2 1/2 quarts water
Baking soda
2 slices onion
1 pint milk
1/8 teaspoonful pepper
l 1/4 teaspoonfuls salt
3 tablespoonfuls flour
2 tablespoonfuls butter or substitute
Soak the peas overnight; add soda and onion; and cook slowly until the
peas are soft. Press through a strainer. Make a White Sauce of the
remainder of the ingredients. Add the strained peas, heat, and serve.
Cooking a ham bone with the split peas changes the flavor.
GREEN PEA SOUP
1 pint or can of peas
1/2 teaspoonful sugar
1 pint liquid round peas and water
Pepper
1 teaspoonful salt
1 1/2 tablespoonfuls butter or substitute
1 pint milk
2 tablespoonfuls flour
Turn the peas into a saucepan; add the liquid, water, and sugar; and cook
until very soft. Press the peas through a strainer. Make a White Sauce of
the remaining ingredients. Add the strained peas, heat, and serve.
Peas too old to serve as a vegetable may be used for soup. Some of the
pods of fresh peas may be cooked with the peas.
CRISP CRACKERS
Spread thin crackers very lightly with butter. Brown in the oven and serve
with soup.
QUESTIONS
How should the water boil to prevent dried legumes from breaking (see
_Cooking Vegetables in Water_)?
What is the simplest way of thickening soup, if it is too thin? Too thick?
If a ham bone is cooked with split peas, what ingredient should be omitted
in making the soup? Why?
How many persons will these recipes for soup serve?
How many cupfuls in a pound of split peas? What is the cost per pound of
split peas? How much does one cupful of split peas increase in bulk by
soaking? What quantity of split peas would be equal to a can of peas? What
is the cost of a can of peas? How much is saved in making soup by using
split peas rather than green peas?
LESSON LXXIV
LEGUMES (C)
BEAN ROAST
1 cupful white beans, cooked
1 cupful roasted peanuts
1/2 cupful bread crumbs
1 teaspoonful salt
Speck pepper
1/2 cupful milk
Put the beans and peanuts through a food chopper, add the remaining
ingredients. Mix and shape into a loaf. Place in an oiled dish and bake 30
minutes in a moderate oven. Serve hot with Tomato Sauce.
PEANUT BUTTER SOUP
1 cupful peanut butter
1/2 cupful chopped celery
1 1/2 cupfuls water
3 cupfuls milk
2 teaspoonfuls salt
1/8 teaspoonful pepper
1 grated potato
Mix the peanut butter with I cupful of milk. Heat 2 cupfuls of milk in a
double boiler. Cook the celery in the water until the vegetable is tender.
Add the grated potato, cook, and stir until the mixture is thickened. Then
add it to the hot milk. Also add the peanut butter mixture and seasoning.
Heat until it is hot. Beat with a Dover egg beater. Serve hot.
Dried celery leaves may be used instead of fresh celery.
QUESTIONS
Mention the nutrients contained in the food materials of Bean Roast and
Peanut Butter Soup. Discuss the value of each nutrient.
Calculate the cost of Bean Roast. How many persons will it serve?
How many persons will one pound of chopped beef serve? Estimate the
difference in cost of one serving of Bean Roast and of Chopped Steak.
What is the purpose of grated potato in Peanut Butter Soup? What substance
could be substituted for the grated potato? State the method of mixing and
cooking if the substitution were made.
RELATED WORK
LESSON LXXV
COST OF FOOD
FOODS DIFFER GREATLY IN COST.--One pound of rice costs much less than one
pound of beefsteak. One cut of meat may cost less per pound than another.
Twenty-five cents buys much less in weight of sweetbreads than of
beefsteak.
Many factors other than difference in cost must, however, be taken into
consideration when determining the value of foods.
COST OF FOOD IN RELATION TO NUTRITIVE VALUE.--Foods differ in nutritive
value per pound. One pound of dried split peas contains more than three
times as much nutriment as one pound of fresh peas. The nutritive value of
a pound of sweetbreads is much less than that of a pound of beefsteak.
COST OF FOOD IN RELATION TO REFUSE.--Although one cut of meat may sell for
more than another, the higher priced one may be cheaper because there is
less waste. In most localities flank steak costs more per pound than
shoulder steak; yet flank steak is the cheaper meat because it is all
edible, while there is about one fifth waste in most shoulder steak. One
pays for some refuse even when purchasing eggs.
COST OF FOOD IN RELATION TO SEASON.--Most foods are higher in price when
out of season. Strawberries may cost seventy-five cents per quart in
February and twenty-five cents in the spring or summer months. An
unseasonable food is invariably expensive.
