The special seasonings that make this soup good are mustard, butter and minced red pep- per, to be added at last. A little of the liquor from the boiling corned beef or a knuckle bone of ham will improve the flavor.
2 quarts of soup stock.
1 cupful of navy beans.
1 tablespoonful of minced onion.
Butter size of an egg (optional).
1 teaspoonful of made mustard.
Parsley, salt, little minced red pepper.
Make the soup stock by boiling almost any kind of meat and marrow bones in a gallon of water, with the usual soup bunch of various vegetables in it, untill the liquor is reduced nearly one-half. Then strain it and skim off the fat.
Boil the beans as directed at No. 319, with the pinch of soda to help dissolve them, and when perfectly soft mash them through a seive or gravy strainer. Have the stock boiling; pour it to the puree gradually and stir to mix. Throw in the minced onion. Set on the side of the range or on bricks on the stove top, and let simmer 15 or 20 minutes. Sea- son as already indicated. thickening along with the parsley over the surface.
Add a spoonful of mustard. Sprinkle Serve with crusts.
Whitehead’s Family Cook Book, 1891