While we believe meat to be necessary to laboring men, we are equally
sure that it is used to excess; for persons of a sedentary habit,
vegetable diet is supposed to be much more wholesome, because much
less stimulating than meat. Whatever shall make vegetables more
relishful will extend their popular use, and therefore any _simple_
recipe for cooking them is a public good. The following are taken
fresh from the kitchen, and we will vouch for their being good,
although there may be other ways still better.
1. GREENS.—The articles employed for greens are numerous; we merely
mention the following:—sprouts of turnip and cabbage, dandelions,
lamb’s quarters, red-rooted plantain, cowslip, wild pepper-grass,
purslain, young beet-tops, lettuce, and spinage—the best of all
greens.
In gathering plantain, care must be taken to select _only_ the
red-rooted, the white being thought poisonous. With the exception of
spinage, all these should be boiled in salted water, or in water with
a piece of salt pork, for half an hour, then taken out, drained, and
served up with butter gravy.
Spinage is boiled, as above, for half an hour, then taken out,
thoroughly drained, put into a skillet with cream, butter and pepper,
and if need be, a little more salt. Place it over the fire and stir it
up with a knife all the time it simmers, until it becomes a paste.
About five minutes are enough for this last process—then dish and
serve it.
2. ASPARAGUS.—Asparagus should never be cut _below the surface of the
ground_, although books and papers, almost universally, direct to the
contrary. The white part of the stem is always tough and inedible. Let
it spring up about six or eight inches and then cut it _at_ the
surface of the ground. Lay it in the pan or kettle in which it is to
be cooked, and sprinkle salt over it. Pour boiling water over it,
until it is just covered; boil from fifteen to twenty-five minutes,
according to the age of the asparagus. Have two or three nicely
toasted slices of bread in the dish which is to go to the table; lay
the asparagus upon the toast, putting first sweet butter and pepper
upon it according to your taste; lastly pour over it the liquor in
which it was boiled. Many throw away the water in which it was cooked
and substitute cream and butter, but thereby the finest flavor of the
vegetable is thrown away and lost.
3. BEETS.—While young, beets may be boiled tops and all; as the tops
get tough the root alone is boiled in salted water until tender, viz.
from three-quarters of an hour to an hour and a half; according to the
size of the beet. Quarter or slice them if large, and add fresh sweet
butter and pepper.
4. PEAS.—No vegetable depends more for its excellence upon good
cooking than peas. Have them freshly gathered and shelled, _but never
wash them_. If they are not perfectly clean, roll them in a dry cloth;
but even this is seldom required, and then only through carelessness.
Pour them dry into the cooking dish, and put as much salt over them as
is required, then pour on boiling water enough to cover them; boil
them fifteen minutes if they are young; no pea is fit to cook which
requires more than half an hour’s boiling. When done, put to a quart
of peas three great tablespoonfuls of butter, and pepper to your
taste. Put all the water to them in which they were boiled. The great
mistakes in cooking peas are in cooking too long, and in deluging them
with water.
STRING or SNAP beans are cooked like peas, only they require longer
boiling.
5. CORN should be boiled in salted water from twenty to thirty
minutes, according to its age; if boiled longer it becomes hard and
loses its flavor. We have given in the _Western Farmer and Gardener_,
p. 231, a recipe for corn and beans, but as all may not see that
periodical, we extract the substance of it.
We give directions for a mess sufficient for a family of six or seven.
To about half a pound of salt pork put three quarts of cold water; let
it boil. Now cut off three quarts of green corn from the cobs, set the
corn aside and put _the cobs_ to boil with the pork, as they will add
much to the richness of the mixture. When the pork has boiled, say
half an hour, remove the cobs and put in one quart of freshly-gathered,
green, shelled beans; boil again for fifteen minutes; then add the
three quarts of corn and let it boil another fifteen minutes. Now turn
the whole out into a dish, add five or six large spoonfuls of butter,
season it with pepper to your taste, and with salt also, if the salt
of the pork has not proved sufficient. If the liquor has boiled away,
it will be necessary to add a little more to it before taking it away
from the fire, as this is an essential part of the affair.
6. SALSIFY OR OYSTER-PLANT.—This vegetable is raised exactly as are
carrots and parsnips. Like the latter—they require a little frosting
before their flavor is fully developed.
They should be scraped and washed (but _not_ soaked in vinegar, as
English cooks direct, to extract a bitter taste, which they do _not_
contain), and sliced; sprinkle enough salt upon them to season them,
pour on just enough boiling water to cover them; boil till perfectly
tender, which will be, say fifteen minutes. Put butter and pepper to
them; stir up a little flour in cream to make a thin paste and pour in
enough to thicken a little the water in which they were boiled. Dish
with or without toasted bread, as may suit the taste.
7. TOMATOES.—The recipe which we gave in the _Farmer and Gardener_ has
been universally copied, and, we believe, has beguiled thousands to
the love of tomatoes. It has been introduced to cook-books under the
name of “Indiana Recipe for Cooking Tomatoes.”
8. ONIONS should be boiled for half an hour in salted water, then
drained, put into sweet milk, boiled again for five or ten minutes,
seasoned with butter, pepper and salt, and served up.
9. PIE-PLANT.—This important vegetable—among the earliest, the most
wholesome, and of the easiest culture—should be found in every garden,
and served up on every table during the spring and early summer. To
prepare it for use, strip off the skin, slice it thin, put into a dish
with a few spoonfuls of boiling water, just enough to keep from
sticking, for its own juice will afford liquid enough after it is
cooked. Boil until it is perfectly tender, stirring it constantly. If
the plant is good and the fire quick, it ought to be boiled in five
minutes. Stir in all the sugar needed while it is in a scalding state.
A little nutmeg or lemon peel, put in while it is hot, improves the
flavor. When cool, it may be used for tarts, or pies, with or without
upper crust; it also makes a better _apple_-sauce than apples do
themselves.
10. EGG-PLANT.—Boil in salted water a few minutes; cut slices, put a
little salt between each slice, and let them lie for half an hour.
Then fry them in butter or lard until they are brown.
11. CAULIFLOWER AND BROCCOLI.—The only difference between these, so
far as the cook is concerned, is in color. Take off the outside leaves
and soak them for an hour in salted water. Pour boiling water to them
and boil for about twenty minutes. Serve them up with butter and
pepper. The Savoy cabbages are next in delicacy of flavor to the
cauliflower, and may be cooked in the same way.