COST OF FOOD IN RELATION TO WEIGHT.--Food labels often contain valuable
information. The weight of the contents of a package, can, or bottle, and
sometimes the composition of food appears on them.
Packages, bottles, and cans of equal size do not always contain the same
quantity of foods. The shape or thickness of a container also affects the
quantity of its contents. By examining labels and noting weight and
composition, the price and quality of one brand of foods may be compared
with another.
Household scales are useful in checking up the weight of foods, such as
meats, fats, and vegetables. By weighing foods after they have been
purchased, a housekeeper can determine if a dealer is giving her that for
which she pays.
LESSENING THE COST OF FOODS.--There are many things, then, that the
thrifty buyer should take into consideration when purchasing foods. It is
one of the obligations of a woman who purchases and plans the foods for a
family to be careful of expense. The following statement concerning thrift
is both forceful and true:
"It is not beneath the dignity of any family to avoid useless expenditure
no matter how generous its income, and the intelligent housekeeper should
take as much pride in setting a good table, at a low price, as the
manufacturer does in lessening the cost of production in his
factory." [Footnote 56: _United States Department of Agriculture_,
Farmers' Bulletin 391, "Economical Use of Meat in the Home," p. 43.]
CALCULATION OF THE COST OF FOOD.--In counting the cost of foods, it is
necessary to know not only the price per pound, quart, dozen, or package,
but the measurement in cupfuls of the given weight. Most of the data for
the list given below can be obtained from labels on the containers and
from the notes on the weights and measures of various foods prepared from
the "Questions" of this text. The dashes indicate that data are not
required. The cost should be calculated to four decimal places.
FOODS COST MEASURE COST PER COST PER COST PER
PER IN CUPFUL TABLE- TEA-
POUND, CUPFULS SPOONFUL SPOONFUL
QUART, OF
ETC. POUND,
QUART,
ETC.
Apricots (dried) ----- -----
Baking Powder ----- -----
Beans, dried ----- -----
Butter
Butter
Substitute
Cheese ----- -----
Cocoa ----- -----
Coffee Heaping -----
Table-
spoonful
Corn-meal ----- -----
Corn-starch -----
Cream of Wheat ----- -----
Cream -----
Currants ----- -----
(dried)
Eggs (see ----- One -----
Experiment 41
Flour, white -----
Flour, whole wheat ----- -----
Flour, graham ----- -----
Gelatine -----
Lard -----
Macaroni ----- -----
Meat, chopped ----- -----
Milk ----- -----
Potatoes ----- One ----- -----
potato
Prunes (dried) ----- -----
Raisins (dried) ----- -----
Rice ----- -----
Rolled Oats ----- -----
Salt -----
Split Peas ----- -----
Sugar, brown ----- -----
Sugar, granulated ----- -----
Sugar, loaf One ----- -----
lump
Sugar, powdered ----- -----
Tapioca ----- -----
Tea -----
Vanilla ----- ----- -----
Vegetable Oil -----
Wheatena ----- -----
LESSON LXXVI
COOKING AND SERVING A BREAKFAST
Cook and serve a breakfast. The following menu is suggested: Oranges or
Baked Apples
Goldenrod Eggs
Baked Mush with Honey or Marmalade
Cocoa
Follow the English or family style of serving. Serve the breakfast with or
without a maid.
Calculate the cost of the meal. In determining the cost, use the data from
the previous lesson for the staple materials. The cost of fresh foods such
as oranges or apples may be secured from the one who did the marketing or
from the grocer's statement.
LESSON LXXVII
REVIEW: MEAL COOKING
MENU
Cereal with Fruit
Poached Egg on Toast
See Lesson XIV for suggestions regarding the preparation of the Lesson.
LESSON LXXVIII
HOME PROJECTS [Footnote 57: See Lesson IX]
SUGGESTIONS FOR HOME WORK.--Set the table for the evening meal each day.
Cook at least one tough cut of meat each week.
Suggested Aims:
(1) To lay the cloth smooth and straight.
(2) To place the dishes in a neat and orderly way on the table.
(3) To make as few trips as possible from the cupboard to the dining
table.
(4) To plan the entire number of dishes, knives, forks, spoons, and other
things needed during the meal, and then place these on the dining table or
other suitable place where they may be conveniently obtained when the meal
is being served.
(5) To prepare the tough meat so that it is tender, moist, and tasty.
(6) To determine the cost of meat.
