Crumb and Carrot Soup (1923)

Crumb and Carrot Soup
A Book of Unusual Soups
by Mary D. Chambers
1 lb. carrots, scraped and diced
¼ cup butter
2 leeks (white part only)
1 small onion
1 quart good stock
3 tbs flour
Salt and pepper
½ to 1 cup fine, sifted crumbs
Scrape a pound of carrots (from two to six carrots), cut in dice, and cook in one fourth cupful butter on a frying pan with the white part of two leeks and one small onion, chopped until the onions begin faintly to color the butter. Turn the contents of the pan into a pint of water, and simmer until the vegetables are soft. Strain, sift through a colander, return to the liquid in which they were cooked, and add a quart o good stock. Add three tablespoonsfuls of flour blended to a paste with a little cold water, stir until the mixture boils, season with salt and pepper to taste, and stir in before serving one half to one cup of fine, sifted crumbs. Six servings.
Accompaniments: A very few oysterettes or toasterettes may accompany this soup, but the addition of the crumbs makes another starchy accompaniment unnecessary, as when croutons are used there is similarly no need for another accompaniment of a starchy kind.
Garnishes: Leaves of cress, liberally added, are probably the best garnish for this soup. Green olives, stoned with or without a filling of some kind, are also good.
Did we eat it? Yes
Would I make it again: Probably not. I really wanted to like this one. It needed something. I added nutmeg and a little sugar to the leftovers. It helped. But the bread crumbs didn't seem to add to the soup. Maybe use croutons instead.
Notes: I am not a fan of thickening soup with flour and left the flour out.

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