Vegetables should be used soon after gathering, as they begin to
ferment and lose their wholesomeness as well as flavors very shortly.
As a rule put vegetables to cooking in boiling water, and bring to the
boiling point again as quickly as possible.
Cook green vegetables in salted water to preserve their shape and
color. A lump of white sugar in the saucepan is said to preserve the
color also, or a few drops of lemon juice, or charcoal tied in muslin.
Onions and cabbage should be cooked in salted water.
Cook roots and tubers in unsalted, and if possible soft water until
tender or nearly so; then add the salt and let them boil up well.
If roots have become withered soak them in water as nearly ice cold as
possible, for three or four hours or over night, before cooking.
Soak cauliflower and loose heads of cabbage in cold (not salted) water
for an hour or more. Drain and shake gently to dislodge insects, if any.
Pare all vegetables except turnips, as thin as possible.
Turnips should be pared inside the dark line encircling them, or they
will have a strong taste.
Parboiling leeks, onions, cabbage and old carrots renders them more
digestible and more agreeable to some.
All vegetables will require longer cooking at great altitude.
Milk or cream of raw or steamed (not roasted) nut butter may be
substituted for dairy milk or cream with nearly all vegetables.
Many vegetables are delightful to the cultivated taste served plain
with Brazil or other nuts. Thus we get the benefit of the fine delicate
flavors in the different foods instead of covering them up with sauces
and dressings.
More elaborate dishes of vegetables are given among entrées.
=Artichokes--Globe=
Soak artichokes for several hours or over night, drain, cut stalks
close, trim away the bottom leaves, clip the sharp points from the
leaves or cut off the tops straight across. Boil in salted water, if
possible with charcoal tied in piece of muslin, until tender enough for
the leaves to draw out easily, ¾-1 hour. Remove from water carefully
with flat wire beater or small skimmer. Drain upside down; serve whole
or in halves or quarters, with cream or egg cream sauce, drawn butter
or sauce Amèricaine poured around; or on a napkin on hot platter or
chop tray and pass sauce with them. Serve cold with French dressing.
It is a good plan to tie a strip of muslin around each artichoke before
boiling to hold it in shape, and to put an inverted plate upon them
while cooking to keep them down.
=Artichokes--Jerusalem=
Wash and boil artichokes with the skins on until tender, 30-40 m. If
they boil too long they may become tough. Drain, peel, and serve in
rich cream sauce. They may be peeled before boiling.
A still better way is to peel artichokes cut them into thick slices
and boil 15-20 m., then drain thoroughly and serve in cream, cream of
tomato or onion cream sauce.
Not containing any starch, Jerusalem artichokes are suitable for
salads, either cooked in slices and dried on a towel after draining, or
used raw in thin slices.
=Asparagus=
Select green asparagus for the table, the short bleached stalks are
tough and often bitter. Take care also that asparagus is fresh. The
tops of stale asparagus have the odor of spoiled flesh meat and are not
fit to use.
If not just from the garden, asparagus should stand in cold water ½-1
hour before cooking. Wash thoroughly, dipping the heads up and down in
a large quantity of water, shaking well to dislodge the sand.
As the different parts of the stalk vary in tenderness, the best way
to prepare and cook asparagus is to lay a handful of stalks on a
vegetable board and holding it with the left hand, with a large sharp
knife cut off the tips about 1½ in. from the end, and if the next part
is very tender, cut off 1 in. more to go with the tips. Then cut inch
lengths of the next that is of about equal tenderness, and lastly, the
remaining part of the stalk that is not tough. The tough part save to
flavor soups or sauces, or, reject entirely.
To cook, throw the third lot, that nearest the tough part, into boiling
salted water, boil for 10 m., add the second lot, boil 10 m., throw in
the top part and boil 10-15 m., or until tips are just tender. By this
method the asparagus is all nice and tender and the tips are whole.
When desiring to serve in longer pieces, lay on the board as before and
cut 4 or 5 in. from the top (reserving the remaining part for soups or
scallops). Tie into neat bundles with strips of muslin. Stand these
bundles in rapidly boiling, salted water with the heads well out. Cook
from 20 to 30 m., when the stalks will be tender and not decapitated.
Asparagus is one of the vegetables that will not admit of many
combinations; such only as develop and preserve its characteristic
flavor are suitable.
=Asparagus--Cream or Butter=
Cook in short pieces as directed; drain or leave the water on (there
should be but little); add without stirring a little heavy cream; bring
just to the boiling point, remove from the fire, add more salt if
necessary, shaking gently to dissolve it, and serve in vegetable dish
with or without points of toast around the edge.
Butter may be substituted for cream.
=Asparagus--Egg Cream Sauce=
Lay cooked asparagus in small pieces on hot moistened toast of any
desired shape, on tray or platter, and pour egg cream sauce, around.
It may also be served the same with a nice rich cream sauce, or with
either sauce in pastry crusts for Asparagus en Croustade.
=Asparagus--Drawn Butter=
On large, slightly moistened toast points on a platter, pile long
pieces of asparagus cooked according to directions (enough for one
serving on each piece of toast), the heads all one way, and put a
generous spoonful of drawn butter on each. Or the sauce may be put on
when serving.
=Asparagus--Sauce Amèricaine and Spinach Leaves=
Lay asparagus on hot platter with heads toward each end and stem ends
just meeting in center; surround with border of salad leaves of spinach
and place same across the asparagus where the stems meet. Serve leaves
with asparagus, and pass sauce Amèricaine.
=String Beans--Cream, Nut or Dairy=
String beans should be gathered before the pods begin to show the shape
of the bean much.
To prepare, break the blossom end back and pull off the string from
that side, then break the stem the other way and remove the string from
that side. Wash beans well and if they have not been crisped before
stringing, let them lie in cold (ice, if possible) water a half hour
or longer. Drain, take in handfuls on to the vegetable board and cut
into ¾ in. lengths (cut diagonally instead of straight across when
preferred). Throw into boiling salted water and boil until tender,
1-3 hours. Drain, saving the water for soups or to make drawn butter
sometimes for the beans. Cover with cream, heat, remove from fire, add
salt, serve.
Cream from raw nut butter may be added to the beans about ½ hour before
they are done instead of using dairy cream.
Cream sauce of either nut or dairy milk may be served over beans on
toast if desired.
Wax and stringless beans are prepared and cooked the same except that
_young_ stringless beans have no strings. Any of the varieties may be
cooked in whole pods when desired but will require a longer time for
cooking. Flowering or scarlet runner beans are used for string beans
when the pods are very young.
=String Beans--Nut and Tomato Bisque Sauce=
Prepare beans as above and cover with sauce 5, made of either raw or
roasted nut butter.