DIVISION SEVEN
HEALTH AND GROWTH-PROMOTING FOODS,--RICH IN VITAMINES
LESSON LXXIX
VITAMINES--VEGETABLES OF DELICATE FLAVOR
VITAMINES.--In determining the proper diet for perfect nourishment,
scientists long since came to the conclusion that the body needed a
certain quantity of carbohydrates, fats, protein, ash, and water. They
were all agreed that all these foodstuffs needed to be represented in the
foods making up a day's diet. Scientists also found that these foodstuffs
must exist in a certain proportion in a day's food,--that there should be
enough of each of the foodstuffs to meet the needs of the body. A diet made
up of foods in which all the foodstuffs were represented in the proper
proportion was termed a _balanced ration_.
Investigations of recent years, however, show that these foodstuffs alone
do not afford perfect nourishment. Much valuable scientific work is being
done on the question of adequate diet. It is found that _certain
substances_ contained in foods in small amounts are absolutely essential
in diet. When animals are fed foods containing only the foodstuffs
mentioned above and none of these other substances, they cease growing,
become diseased, and eventually die.
These materials so necessary to the growth and maintenance of animal life
are termed _Vitamines_ by some authorities. There are three classes
of Vitamines, called _Fat-soluble A_, _Water-soluble B_, and
_Water-soluble C_. It is now believed that there is at least one more
vitamine.
Although vitamines exist in foods only in minute quantities it is
necessary to use foods containing all the kinds of vitamines to promote
growth and to keep in health.
Fat-soluble A, especially with certain minerals, is thought to prevent
rickets and a disease of the eye called xerophthalmia. During the war,
because of inadequate diet, many cases of these diseases developed in
Europe.
Water-soluble B is called the _anti-neuritic vitamine_ because it is
necessary to prevent a disease called polyneuritis or beri-beri (see
_Polished and Unpolished Rice_).
Water-soluble C is called the _anti-scorbutic vitamine_ because it is
necessary to prevent a disease called scurvy.
FOODS CONTAINING FAT-SOLUBLE A are _milk_, _eggs_, and _leafy
vegetables_. Leafy vegetables include: spinach, lettuce, celery tops,
beet tops, Swiss chard, collards, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and onions.
Milk products, such as butter and cheese, and cod-liver oil also contain
fat-soluble A. It is also thought to be present in certain vegetables such
as carrots, which are not leafy vegetables. Not all fat foods contain fat-
soluble A. It does not exist in the vegetable oils.
It has been demonstrated that foods rich in fat-soluble A, especially
milk, eggs, and leafy vegetables, are most essential in diet. According to
McCollum, dry leaves contain 3 to 5 times as much total ash as do seeds;
the former are also especially rich in the important elements calcium,
sodium, and chlorine, in which the seed is poorest. Hence leafy vegetables
not only abound in the growth-promoting vitamine but in certain essential
minerals. Cereals, root vegetables, and meat need to be supplemented with
milk and leafy vegetables. Because milk, eggs, and leafy vegetables are so
valuable and essential in diet, these foods have been termed _protective
foods_. Fresh milk contains fat-soluble A and a small quantity of
water-soluble B and water-soluble C. Its value as a food has been
previously discussed. Doubtless the leafy vegetables are not as generally
and as constantly used as they should be. Root vegetables and cereals seem
to be a much more popular form of vegetable food. The pupil should realize
the importance of these foods and when possible explain their use in her
home. Learning to prepare leafy vegetables so as to retain their nutriment
and to make them appetizing would doubtless do much in promoting their
use.
FOODS CONTAINING WATER-SOLUBLE B.--Water-soluble B is more widely
distributed in foods than is fat-soluble A. It occurs for the most part,
however, in vegetable foods. Plants containing this vitamine include
seeds, root, stem, and leafy vegetables. Whole grains, legumes, spinach,
cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions, turnips, beets, and tomatoes and all
other commonly used vegetables contain water-soluble B. It is thought that
the germ of whole grains, rather than the bran, furnishes water-soluble B.
Compressed yeast contains some of this vitamine, but none of the other
two.
FOODS CONTAINING WATER-SOLUBLE C include both animal and vegetable foods,
but fresh fruits and green vegetables contain the largest quantity. Orange
juice, lettuce, cabbage, and spinach are valuable sources of this
vitamine. Milk and meat contain only a very small quantity of water-
soluble C.
SAVING THE NUTRIMENT AND FLAVOR.--It was mentioned in _Suggestions for
Cooking Fresh Vegetables_ that a saving of ash in vegetables meant a
saving of both nutriment and flavor. If vegetables of delicate flavor are
to be made tasty, it is especially necessary to lose none of the ash
constituents. Note that in the methods of cooking the vegetables of
delicate flavor in this lesson that either the vegetables are cooked in
such a way that no moisture needs to be drained from them, or the
vegetable stock drained from them is used in making sauce for the
vegetable. By these methods both nutriment and flavor are retained.
