour, with about half a gill of cold milk, till perfectly smooth.
  2. Add this to about one and a half gills of boiling milk, stirring it altogether over the fire till it becomes a very smooth cream.
  3. Pour this, boiling, very gradually to the hot soup, stirring the two together very carefully till perfectly blended.
  4. Allow them to boil together for five to ten minutes, seasoning to taste with pepper, and salt if necessary, and serve.
Note on herb preparation for alternative method
  1. If, however, you use the latter method of thickening your pea soup, you must in the first place lightly fry the herbs in about one or two ounces of well clarified dripping or butter, before putting in the peas, allowing them to colour, or not, according]
Original Text · last edited 4 days ago
PURÉES. The bisque, or fish purée, is made in much the same way, using, when the shellfish is expensive, either bread crumb, rice, or a thick purée of fish (that from which the fish stock is made), to add to its volume and consistency, always diluting it with fish stock, and using fresh butter for the liaison in the case of a white bisque, or lobster, cray- fish, prawn, anchovy, or coralline-pepper butter in the case of red fish. A few drops of Burgess's essence of anchovy should always be added in these cases to the stock in which the breadcrumb, &c., is soaked. Lastly, the vegetable purées. For these a typical one for homely use is dried pea soup. Well wash the peas, to remove all dust. (Remember that peas, like lentils, beans, &c., should always be of the season in which they are used, for if they have been stored for over a year they are harder and propor- tionately more tasteless, even when they are not actually musty.) Now place the peas in a pan, with three pints of water, 3oz. or 4oz. of whole onions, 2oz. of celery (or celery seed tied up in a piece of muslin), three to four ounces of carrots, a bunch of herbs (parsley, thyme, &c.) and an ounce or so of salt (be careful not to overdo this.) Bring this all to the boil, then draw the pan to the side and let it all simmer steadily, till on pressing the peas between your fingers they will crush easily. To make them cook more quickly and tenderly, add to this stock during the cooking—from half hour to half hour—half a gill of cold water, never using in any case more than half pint of cold water in this way. (This replaces the ten to twelve hours soaking 38 SOUPS. formerly considered necessary for dried vegetables.) Let the stock just boil up again each time after adding the cold water, and as soon as the peas are nicely cooked drain them off, putting aside the liquor in which they cooked; now rub the peas through a wire sieve (or the tamis-pressoir mentioned above), moistening them with about a third of the liquor as you sieve them, then return this purée to the pan, with the rest of the liquor; allow it just to boil up, when you draw the pan to the side of the stove and let it stand for half an hour, stirring it now and again with a wooden spoon lest it should catch; you can then add the liaison in two ways. The French method is to slice down diagonally one or two ounces of breadcrumb, place this in the tureen with three or four ounces of butter, and pour the nearly boiling soup upon it, stirring the latter well to melt the butter; or you can rub up one ounce of cornflour, or ordinary flour, with about half a gill of cold milk, till perfectly smooth, then add this to about one and a half gills of boiling milk, stirring it altogether over the fire till it becomes a very smooth cream, and pour this, boiling, very gradually to the hot soup, stirring the two together very carefully till perfectly blended; then allow them to boil together for five to ten minutes, season- ing to taste with pepper, and salt if necessary, and serve. If, however, you use the latter method of thickening your pea soup, you must in the first place lightly fry the herbs in about one or two ounces of well clarified dripping or butter, before putting in the peas, allowing them to colour, or not, according
Notes
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