=Shelled Green Beans=
Wash beans before shelling and not after, cook in boiling salted water
until tender, the time varying according to the variety. Allow plenty
of time as beans are richer in flavor if simmered or kept hot for some
time after they are tender.
They may be served with different sauces, but it seems too bad to spoil
their delightful flavors with anything but salt, or a little cream or
butter, nut or dairy.
=Flowering Beans--Green=
The large pole beans with red and white blossoms have the richest
flavor of all shelled beans. After shelling, put beans into cold water,
let them heat slowly to the boiling point and boil 5-10 m. Drain, let
cold water run over them in the colander. Return to the fire with
boiling salted water and cook until tender, considerably longer than
other shelled beans. Serve plain, or with a little cream poured over
and shaken (not stirred) into them a few minutes before removing from
the fire. If one has the time to hull these and Lima beans, it may be
done.
_To Hull_--Boil beans about half an hour (or until the skins are
loosened) in unsalted water. Drain and slip the hulls off with the
thumb and finger.
Cook after hulling in double boiler or very gently on back of stove,
adding seasoning before they are quite tender which will be in a much
shorter time than with the hulls on.
=Beets=
Beets should be fresh, plump and firm. If slightly withered, they may
be freshened by standing in cold water over night. But if much withered
do not waste time and fuel in trying to cook them, as they will be
bitter and tough with any amount of cooking. Use care in handling beets
before cooking so as not to break the skins. If the skins are broken
the flavor and sweetness of the beet will be lost in the water. Press
with thumb and finger to find when they are tender rather than to
puncture with a knife or fork.
Put to cooking in perfectly boiling water. Boil steadily until tender,
when remove at once from the fire as over-cooking toughens them, throw
into cold water a moment and rub off the skins. Serve plain, whole if
small, or cut into quarters if large; or, slice and pour over a hot
mixture of lemon juice and sugar (part water and a trifle of salt may
be used), or hot cream with salt, or salt and olive oil.
Small young beets, right from the garden, will cook in from 20 m. to 1
hr. Large, old ones in winter will require 3-5 hours.
=Pickled Beets=
Let sliced beets stand over night in sauce 79.
=Broccoli=
This is a vegetable grown in cool climates, similar to cauliflower,
more hardy but not so fine in quality. Follow directions for cooking
and serving cauliflower, except that broccoli requires about 20 m. only
for cooking.
=Brussels Sprouts=
Wash, pick off outside leaves, lay in cold water ½-1 hour, drain. Boil
in salted water (in cheese cloth if convenient), 15-30 m., according to
age; do not cook until soft. Drain carefully, pile in center of dish;
serve with hot cream poured over, or with sauce 16, 19, 34, 57, olive
oil or French dressing. May add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to each ½
cup of 34.
=Cabbage--Plain Boiled=
Trim cabbage and if not very crisp let stand in cold or ice water 1 hr.
or over night. Drain, cut into sixths, eighths or any number of pieces
1-1½ in. across the broadest part. Lay in sufficient boiling salted
water to cover; let come to the boiling point and set back on the
stove where it will simmer gently ½-¾ of an hour, until tender only,
and still perfectly white. Drain and lay on to hot dish with pieces
overlapping. Serve at once.
Until one has tried it, he will not know how delightfully sweet this
cabbage is, perfectly plain, eaten slowly with Brazil nuts, filberts,
almonds or English walnuts. It may be served with olive oil or lemon
juice, or with both together or with sauce 16, 34 or 57, or with the
sour cream or sour milk salad dressing without cooling. Use two eggs in
dressing when serving warm.
If cooked until it begins to turn dark, cabbage will have a strong
flavor and will be indigestible.
_To Parboil_--Put at first into a large quantity of unsalted boiling
water, cook 15 m., drain carefully, sprinkle with salt, pour boiling
water over and proceed as above.
=My Mother’s Cabbage, or Cabbage in Cream=
Shave crisp cabbage fine, cook in boiling salted water 20-30 m., until
just tender and still white. Drain, pour in cream, heat to almost
boiling, serve.
_For Sour Cabbage_--Add a little lemon juice instead of or with cream
and more salt if necessary.
=★ Cabbage in Tomato=
Prepare cabbage as in preceding recipe, cook for 20 m., drain, add
stewed tomatoes (not too juicy, they may be strained if preferred)
with salt and cook until cabbage is tender. This is an unusually fine
combination and very suitable to accompany a hearty nut meat dish such
as broiled trumese. A little cream may be added just before serving,
but the dish is complete without it.
=Cabbage and Corn=
Heat together 2 parts of stewed cabbage and 1 part of corn with cream,
nut or dairy.
=Sweet Sour Cabbage=
1 qt. fine shaved cabbage
¾ cup water
2 tablespns. oil or butter
1 level teaspn. salt
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspn. caraway seeds
¼ cup lemon juice
Cook cabbage in water 15-20 m., then add the other ingredients and
simmer slowly until the cabbage is tender.
=Cabbage with Nuts and Raisins=
Season stewed cabbage with cream--cocoanut, almond or dairy, or with
butter; add stewed raisins and sprinkle chopped nuts over just before
serving. May garnish with halves of nuts.
=Carrots=
Carrots being among the most healthful vegetables should be used
freely, and with a little care they may be made exceedingly palatable.
Unless very fresh, let carrots stand in cold water for some time before
paring. When they are full grown, or late in the season, parboil them
to remove the strong taste.
It will require from 20 m. to 1½ hr. to cook carrots tender, according
to the age and the sizes into which they are cut. A little chopped
parsley makes a pretty combination with most of the dishes.
=Carrots--Minced=
Scrape or pare carrots, cut into strips, grind in food cutter coarse or
fine as preferred, cook in water until tender, add salt, boil, drain.
Add a little cream, cream sauce, butter or oil, reheat, serve. Add
a trifle of sugar to cream sauce or cream. Carrots may be ground or
rubbed through colander after boiling.
=Carrots--Stewed=
Cut pared carrots into quarters, sixths or eighths, lengthwise, then
across in quarter inch slices in the largest part and gradually thicker
toward the small end; or if carrots are small and of uniform size they
may be cut in whole round slices. Cook until tender, drain, and reheat
with cream, or sauce 16 or 28, to each pint of which a teaspoonful of
sugar has been added, or add butter and lemon juice, sauce 1, 2 or 34.
=Carrots à la Washington=
1 qt. sliced or diced carrots
1 cup to 1 pint sliced onions
¼ cup strained tomato
½ tablespn. browned flour
¾-1 teaspn. salt
1 tablespn. raw nut butter if desired
Cook all together in a small quantity of water until carrots are tender
and well dried out.