SPINACH
1 pound or 1/2 peck spinach
1/2 tablespoonful salt
1/8 teaspoonful pepper
2 tablespoonfuls butter
If the spinach is at all wilted, place it in cold water until it becomes
fresh and crisp. Cut off the roots, break the leaves apart, and drop them
in a pan of water. Wash well, and then lift them into a second pan of
water; wash again, and continue until no sand appears in the bottom of the
pan. Lift from the water, drain, and place in a granite utensil, and add
the seasoning. Steam until tender (usually about 30 minutes). Add the
butter, cut the leaves with a knife and fork. Turn into a hot dish and
serve at once.
Spinach is most pleasing if served with a few drops of vinegar or a
combination of oil and vinegar. If desired, the pepper may be omitted and
1 tablespoonful of sugar added. Spinach may also be garnished with slices
of hard-cooked eggs, using 2 eggs to 1/2 peck of spinach.
Spinach may be cooked directly over the flame, as follows: wash the
spinach as directed above. Then drain, and place in a saucepan or
casserole. Do not add water unless the spinach is old. Add the seasoning,
cover, and cook for 10 minutes, pressing down and turning over the spinach
several times during the cooking. Cut with a knife and fork in the
saucepan or casserole. Add the butter, and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve at
once.
SCALLOPED SPINACH WITH CHEESE
1 pound spinach
1 cupful thick White Sauce
1/2 cupful cheese, cut in pieces
2 to 3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
2 cupfuls buttered bread crumbs
Wash the spinach and cook it by either of the methods given above. Season
it with 1/2 tablespoonful of salt.
Drain the moisture from the cooked spinach. Use this liquid combined with
milk for the liquid of the White Sauce. Season the sauce with 1/2
teaspoonful of salt and add the cheese to it. Stir the mixture until the
cheese is blended with the sauce.
Divide the spinach, sauce, and eggs into 2 portions and the bread crumbs
into 3 portions, as directed for Scalloped Corn. Place a layer of crumbs
in a baking-dish, add a layer of spinach, sauce, and eggs. Add another
layer of each material and finally the third layer of crumbs. Bake in a
moderate oven until the materials are heated and the crumbs browned. Serve
hot.
DRIED CELERY LEAVES [Footnote 58: The stems of celery from which the
leaves are cut, should be utilized. They may be used in a salad or cooked
and served with White Sauce as Creamed Celery. If the vegetable is cooked,
it should be steamed or cooked in a small quantity of boiling water. In
case the latter method is followed, the celery stock should be combined
with milk and used in the preparation of the White Sauce.]
Wash celery leaves and remove the stems. Place the leaves on a platter or
granite pan, cover with cheese-cloth, and set aside to dry. When perfectly
dry, crumble the leaves and place them in a covered jar. Use for flavoring
soups and stews.
QUESTIONS
In what kind of soil does spinach grow?
What is the advantage of using two pans in washing spinach?
What is the advantage of cooking in steam green vegetables of delicate
flavor?
If green vegetables are cooked in water, what is the advantage in using a
small, rather than a large quantity of water?
What is the price of spinach per pound or peck? How many persons does one
pound or peck serve?
What is the price of celery per bunch?
What vitamines are present in spinach and celery leaves and stems?
LESSON LXXX
VITAMINES--VEGETABLES OF STRONG FLAVOR
THE EFFECT OF COOKING AND DRYING VITAMINE-RICH FOODS.--Since vitamines are
so essential in food, the effect of cooking and drying upon the vitamine
content of a food needs to be considered. There has been some difference
of opinion regarding this matter. Indeed, the question of whether or not
vitamines of all vitamine-rich foods are destroyed by cooking and drying
has not been determined. It is thought, however, that fat-soluble A may be
destroyed in part by cooking at boiling temperature and that prolonged
cooking may almost entirely destroy it.
Water-soluble B is thought to be little affected by ordinary home cooking
processes. But when foods containing it are heated above boiling
temperature, as in commercial canning and cooking in the pressure cooker,
the vitamine is believed to be partially or completely destroyed. It is
thought the water-soluble B vitamine present in foods is destroyed by
cooking them in water to which baking soda or any alkali is added.
Water-soluble C is decidedly affected by heat. Vegetables cooked for even
twenty minutes at boiling temperature lose much of their usefulness in
preventing scurvy. It is thought, however, that very young carrots cooked
for a short time, and canned tomatoes, contain water-soluble C. Drying
also destroys to a great extent the anti-scorbutic effect of foods
containing water-soluble C. Most dried vegetables and fruits have been
found valueless in checking scurvy.
