Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking. Unknown

and pepper

      Soak beans in water overnight. Drain, add fresh water and cook slowly with the ham bone for 2 hours. Put in the onion, celery, potatoes, tomato sauce, parsley and the salt and pepper and simmer until vegetables are soft. Remove the ham bone, trim off any meat, cut it up and add to soup. Many Pennsylvania Dutch cooks cut up hard boiled eggs and add them to the soup.

      SPLIT PEA SOUP

      1 lb. split peas

      3 qts. water

      1 ham bone

      salt

      2 carrots, sliced

      1 stalk celery, chopped

      1 large onion, chopped

      pepper

      Wash peas, add cold water, vegetables and ham bone and simmer for three hours or until mixture is thick. Remove ham bone, force peas through coarse sieve and season to taste. Dilute with milk. Serve with toasted croutons.

      VEGETABLE SOUP

      1 soup bone

      2 lbs. stewing beef

      2 qts. water

      1 cup chopped onion

      1 cup chopped celery

      1 cup tomatoes

      2 tsp. salt

      black pepper

      Into 2 qts. of water put soup bone and beef and boil for 2 hours. For a hearty, substantial soup, cut up the meat in small pieces and return to the broth. Add tomatoes, onions and celery. Also add other available vegetables, such as diced potatoes, carrots, turnip, string beans, corn, peas, cabbage or chopped peppers. Boil until all vegetables are tender.

      MEAT FILLING for NOODLES

      1 cup ground beef

      2 tblsp. fat

      1 small onion

      ½ cup dry bread crumbs

      1 cup bread cubes

      salt and pepper

      2 tblsp. butter

      Make a recipe of noodle dough (see above). Roll thin, let dry and cut into 3 inch squares. Brown meat in hot fat with the onion and seasoning. Soak bread cubes in water and press dry then add to the meat. Spoon mixture on the center of the noodle squares, fold in half and seal edges, like little pillows. Drop the filled squares into salted boiling water and cook 8 to 10 minutes. Lift carefully with draining spoon to a serving dish and top with the half cup of bread crumbs which have been browned in butter.

      EGG BALLS FOR SOUP

      Rub the yolks of three or four hard boiled eggs to a smooth paste and salt. To these add two raw ones lightly beaten. Add enough flour to hold the paste together. Make into balls with floured hands and set in cool place until just before your soup comes off. Put the balls carefully into the soup and boil one minute.

      SPINACH FILLING for NOODLES

      2 lbs. raw spinach, chopped

      3 tblsp. butter

      salt and pepper

      1½ cups bread crumbs

      2 eggs

      Make a recipe of noodle dough (see above). Steam and brown the spinach in melted butter. Add the eggs, 1 cup of dry bread crumbs and the seasoning. Mix well, spoon mixture on noodle dough squares and proceed as above.

      SALSIFY or VEGETABLE OYSTER SOUP

      1½ cups diced salsify

      1½ cups water

      1 tblsp. vinegar

      1 tblsp. butter

      1 quart milk

      salt and pepper

      Scrub, scrape and clean salsify. Dice and cook in salted water, with 1 tablespoon of vinegar added, until tender. Drain, add butter and rich milk, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and serve with crackers.

      BEEF SOUP with DUMPLINGS

      1 soup bone

      2 lbs. stewing beef

      2 quarts water

      salt

      1½ cups flour

      1 egg

      ½ cup milk

      pepper

      Cook meat until tender and remove from the broth. Add water until you have 2 quarts of broth. Make dumplings by mixing beaten egg and milk into flour until about the consistency of pancake batter. Drop from teaspoon into the boiling broth to form small dumplings. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes.

      POTATO SOUP (Gruumbier Suupe)

      4 cups diced potatoes

      1 medium onion

      3 tblsp. flour

      1 tblsp. butter

      1 qt. milk

      1 egg, beaten

      salt and pepper

      parsley

      Boil potatoes and onion in small amount of water until soft. Add milk, salt and pepper then reheat. Brown flour in the butter and blend it slowly into the potato mixture. Add a little water to the beaten egg and stir into the soup. Let it cook for a few minutes and serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

      CHICKEN CORN SOUP

      1 stewing hen, about 4-lbs.

      4 qts. water

      1 onion, chopped

      10 ears corn

      ½ cup celery, chopped with leaves

      2 hard-boiled eggs

      salt and pepper

      rivels

      Put cut-up chicken and onion into the water and cook slowly until tender, add salt. Remove chicken, cut the meat into small (1-inch) pieces and return to broth, together with corn, which has been cut from the cob, celery and seasoning. Continue to simmer. Make rivels by combining 1 cup flour, a pinch of salt, 1 egg and a little milk. Mix well with fork or fingers to form small crumbs. Drop these into the soup, also the chopped, hard-boiled eggs. Boil for 15 minutes longer.

      CORN SOUP with RIVELS

      3 cups fresh or canned corn

      2 qts. water

      1 cup rich milk

      1⅓ cups flour

      1 egg

      3 tblsp. butter

      1½ tsp. salt

      parsley

      Cook corn in water for 10 minutes. Make a batter by mixing egg, flour and milk together. Pour this batter through a colander, letting it drop into the boiling corn. Add butter and salt. Cook slowly in a covered pan for 3 minutes. Garnish with chopped parsley. Soup should be eaten immediately after rivels are cooked.

      CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

      4 lb. chicken

      2½ qts. water

      2½ tsp. salt

      3 cups cooked noodles

      Cut a young stewing chicken into serving pieces, bring to a boil and simmer for 2½ hours, adding water as needed. Skim off the fat and add:

      1 tsp. peppercorns

      1 small onion, sliced

      1 carrot, sliced

      1 bay leaf

      1 tblsp. parsley, chopped

      salt and pepper

      Bring