=Pickled Carrots=
Pour sauce 79, over sliced cooked carrots, cover and let stand for
several hours.
=Carrots and Peas--Better than either alone=
Mix 1 part stewed carrots and 2 parts cooked green peas. Add cream or
cream sauce, heat and serve.
Or, the carrots may be cooked in slices, laid overlapping around edge
of flat dish, with peas piled in center and sauce poured around.
=Carrots and String Beans--Excellent=
Equal quantities cooked string beans and carrots with cream or cream
sauce. If preferred, the beans may be cooked whole and the carrots cut
into strips.
=Carrots and Onions=
Pour hot cream over a mixture of stewed onions and carrots; heat and
serve.
=Carrots and Beets=
Heat mixture for pickled carrots, add 1 part carrots and 2 parts beets;
serve as soon as hot. Butter, lemon juice and salt may be used instead
of the dressing.
=Carrots and Corn--Delightful=
To equal quantities of stewed carrots and corn add cream or thin rich
cream sauce; heat, serve. If the corn is dried corn, especially dried
yellow sweet corn, the dish is most delightful.
=Carrots and Succotash=
1 part each carrots and beans with 2 parts corn; season with cream or
with milk and butter.
=Cauliflower=
While cauliflower is a delightfully delicate vegetable when properly
cooked, it is easily rendered strong and disagreeable. It should be
cooked until tender only, 15-25 m. in constantly boiling liquid,
either slightly salted water, or milk and water (⅓ milk), salted. Tie
loosely in cheese cloth or muslin to prevent any particles of scum
from settling on it and to keep the flowerets whole, then drop into a
sufficient quantity of rapidly boiling liquid to cover it.
It should not lose its snowy whiteness in cooking. 5 m. of over-cooking
will ruin it. The milk helps to keep it white and gives it a richer
flavor.
To serve whole, trim off the outside leaves, leaving the inside green
leaves on, and cut the stalk close. When done, lay carefully in a round
dish and pour sauce over or around it. If the head is a perfect one, do
not cover its beauty with sauce.
Sauce 16, 18 or 75 or 34 plain or with lemon juice, are all suitable
for the heads, and when broken into flowerets it is delightful with hot
rich cream poured over it. Salt and oil, with or without lemon juice
may also be used.
Nice perfect flowerets with Sauce Amèricaine or any suitable sauce may
be used as a garnish for timbales and other true meat dishes.
For salad, let cooked cauliflower stand in cold water until ready to
serve.
=Celery--Raw=
Trim off the coarse outside stalks, leaving about an inch of the root
stalk; then cut the whole stalk into quarters or sixths from the bottom
up, and throw into ice water until well crisped. If there should be
dirt between the stalks it will be necessary to cut them off and brush
each one separately with a vegetable brush. Throw the tender inside
stalks into water to be served raw, and reserve the outside ones for
cooking.
It is said that wilted celery may be restored to crispness by dipping
into hot water or laying a few minutes in warm water, then plunging
into ice water.
=Celery--Mint Sauce=
Cut tender stalks of celery across as fine as possible, cover with
cold fresh mint sauce and serve in dainty cups with suitable true meat
dishes.
=Celery--Stewed=
Cut tender stalks of celery (not those that are fit for flavoring only)
into half-inch lengths, by handfuls on board with large knife. Put into
boiling salted water and boil 30-35 m., or until just tender. Drain
(there should not be much water left), pour cream or sauce over, let
stand over hot water 10-20 m. Serve by itself or on toast. Sauce 16,
plain, with a few drops of lemon juice in it, or made with half water
in which the celery was cooked, or 34, 57 or 31 (when using 31, of
course it should not stand over hot water) are all enjoyable with it.
=★ Celery in Tomato=
Stew celery as above in just enough water to cook, for 25 m. and have
very little water, if any, remaining; then add enough strained or
unstrained stewed tomato to nearly cover, and simmer until celery is
tender and tomato cooked away a little. The combination of the flavors
of celery and tomato is unusually fine. The addition just before
serving of a little heavy cream makes the dish still more delicious.
=Chard--Swiss=
Swiss Chard or Spinach Beet, affords two distinct dishes from the same
plant at one time. Strip the leafy part of the foliage from the stalk
and cook as greens. Cook and serve the stalks the same as asparagus.
The leaves and stalks may be cooked together as greens.
Young shoots of poke or scoke are sometimes served as “French Chard.”
=Corn--Green=
The earliest varieties of green corn are never very sweet. By far the
richest and sweetest are the yellow kinds, though the dark purple or
black almost equals them. There are also some medium or later varieties
of white corn that are excellent.
Corn is at its best the day it is gathered. When not perfectly fresh,
cook corn in almost any other way than on the cob. Never cook it in
salted water as salt hardens it. Corn requires the least salt for
seasoning of any vegetable.
=Corn--On the Cob=
Husk nice fresh corn and put it over the fire in cold water. When just
at the boiling point, but not boiling, remove from the fire. Let it
stand in the hot water where it will not boil until ready to serve.
Serve in a dish on a napkin covered with another napkin, or in a close
covered dish, as a few moments’ exposure to the air toughens it. In
eating, score each row with one tine of the fork so that the hulls will
be left on the cob, unless you have a corn slitter.
=Corn--Boiled=
Put husked corn into boiling water and boil rapidly for 5-15 m.,
usually about 10 m., as that which requires 12-15 m. cooking is really
too old to cook on the cob. Young, tender corn will cook in 5 m. Long
boiling destroys the sweetness of corn and renders it tough.
=Corn--Steamed=
Wrap ears of corn in cheese cloth and steam for 15-20 m.
[Illustration: CORN SLITTER--FOR INDIVIDUAL USE AT TABLE]
Hold the ear of corn with one hand and draw the slitter with slight
pressure. Three or four strokes will slit every grain on the cob. It
does not remove the corn from the cob but cuts the hull of every grain.
The delicious corn is obtained with the slightest pressure of the
teeth, leaving the hulls on the cob.
_To Prepare Corn for Muffins, Oysters, etc._--Slit the grains as
described above, then, holding the slitter in the same position but
elevating the hand use the front of the slitter as a scoop and push the
corn into a dish.
=Corn--Baked, Boiled or Steamed in Husks=
Select nice tender ears of uniform size. Open the husks and remove the
silk, then tie the husks close in place. A few of the heavy outside
husks should be removed. Bake the ears in a _hot_ oven, separate from
each other, 15-20 m., remove the husks quickly and serve covered.