Since there is no question about the vitamine content of uncooked
vegetables, the use of salads containing lettuce and raw vegetables such
as cabbage and carrots should find favor. Spinach is a valuable food not
only because it
contains vitamines, but because it is rich in iron. Young beet tops so
often discarded contain too much valuable material to be wasted.
NUTRIMENT _VERSUS_ FLAVOR.--If vegetables of strong flavor are cooked
carefully in a large quantity of boiling water (at least 4 quarts), a mild
flavor results, but much of the ash is lost. If vegetables are steamed
there is little loss of ash but the strong flavor is retained. In the
cooking of cabbage, for example, investigation has shown that almost four
times as much ash may be lost by boiling as by steaming.
In the cooking of such vegetables as cabbage and onions the question
arises: Is it better to steam them and thus lose little nutriment but
preserve the strong flavor; or to boil them in much water and thus lose
much nutriment but secure delicate flavor? If strong cabbage flavor is not
distasteful, steam it or cook it in a small quantity of water by all
means. If delicate cabbage flavor is much more pleasing, cook it in much
water. Onions have such a strong flavor that most housekeepers prefer to
sacrifice nutriment for flavor.
CREAMED CABBAGE (Cooked in Much Water)
A head of cabbage should be cut into quarters and placed in cold water. If
it is wilted, it should remain in the water until freshened. Cook the
cabbage uncovered from 15 to 25 minutes in a large quantity of boiling
water (1 teaspoonful of salt to I quart of water). The time depends upon
the age of the cabbage. Drain well. With the knife and fork cut the
cabbage in the saucepan. (Do not discard the core of young cabbage since
it contains valuable nutrients.) Mix with White Sauce, using two parts of
cabbage to one of White Sauce. Heat and serve (see _Creamed and
Scalloped Vegetables_).
_Scalloped Cabbage_ may be prepared by placing creamed cabbage in a
baking-dish, covering with Buttered Crumbs and baking until the crumbs are
brown.
Instead of using White Sauce with the cabbage, butter (or substitute),
pepper, and more salt (if required) may be added. Use 1 tablespoonful of
butter (or substitute) to each pint of cabbage.
CABBAGE (COOKED IN LITTLE WATER)
Clean cabbage, then cut or chop both the leaves and core. Cook in a
_small quantity_ of boiling water from 15 to 25 minutes. The small
quantity of stock which remains after cooking should be served with the
vegetable to which butter (or substitute) and seasonings are added.
The stock may also be drained from the cabbage and used in making White
Sauce in which the vegetable is served.
CREAMED CABBAGE (STEAMED)
Cut and clean cabbage as directed above. Place in a granite utensil and
steam until tender (usually about 45 minutes). Cut the leaves and add
White Sauce as directed above.
ONIONS (COOKED IN MUCH WATER)
1 pound onions
1/2 cupful milk
1 to 2 tablespoonfuls butter
1/2 teaspoonful salt
Pepper
Peel and wash the onions; then cook uncovered in a large quantity of
boiling salted water; change the water at the end of 5 minutes and again
in 10 minutes; cook until tender. Drain; add milk and seasonings and cook
until the milk is hot.
NOTE.--It is advisable to save the water drained from onions, boil it
down, and use it in soups, stews, or hash for flavor.
Onions may also be served with White Sauce, or they may be scalloped,
_i.e._ cut into quarters, placed in a baking-dish, covered
with White Sauce and Buttered Crumbs, and then browned in the oven.
The stain and odor may be kept from the hands if onions are held under
water when peeled.
If onions are cooked uncovered in a _large quantity of gently boiling
water in a well-ventilated kitchen_, not much odor is noticed. The
fireless cooker, however, provides satisfactory means of cooking onions
without the disagreeable odor (see Lesson XXII). Place the onions in a
large quantity of water and boil for 5 minutes. Then cook in the fireless
cooker from 2 to 8 hours, according to the size and the age of the onions,
and the type of cooker.
QUESTIONS
Compare the three methods of cooking cabbage given in this lesson. State
the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Why should the core or thick stem of cabbage be used as food?
What is the price per pound of cabbage? What is the weight of one cabbage
of average size? Give suggestions for selecting a cabbage.
Why should onions be peeled under water?
What is the purpose of changing the water twice in cooking onions?
Why is it advisable to save the water drained from onions and use it in
soups and other foods?
What is the price per pound of onions? How many persons will one pound of
onions serve?
LESSON LXXXI
SALADS (A)