FOOD VALUE OF CREAM SOUPS.—Since thin or clear soups contain much liquid, their food value is not as high as most solid foods. Cream Soups, however, are as concentrated as a potato; they are the most nourishing of all soups. The use of milk instead of water or stock and of flour and fat, to say nothing of vegetable pulp, increases their food value. Cream Soups are more suitable to serve at a meal of few courses such as luncheon or supper rather than at dinner where there is a greater variety of foods.

Thick soups may serve as a valuable part of a meal; a hot liquid taken into an empty stomach is easily assimilated, acts as an appetizer, and thus prepares for the digestion of the remainder of the meal.

CORN SOUP

1 can of corn 1 pint water l 1/2 tablespoonfuls butter or substitute 1 slice onion 2 tablespoonfuls flour 1 teaspoonful salt 1/8 teaspoonful white pepper 1 pint milk

Add the water to the canned corn and simmer 20 minutes. Melt the fat, add the onion, and cook until light brown. To this add the dry ingredients and proceed as in making White Sauce. Add the cooked corn and strain.

Reheat before serving, if necessary.

NOTE.—The method of adding onion flavor to this soup (i.e. browning onion in fat) is often used in the preparation of other foods, especially meats and sauces.

SOUP STICKS

Cut stale bread into slices, remove the crusts, and spread with butter.
Cut into strips and brown slowly in the oven. Save the crusts and prepare
Dried Bread Crumbs with them.

[Illustration: FIGURE 42.—DRIED BREAD CRUMBS. (Note that the jar is covered with a cloth.)]

DRIED BREAD CRUMBS

Dried Bread Crumbs may be prepared from crusts and small pieces of bread. Dry the bread in a slow oven or in a warming oven. Crumb it by rolling on a pastry board or putting it through a meat grinder. If fine crumbs are desired, sift the crushed bread. Place the fine and coarse crumbs in separate jars. Cover the jars by tying a piece of muslin over each. (The muslin covering can also be conveniently secured by means of a rubber band.) If each jar is tightly covered with a lid, air is excluded from the crumbs and molds often grow on them. Bread crumbs thoroughly dried and stored as directed will keep for several months (see Figure 42).

QUESTIONS

Explain why thick soup may serve as a valuable part of a meal.

Why is it served as the first course of a meal?

Is the mashed potato of Potato Soup strained before or after adding it to the other ingredients? When is the Corn Soup strained? How is the flavor extracted from the onion in preparing Potato Soup? How is the flavor extracted for Corn Soup? From this explain the difference in straining the soups.

If fresh corn were used for this soup, how would its cooking differ from that of canned corn?

How should fresh corn be cut from the cob for soup (see Green
Corn)?

What is the price per can of corn?

In preparing Soup Sticks, why are the crusts removed from the bread before buttering it? Why is the bread spread with butter before cutting it into strips? Aside from flavor, what is the purpose of spreading the bread for Soup Sticks with butter?

How should dried bread crumbs be covered for storing? Why?

What is the difference between soft bread crumbs (see note under recipe for Stuffed Tomatoes) and dried bread crumbs? Which should be used for scalloped dishes? Which for covering fried foods? Think of the dishes which contain bread crumbs and then state for which foods either kind of crumbs could be used. Explain.