Or prepare in the same way and after tying, cut off the stalk and point
of the ear and boil rapidly for 10-12 m. or steam for 10-20 m. Serve in
the husks on napkin. The husks give a sweet flavor to the corn and help
to keep it warm when they are not removed before serving.
=Corn--Roasted--Best of All=
Place husked corn in wire broiler or large corn popper and hold close
to bed of hot coals, or lay on gridiron over the coals, turning
the ears as necessary. The ears may be laid on the coals when more
convenient and turned often, or they may be roasted in a _very hot_
oven.
=Corn--Stewed=
If corn is quite old, grate the outside of each ear on a coarse
grater and scrape out the remaining pulp with the back of a knife.
Cook carefully in oiled saucepan on ring or asbestos pad, in a small
quantity of water 8-12 m.; add sugar, to give the sweetness of young
corn, salt and a little cream, cream sauce or butter. Heat, serve.
When corn is not too old, the nicest way to prepare it is to draw a
knife down each row of kernels, then with a large sharp knife cut a
thin shaving from each two rows and scrape the pulp from the cob with
the back of a knife. Cook the part cut off in boiling water for 5 m.,
then add the pulp and cook carefully 5-8 m. longer. Season as for
grated corn, omitting the sugar if corn is sweet.
=In Milk=--Cook either way in milk in double boiler 20-30 m., and
season as desired.
=Corn--Baked=
Prepare corn in either of the ways given for stewed corn; add salt,
sugar if necessary, and enough rich milk to cover. Bake in hot oven
15-20 m.
=Corn--Dried=
Cover dried corn ½ in. (or more) deep with warm water, let stand over
night. In the morning set in warm place and shortly before serving time
increase the heat gradually until it is about at the boiling point, but
not boiling. Season with a little cream, milk or butter, or with cream
of raw or steamed nut butter and salt; heat, serve.
Or, cover with warm water 1½-2 hours before meal time and keep hot
(covered) on the back of the stove. Just before serving, season and
heat just to boiling.
Or, best of all, cover quite deep with cold milk, let stand in cold
place over night, cook in double boiler 1 hr. or longer, season, serve.
=Cucumbers=
The fruit of the cucumber vine “serves to introduce a large quantity
of water into the system and is a refreshing addition to richer
foods, especially in hot weather, when its crisp, cool succulence is
peculiarly acceptable.”--_Church._
One unusually successful physician used to recommend cucumbers because
they were “so crisp and easily digested.”
Cucumbers should be gathered in the early morning, laid in ice water
for an hour or two, then kept in the ice box or on the cellar bottom
until serving time. Or, when they come from the market, they should be
put at once into ice water and kept in it until thoroughly refreshed.
Cucumbers are nearly always left on the vines until they are too old.
Many never know the delightful flavor of cucumbers in which the seeds
are just formed but not developed.
=Cucumbers au Naturel=
Pare nice crisp cucumbers, cut in quarters lengthwise and serve on a
flat dish, to be eaten with or without salt the same as celery. This is
by far the most enjoyable way to serve cucumbers.
=Sliced Cucumbers=
Pare and slice cucumbers in not too thin slices. Pass lemon juice, salt
and oil with them. Some prefer them with salt and oil only; others with
lemon juice and salt.
If not thoroughly crisp, or if prepared some time before serving, lay
in ice water without salt. Salt wilts and toughens them.
=Stewed Cucumbers=
Pare cucumbers, cut into halves lengthwise, crosswise also if long. If
seeds are large, remove them, but younger fruit is better.
Lay the pieces cut side down in perfectly boiling unsalted water. When
nearly tender 15-20 m., add a little salt to the water and finish
cooking. They should be just tender, not soft when done. They will take
about 20-25 m. cooking in all, never over 30 m. Drain thoroughly. Serve
with sauce 75, 34, 28 or 29 or with 16 made of cocoanut or dairy milk.
On toast, with egg cream sauce like asparagus, they are especially
nice. Sprinkle chopped parsley in the sauce.
=Egg Plant=
Egg plant belongs to the family of the deadly night-shade, the same as
the potato, tomato, peppers and tobacco, and contains an irritating
principle which should be removed by thorough parboiling when used.
=Egg Plant in Batter=
Cut egg-plant into ½-¾ in. slices, put into a large quantity of cold
water, heat to boiling and boil 5 m.; drain, repeat the process, add
salt to the third water and boil until just tender; drain thoroughly.
Drop spoonfuls of the following batter on well oiled griddle or
dripping pan, lay on slices of the egg plant and cover with the batter.
Brown delicately on both sides on the griddle or bake in a quick oven
to a delicate brown. Serve at once.
_Batter_--
2 tablespns. oil or melted butter
3 tablespns. flour
1½ cup boiling water
2 eggs
⅓ teaspn. salt
5 tablespns. stale graham bread crumbs,
or enough to make a batter of the right consistency
Heat oil (without browning), add flour, stir smooth, add water,
stirring; when smooth, remove from fire, add beaten eggs, salt and
crumbs.
=Greens=
One of the many advantages that the country dweller has over those
who live in the city is the great variety of “greens,” as we call the
edible weeds, nearly all of which are superior in flavor to the much
prized spinach.
There is _narrow or sour dock_, easily distinguished from the
broad-leaved (which is not edible) by its long, slender leaf curled on
the edges; the _dandelion_, which should be gathered before the buds
appear or at least when they are just peeping out, as the greens are
bitter when the buds are well developed; _milkweed_, of which we use
only the tips unless the stalks are small and tender: _pigweed_, _red
root_, _lamb’s quarters_, _purslane_ or “pusley,” with _poke shoots_,
the garden _turnip tops_, _cabbage sprouts_, young _beet tops_ and
_endive_.
Some are better in combinations, such as milkweed and narrow dock,
narrow dock and pigweed, milkweed and purslane and purslane and beet
tops.
Do not try to wash greens in a small quantity of water. Put them when
first gathered into a large vessel, a wash boiler, a tub or a deep sink
in which the water will be deep enough to “swash” them up and down with
the hands. When they are thoroughly revived _lift_ them from the water
(do not drain the water off), empty the vessel, rinse it well and take
another quantity of water. Continue the washing, changing the water
until no sand is found in the bottom of the vessel.
Dandelion and some other greens require trimming and looking over
carefully after reviving before the final washing.
When ready to cook, throw greens into an abundance of boiling salted
water and cook until tender.
The time required for cooking varies; narrow dock requires 20 m.,
purslane a little longer, pigweed 40 m., milkweed 2-3 hours, beet
greens 2½-3 hours, and dandelions 3½-4 hours. It is a good plan to
parboil dandelions.
When greens are perfectly tender, lift them carefully with a skimmer
from the water into a colander and press with a plate until as dry as
possible.
