Soups Out of Storage

“Mrs. Beeton’s Cookery and Household Management,” published in 1861, had it. Marion Harland’s “Complete Cookbook,” published in 1903, had it. “The Joy of Cooking,” published in 1931, had it. I taught it in my first cooking classes in 1968.

I’m talking about mulligatawny, one of the many soups we seem to have forgotten these days, along with boula-boula, cock-a-leekie, kreplach and Senegalese. Each had its moment of glory, but for a recipe to survive and continue to appear in cookbooks for 130 years is surely some kind of a triumph. I’ve never missed some of the old soups, and I’ve never even tasted others, but I’ve elected myself a rescue team of one to save a couple of them.

Mulligatawny and Senegalese are wonderful--and ideally suited for fall. You never know about the weather this time of the year; it can be cloudy and cold, or clear and hot. These antique soups will answer either climate. Senegalese is served chilled, with a spoonful of chutney in the center of the soup dish; hot mulligatawny comes with a dollop of steaming white rice.

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The lemon madeleines are a cross between cookies and small cakes. They are meant to go with either fresh or cooked fruit. Either soup will be nicely finished off with fruit and lemon madeleines.

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Sliced cold bananas are often served with this soup.

MULLIGATAWNY SOUP

Butter

1 cup chopped yellow onions

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup chopped celery with leaves

1 cup green pepper, seeded and diced

1 cup peeled, diced green apple

1 tablespoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

7 cups chicken broth

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup peeled and chopped tomatoes

Salt

Cayenne pepper

3 cups hot cooked rice

Melt 1/4 cup butter in soup pot. Add onions, carrots, celery, green pepper and apple. Cook, stirring occasionally, over low heat about 15 minutes.

Add 2 tablespoons butter to pot. Stir in curry powder, nutmeg, broth, cloves and tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and cayenne pepper. Stir well. Partially cover pot and simmer 30 to 40 minutes.

Ladle soup into bowls. Place 1/2 cup hot rice in center of each serving. Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

325 calories; 1,100 mg sodium; 32 mg cholesterol; 14 grams fat; 41 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams protein; 0.9 gram fiber.

SENEGALESE SOUP

1/4 cup butter

1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder

2 1/2 tablespoons flour

7 cups chicken broth

2 egg yolks

1/4 cup milk or half and half

Salt

1 1/2 cups slivered cooked chicken breast

1/2 cup chutney

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in curry powder and flour. Cook, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly add chicken broth, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth and blended. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

In bowl beat egg yolks and milk together until well mixed. Reduce heat to very low and stir egg and milk mixture into soup. Cook, being careful not to boil, until soup is slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Season to taste with salt. Then refrigerate until serving time.

Divide soup among 6 chilled bowls. Garnish with slivered chicken, putting spoonful of chutney in middle of each serving. Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

254 calories; 1,350 mg sodium; 131 mg cholesterol; 12 grams fat; 22 grams carbohydrates; 14 grams protein; 0.01 gram fiber.

LEMON MADELEINES

2 eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

Powdered sugar

In large mixing bowl combine eggs, sugar and lemon zest. Stir together until well mixed.

Set bowl over pan of simmering water, stirring constantly until batter feels warm to touch. Do not overheat.

Remove from heat and beat with electric mixer at high speed until batter is fluffy, pale yellow and tripled in volume, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla and salt.

Sift half of flour over batter and gently fold in only until mixed. Repeat with second half of flour, then gently fold in melted butter.

Spoon generous tablespoon batter into each well-buttered madeleine mold. Do not level batter. Bake at 400 degrees about 10 minutes, until edges are golden and madeleines lift easily out of mold.

Remove from oven and lift madeleines from mold with fork. Cool on rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar to taste before serving. Makes 12 madeleines.

Each madeleine contains about:

147 calories; 138 mg sodium; 56 mg cholesterol; 9 grams fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.03 gram fiber.

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