The water from all greens (except dandelion if at all bitter and too
large a quantity of narrow dock) is invaluable for soup stock, so pour
it off carefully from the sand that may be in the bottom of the kettle
even after the most careful washing.
When the leaves are long and stringy it is well to cut across the mass
of greens a few times before serving, but the flavor and character are
much impaired by too fine chopping.
Pass oil, lemon juice or quarters of lemon, French or Improved
Mayonnaise dressing, or Sauce Amèricaine with greens.
=Poke Shoots=--scoke--pigeon berry weed, and young, tender milkweed
stalks may be prepared and served the same as asparagus. Do not use
poke shoots after the leaves begin to unfold.
Canned greens make as valuable an addition to the winter supplies as
canned corn or peas.
=Kale=--borecole, should not be used until after heavy frosts in the
fall. Cook as other greens in boiling salted water 30-45 m. and serve
the same. If desired, raw nut butter may be added to the water in which
it is cooked; then lemon juice only will be required with it. It may
also be cooked with tomato, the same as cabbage, by being chopped or
cut fine before cooking. Onion and raw nut butter may be added to the
tomato.
=Okra--Stewed Whole=
Use only young, tender pods, cut off the stems, wash well and cook in
a small quantity of salted water (about 1 cup to each quart of okra)
for 30 m. or until tender. Season with cream, dairy or almond, or with
butter. Or, drain if any water remains, and pour over it a hot French
dressing. Melted butter may be used in the dressing instead of oil.
Never cook okra in an iron vessel.
=Okra--Sliced, Stewed=
Slice pods of okra across and cook with 1 cup of salted water to each
pint of okra until tender, 25-30 m. Drain or not, according to what is
to be added. Stewed tomatoes, strained or unstrained, almond or dairy
cream, sauce 16, 18, 19, or 34, or hot French dressing may be poured
over it. When strained tomatoes are used, the okra and tomato should
simmer together about 10 m. Add a little heavy cream, butter or oil and
salt just before serving.
=Onions--Boiled=
Select onions of about equal size. Peel them, then at the root end cut
into the onion about ⅓ of the way at right angles. This causes the
onion to cook tender at the heart. Let stand in cold water 20 m. to 1
hour. Put into boiling salted water and cook until tender, ¾-1½ hour.
The water may be changed after 15 m. boiling. Drain, add cream, cream
sauce or butter, heat a moment (do not boil with cream), serve. Some
prefer onions plain with a little of the liquid in which they were
boiled.
Drain young onions slightly when about half done, pour on milk and
simmer until tender.
=Onions--Stewed=
Cut peeled onions into halves, then into quarters, and slice across in
thin slices. Put into just enough boiling salted water to cook tender;
dry out well and serve plain or add a little oil or melted butter,
hot cream or cream sauce. Serve sometimes over plain boiled or mashed
potatoes. Raw or steamed nut butter may be cooked with the onions.
=Onions--Baked=
Select large, perfect onions; peel, and boil until about half done;
drain, put into a baking pan, sprinkle with salt and crumbs, pour a
little oil or melted butter over and bake, covered part of the time,
until tender.
Onions may be dried after boiling, wrapped in oiled paper, baked and
served with melted butter or cream sauce.
=Onions--Raw=
Slice onions and let them lie in cold water (no salt) for an hour or
more, changing the water occasionally. Drain, dry and serve with salt,
salt and oil or lemon juice or with French dressing. If in a hurry to
use them, dip sliced onions quickly into boiling water, then into cold
water and serve as before. Sprigs of parsley are sometimes passed after
dishes containing onions to destroy the odor in the breath.
=Oyster Plant=
Oyster plant--vegetable oyster--salsify, is one of the most delightful
vegetables. It should not be used until after heavy frosts and is at
its best in the spring after being in the ground all winter. Whatever
is dug more than is to be used each time, should be kept in sand in a
cool place.
To prepare for cooking, soak in cold water 3 or 4 hours, or over night.
Scrape on a vegetable board with a knife and drop each root into a
large quantity of cold water as soon as scraped to keep it from turning
dark.
When very fresh, oyster plant will cook in 10 m., but late in the
season it often requires a half hour. Cook until tender only, not soft.
The flavor of the oyster plant is in the water, so there should always
be some liquid left to form part of the sauce.
A little cream is required to develop the flavor of oyster plant.
Water and cream are better than milk.
Milk and a little butter may be used when cream is not obtainable. Raw
or steamed nut butter may be used in place of either, and olive oil
instead of butter gives an appropriate flavor.
If there should be dark spots through the oyster plant, be sure that
every particle is removed, as one little piece with a dark spot in it
will flavor the whole dish.
The carbohydrates of oyster plant do not include starch.
=Stewed or Creamed Oyster Plant=
Cut scraped roots into slices ¼-⅓ in. thick according to size, and drop
into the water in which they are to be cooked, an equal quantity,
usually. Boil without salt for 10-25 m. When nearly tender, add salt.
To the oyster plant liquor, add a little heavy cream, and when boiling,
add flour blended with water to make of a creamy consistency; salt if
necessary. Chopped parsley may sometimes be added, and a little celery
salt occasionally, but oyster plant will not admit of the addition of
many flavors. If to be served on toast or rice, or in a rice border, a
little onion juice may be added.
=Oyster Plant with Drawn Butter Sauce=
Cook oyster plant in 2-in. lengths in a small quantity of water. Add
sauce 40, heat, serve on toast or rice.
=Oyster Plant with Celery or Corn=
Use ⅓ or ½ cooked celery or corn in recipe for stewed oyster plant.
Any of these dishes may be served as a second course at dinner with
beaten biscuit with or without ripe olives.
=Parsley=
When parsley is fresh, wash, shake and keep in a thick paper sack near
the ice. When withered, put at once into ice water until refreshed.
To dry, pick off the leaves and stand in a warm place. It is better
than not any when fresh is not obtainable.
=Parsnips=
The parsnip is another vegetable not good until after heavy frosts,
and is much sweeter and richer in flavor when left in the ground until
spring.
=Boiled Parsnips=
Scrape or pare parsnips, cut into halves or thirds in flat slices
lengthwise; cook in boiling salted water until just tender, 20 m. to 1
hour according to age and size. Serve plain or with hot cream or butter
poured over.
Parsnips may be steamed instead of boiled.
=Stewed Parsnips=
Cut parsnips into slices crosswise, ½-¾ in. thick, or if large, cut
into quarters first, then slice. Cook in small quantity of water until
just tender. Serve with cream, cream sauce, or egg cream or drawn
butter sauce.
=Browned Parsnips=
Lay slices of boiled or steamed parsnips in baking pan, pour over a
little cream, oil or melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Brown
delicately in oven. Or, dip in oil or butter and flour and brown in
quick oven.
=Mashed Parsnips=
Rub parsnips through the colander; season with salt only, or with salt
and cream. Heat and serve.
=Fricassee of Parsnips=
Boil sliced parsnips in milk without salt. When tender add salt and
thicken slightly with flour stirred smooth with milk. Serve on toast.
=Peas=
Green peas should be neither too old nor too young. When they are small
and soft they have no character, but if too old they are hard and
flavorless. To be at their best they should be cooked the day they are
gathered.
=Green Peas--Stewed=
For fresh tender green peas, wash the pods, shell and put at once into
boiling salted water. Washing after shelling takes away much of the
sweetness. Cook until tender, 15-25 m. There should be very little
water left when they are done. When nice and sweet they require no
seasoning but salt. Serve plain, with just enough of the water in which
they were cooked to moisten them. A little sweet cream, butter or cream
sauce may be added.
Peas that have become withered should be shelled and allowed to stand
in cold water for an hour before cooking.
When peas are a little old they require longer cooking, and should
have a little sugar in the water in which they are cooked. A small
sprig of mint improves the flavor of old peas, but the positive mint
flavor should not be distinguishable.
Canned peas of an inferior quality drained and boiled in fresh water
with sugar and mint are sometimes hardly distinguishable from fresh
peas. A sprig of parsley may be stewed with peas instead of mint.
=Peas--Parisian Style=
Cook in boiling, salted water with parsley and onion; add sugar, and
thicken the liquid a trifle.
=Peas--German Way=
Put a spoonful of butter in the saucepan, add peas, salt and a spoonful
or two of water, cover close and cook until tender, about half an hour,
perhaps.
=Peas With Corn=
Combine green peas and corn as beans and corn in succotash.
=Peas With New Potatoes=
Cook peas and small new potatoes together. Cover with cream or thin
cream sauce.
=Melting Sugar Peas=
This is the name of one variety of the edible podded peas. They have a
delightful flavor peculiar to themselves. Wash and drain the pods and
cut like string beans. Cook in a small quantity of boiling salted water
until tender, about 30 m. Add cream, cream sauce or a little butter.
Heat and serve.
=Potatoes=
There is great diversity of opinion in regard to the value of the
potato as a food. Some, because of its belonging to the family of the
deadly night shade, the same family as tobacco, think it should be
used sparingly if at all, while others consider it (when baked, at
least) one of the most wholesome foods. Its use is often prohibited by
physicians in some forms of indigestion and for those rheumatically
inclined.
The solid part of the potato is almost entirely starch, so it serves as
bulk in combination with nitrogenous foods.
“Potatoes which have grown on the surface of the ground or which have
been exposed to the light frequently turn green, and such tubers
contain abnormal amounts of solanin, as do old and shriveled potatoes
which have sprouted. It is best not to use such old potatoes, but if
they are eaten the flesh around the sprouts should be cut away, as this
portion is particularly liable to contain solanin.”--_C. F. Langworthy,
Ph. D. Farmers’ Bulletin, 295. U. S. Dept. of Agriculture._
Solinine is a vegetable alkaloid which may produce serious results as
it is of about the same nature as belladonna and other poisons of that
class.
Soak new potatoes for a short time only in cold water before cooking,
but old ones for at least 2-3 hours.
In paring potatoes, put them into cold water so that the dirt will not
adhere to the flesh. Pare not too thick and throw at once into clear
cold water.
When salt is sprinkled over potatoes after cooking it absorbs the
moisture and renders them more mealy.
=Baked Potatoes=
No other way of preparing the potato renders it so mealy and digestible
as proper baking. Wash and scrub the potatoes thoroughly without
breaking the skins, lay them on the grate of a moderately hot oven
without touching each other, so that there will be a free circulation
of heat around each potato. When the oven is too hot, potatoes will be
soggy and indigestible. Bake until just done; do not try with a fork
but by pressing with the thumb and finger. When done, serve _at once_
in an uncovered dish, or lay a napkin in a deep dish and fold over the
potatoes.
The most perfect way to serve a baked potato is to work it between
the folds of a towel in the hand without breaking the skin until soft
and mealy all through. Lay each potato on the grate again until all
are done. Potatoes may be broken apart in the center and a sprig of
parsley laid in when serving on an invalid’s tray or to individuals,
but all must be done quickly, as a few moments’ delay after the potato
is done will spoil its lightness.
If for any reason baked potatoes must be kept waiting, wrap them in a
thick towel and lay in a warm place.
When in a hurry for baked potatoes, pour boiling water over them just
before laying them in the oven.
Some think potatoes are whiter and more mealy if boiled until nearly
done and then finished in the oven.
Perhaps the most perfect way of baking potatoes is to lay them on a
wire stand in a close covered kettle without any water, over a moderate
fire.
=Boiled Early Potatoes=
Put pared potatoes into rapidly boiling, salted water. Do not allow
water to stop boiling. When nearly done add ½-1 cup cold water. Drain
as soon as done. Shake and dry uncovered, over fire. Serve in napkin.
When obliged to stand for a few minutes, throw a clean towel over the
uncovered kettle to absorb the steam.
=Boiled Late or Winter Potatoes=
Put potatoes into cold, slightly salted water. Bring to the boiling
point as quickly as possible. When half done, drain, add cold water and
boil again. Drain as soon as done, sprinkle with salt, shake over fire
until dry. Serve in napkin or uncovered dish.
=The Irish Way=
Put potatoes in slightly salted cold water; when the water boils add a
small quantity of cold water; repeat this process 2 or 3 times; when
done, drain, shake until dry and send a few at a time to the table.
=Potatoes in Jackets=
Wash thoroughly, peel off a narrow strip around the potatoes the long
way. When tender, drain, sprinkle with salt, shake, peel and serve, or
serve without peeling. Taking off the strip around the potatoes causes
them to burst and become mealy, and makes them easier to peel while
still giving the flavor so much liked by many.
=Steamed Potatoes=
Cook, without paring or with a narrow strip only taken off, in steamer
over hot water with a few sprigs of fresh mint. Dry in the oven.
Allow at least 10 m. more for steaming potatoes, either with or without
their “coats,” than for boiling.
=Small New Potatoes=
Wash small new potatoes, boil or steam, sprinkle with salt, shake over
fire until skins begin to crack, serve in napkin.
Or, rub the skins off with a coarse towel (coarse salt in the towel
helps) or scrape the potatoes. After cooking and draining, crack each
by pressing lightly with the back of a spoon. Lay in dish, pour hot
cream or milk and butter over and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
=Creamed Stewed Potatoes=
Cut potatoes into small pieces or slice not too thin; cook until almost
tender; drain, put into cream sauce in double boiler and cook ½ hour
longer. Whole small potatoes or large ones in quarters cooked until
tender may be served in cream sauce the same.
=Creamed Warmed-Over Potatoes=
Cold baked potatoes are much the best for warming over. Slice baked or
boiled potatoes or cut into small pieces and put into cream sauce, with
or without celery salt or stalk or a little chopped onion, and simmer
slowly 15 m. Sprinkle with parsley in serving.
Or, pour milk over potatoes, cover and heat slowly 15-20 m. If raw nut
milk is used heat a half hour. A little onion may be added if desired.
=Water Creamed Potatoes=
Thicken boiling water slightly with flour, add salt, onion or celery if
desired, and sliced potatoes. Simmer 15-20 m.
Or, put a little oil or butter into the saucepan, add flour, then
boiling water and potatoes.
=Hashed Creamed Potatoes=
Chop cold potatoes, mix with cream sauce, put into baking dish,
sprinkle with crumbs and brown in oven.
=Hashed Browned Potatoes=
Mix cream, oil or melted butter and salt with chopped potatoes. Spread
evenly in well oiled frying pan, pour a very little water over if
oil or butter are used, cover and heat slowly without stirring. When
delicately browned on the bottom, fold or roll like an omelet and serve
on a hot platter with celery tops or a sprig of parsley.
Or, pour brown sauce over potatoes in baking dish, sprinkle with oil
and heat in oven. A little milk or consommé may be added.
=Improved Parisian Potatoes=
Cut balls out of large pared potatoes with vegetable scoop. Cook in
boiling salted water until just or hardly tender. Drain, roll and shake
in thin drawn butter or cream sauce, sprinkle with parsley, serve as
border of timbales or as garnish for other meat dishes.
=Mashed Potatoes=
Very large, or irregularly shaped potatoes may be used for mashing.
Have kettle, fine colander and masher hot, with hot milk or cream in
the bottom of the kettle. Rub nicely boiled potatoes, a few at a time,
through the colander into the kettle _as soon as done_. Beat very
thoroughly until smooth and creamy. Add more hot milk if necessary but
do not make too soft or the flavor of the potato will be lost. Mashed
potatoes should be served at once, but if obliged to stand, make them
a little softer, keep hot in double boiler and beat occasionally to
restore the smoothness.
=Potato Cakes=
Shape cold mashed potato into cakes, brown on both sides on oiled
griddle, or brush with cream, oil or melted butter and brown in oven.
Serve as soon as done. When egg is added to potato cakes, they fall
soon after removing from the fire and become solid and soggy; also the
characteristic flavor of the potato is to some extent destroyed.
=Browned Mashed Potato Slices=
Cut mashed potato (which has been molded in a brick shaped or small
round tin dipped in cold water) into rather thick slices. Dip in beaten
egg, then in crumbs, and brown in quick oven. Serve with or without
sauce. Slices may be served with a poached egg on each.
=Potato Purée=
Add rich milk to mashed potatoes to make like thick porridge, spread on
hot platter as a foundation for cutlets, croquettes, slices of broiled
nut meat or nicely poached eggs. Garnish with parsley or other green.
=Baked Sweet Potatoes=
Wash large sweet potatoes without breaking the skins, bake in a
moderate oven until they will yield to pressure between the thumb and
finger.
Or, boil until nearly tender and finish in the oven. Serve at once.
Sweet potatoes will bake in a shorter time than Irish potatoes.
=Boiled Sweet Potatoes=
The most delightful boiled sweet potatoes I ever ate were prepared
in the following manner; Cook pared potatoes in a small quantity of
water until nearly tender, drain if necessary (but it ought not to be
necessary), cover with a towel and let stand on the back of the stove
for an hour or longer, shaking occasionally. Potatoes may be boiled
until tender and laid on a tin in the oven a few moments to dry.
=Mashed Sweet Potatoes=
Prepare and season the same as mashed Irish potatoes. Serve with tomato
cream sauce.
Or, put into oiled baking dish, sprinkle with crumbs and heat in oven.
=Mashed Pumpkin=
Select a nice, rich, fine grained pumpkin, saw into halves, remove the
seeds and fibre with a spoon and cut into small pieces without paring.
Steam, or stew in a small quantity of water. Drain if watery in cheese
cloth. When dry, mash and season with cream or butter and salt. Heat
in double boiler or oven, stirring. Serve in mound on hot dish, or put
into baking dish, sprinkle with crumbs and brown in oven.
=Baked Pumpkin=
Place halves of pumpkin from which the seeds have been removed, cut
side down upon a tin. Bake until tender and dry. Scrape from the shell,
mash, season and serve.
=Baked Pumpkin--Individual=
Cut pumpkin into not too small pieces and lay cut side down on waxed
paper in baking tin. Serve as baked potatoes.
=Radishes=
Wash radishes well with brush, trim off all but the small green leaves,
stand in ice water ½-1 hour. Serve on glass dish with cracked ice, or
in a bed of shredded lettuce or of spinach leaves, or with a parsley
border.
Pare winter radishes and cut into quarters. Serve sprinkled with
parsley, or as other radishes.
=Spinach=
Wash spinach the same as other greens, p. 253. Cook in boiling salted
water until tender, 10-30 m. Lift from the water with skimmer into a
colander. (Save water for soups and sauces.) Press dry with a plate.
Lay in hot pan and cut across a few times but do not chop; return to
colander, pressing in firmly, to mold. Turn the dish in which it is to
be served over the colander and unmold. Garnish with triangles of toast
and hard boiled eggs. Pass oil, quarters of lemon or lemon juice, Sauce
Amèricaine or French or Mayonnaise dressing with it. Many prefer it
with salt and oil alone. It may also be served with cream sauce, or
drawn butter with lemon juice.
Overcooking develops a strong flavor and causes spinach to lose its
bright green color.
When spinach is young and sweet, it may be cooked without the addition
of water by covering close and heating slowly at first; but when there
is danger of its being bitter it should be cooked in plenty of water.
=Spinach with Cream--Delicious=
Pour hot cream over cooked spinach in vegetable dish.
Spinach is sometimes rubbed through a colander after cooking and served
with whipped cream, for luncheon or supper.
=Summer Squash=
Cut squash into inch thick pieces, steam, or stew in a small quantity
of water; drain in cheese cloth. Mash, season, heat and serve.
If you ever use butter for seasoning in cooking, use it with summer
squash; though a little heavy cream, almond or dairy, is very nice.
Never use roasted peanut butter with squash.
Only those squashes which are young enough to cook with the skins and
seeds are suitable for stewing, as the skins and seeds contain the
flavor.
=Baked Ripe Summer Squash=
Bake whole; open, remove seeds, scrape pulp from skin, season and serve
as above. This pulp makes very delicate squash cream pies.
=Summer Squash with Corn=
Add ½ cup stewed green corn to each pint of cooked summer squash.
Season with salt and cream.
=Winter Squash=
Winter squashes vary so much in quality that no one way of cooking
will do for all. There are some varieties from which the skin may be
peeled like a tomato, after steaming; others are so hard that it is
impossible to pare them; from these scrape out the pulp with a spoon
after steaming; others still, are better to be pared before steaming.
When soft and watery after cooking, dry in the oven before mashing, and
again afterwards if necessary. Some watery squashes have a rich flavor
when well dried out.
=Mashed Winter Squash=
Saw squash in halves, remove the seeds and fibre with a spoon, cut into
quarters or eighths, pare or not according to the variety, lay inside
down in the steamer and cook over boiling water until tender. Remove
from the shell if not pared, mash through a fine colander, season if
soft with butter or cream and salt, or with salt only; if dry and mealy
like the “Delicious,” use plenty of milk and cream with salt. Beat well
and serve.
=Mashed Baked Squash=
Bake halves of squash from which the seeds have been removed, cut side
down until tender, 1-2 hours or longer. Scrape pulp clean from the
shell, mash, add salt, beat well and serve. Baked squash is so sweet
that it requires no seasoning but salt, though a little milk or cream
may be added if it is very dry.
=Baked Squash--Virginia Way=
Bake pieces of desired size, the shell side up, on waxed paper in
baking pan. Serve on platter, allowing each guest to season to taste,
and eat from the natural dish.
=Tomatoes=
As the tomato, though a fruit, is prepared and served in so many ways
as a vegetable, we will follow custom and consider it under that head;
but it must be borne in mind that it should not be served or eaten in
combinations unsuitable for other acid fruits.
The most desirable way to serve the tomato is uncooked when well
ripened. When perfectly ripe the skin will peel off without any
preparation, and it may sometimes be loosened by rubbing the tomato all
over firmly with the back of a silver knife; but when more convenient
to use the hot water method, the tomatoes do not need to be soft nor to
have a cooked taste.
First--have a kettle with an abundance of perfectly boiling water,
also a pail with plenty of the coldest water you can get, ice water if
possible. Put a few tomatoes (not enough to cool the water much) into a
wire basket. Plunge into the boiling water, let rest an instant if very
ripe and a second longer if quite solid, then lift the basket and set
quickly into the cold water, then turn the tomatoes out into the water
and leave them there. Repeat the process, take care each time that the
water is boiling before dipping the tomatoes into it and renew the cold
water when necessary.
Tomatoes may be put into the boiling water and transferred quickly to
the cold water with a skimmer. When thoroughly cooled, set without
peeling into the ice box until ready to use.
=Raw Tomatoes=
Peel, slice into not too thin slices, or cut into quarters or sixths
from the blossom end just deep enough for the pieces to spread apart
without separating. Serve with salt or with some of the salad dressings
as a garnish for meat dishes, or as fresh fruit with sugar or sugar and
lemon juice. With sugar and heavy cream my grandfather used to think
tomatoes were more delicious than peaches and cream.
=Stewed Tomatoes=
Slice tomatoes into sauce pan and bring to boiling point slowly, boil
up well, only, season with salt and serve. Long boiling frees the acid
of tomatoes and renders them less wholesome. Tomatoes require more salt
for palatability than any other article of food.
=Steamed Tomatoes=
Put rather small tomatoes on pan in steamer, steam from 10-15 m., or
until tender. Serve on hot toast or crackers or thin round slices
of broiled nut meat with a dainty spray of parsley or chervil, for
luncheon or supper; allowing each guest to season to taste. If desired,
drawn butter, cream sauce or oil may be passed.
=Broiled Tomatoes=
Cut tomatoes in halves without peeling, dust with salt and fine cracker
crumbs, broil over hot coals, skin side down, 15-20 m. Serve plain or
with Sauce Amèricaine or any desired dressing with wafers or toast.
Firm tomatoes may be cut into thick slices and broiled on both sides.
They may be just browned and set in the oven to become tender.
=Tomato Purée=
1 qt. stewed tomatoes
1 or 2 sticks of celery
1 teaspn. sugar
1 tablespn. butter
A few slices of onion
1 tablespn. flour
chopped parsley
salt
Heat tomatoes, crushed celery and sugar for 15 m. Simmer onion in
butter without browning, add flour, then tomato, boil up well, strain
and add chopped parsley. Serve on toast or with boiled rice or with
some meat dish. Very nice on toast with sliced hard boiled eggs.
=Turnips=
The later varieties of turnip are by far the best though some of the
earlier varieties are sweet and tender. As they need to be grown
quickly turnips are never good in a dry season but will be pithy and
strong. Turnips require the greatest care in cooking. If they are
over-cooked 5 m., they will begin to turn dark and will have a strong,
disagreeable flavor. For that reason they are better to be cut into
thin slices. They must be boiled rapidly.
=Boiled Turnips=
Wash, cut into quarters or sixths if large, pare very thick, cut into
½ in. slices, put into perfectly boiling water; boil rapidly for 25
m., or until just tender. Add salt at the end of 20 m. or when nearly
tender, if at all; nice, sweet turnips are delicious without salt.
Drain thoroughly, in cheese cloth if convenient. Serve plain, or
with Chili sauce, Sauce Imperial or Sauce Amèricaine; or pour cream
sauce over after draining; or pass oil, oil and lemon juice or French
dressing with them.
=Ruta-Bagas=
There are white and yellow ruta-bagas or Swedish turnips, and both are
richer in flavor and more nutritious than common turnips. The yellow
ruta-bagas are especially sweet and rich. Prepare, cook and serve the
same as turnips, except that the ruta-bagas require a little longer
time for cooking. They are delightful served with Chili sauce, but are
so rich and sweet of themselves that no sauce is necessary.
=Mashed Turnips=
Mash well drained boiled turnips with potato masher in hot pan. Do not
put through colander. Season with salt and if not sweet a little sugar.
Serve plain or with sauce 57, 58 or 75.
=Vegetable Stew=
Cook separately 1 pt. of string beans, 2 small potatoes and 2 small
carrots cut into small pieces, and 1 pt. of green peas. When tender,
drain, put all together, add salt and cream or a thin cream sauce.
This makes a very pretty as well as a palatable dish.