Different Kinds of Vegetables
A mother can make the cooking of potatoes and the plainer vegetables
interesting if she will use a little tact and stimulate the child's
desire to make, first, as many different dishes from each article as
possible, and second, to make them as appetizing as she can. Doubtless
many a girl who will not eat plain food now could be taught to like
things by getting her interested in cooking, for then she has to taste
and make sure she has seasoned properly.
TURNIPS, CARROTS
Such winter vegetables as turnips, carrots and parsnips should be well
washed, peeled, cut in small pieces and cooked in boiling salted water
for sixty minutes, more or less, depending on the age of the vegetables,
as the older they are the longer they will take to get tender. When
sufficiently cooked they should be drained and may then be mashed,
seasoned with pepper and salt and butter and served in a hot covered
dish. Or if preferred they can be left in the cubes and served with our
little cook's favorite white sauce poured over. If mashed they are to be
served on the dinner plate, but if in cream sauce they will have to be
put in individual sauce-dishes.
PARSNIPS
Plain boiled parsnips are delicious if cut in slices and fried in
butter, as they acquire a sweetness not brought out in any other way of
cooking. If the left-over quantity is mashed, it can be made into little
flat cakes and browned in butter. The child should be encouraged to
think of as many different ways as possible and then allowed to
experiment and see the result.
WINTER SQUASH
Winter squash is good prepared in the same way as the mashed
parsnips--that is, plain boiled and then mashed, but I prefer the
Hubbard variety, cut in large squares and baked in the shell--without
being peeled. Season before putting on the oven shelf, spread with a
little butter and add a slight sprinkling of granulated sugar. This
will take about three-quarters of an hour to bake, and should be a light
brown over the top. The child may have some difficulty in cutting a
Hubbard squash, as it is so hard, but she can prepare it after it has
been cut for her.
DRIED LIMA BEANS
Put to soak half a pound of dried Lima beans in a small quantity of cold
water. Next morning set where they will simmer slowly for two hours in
salted water enough to cover. At dinner-time drain, and serve on the
dinner plates simply seasoned with butter, pepper and salt. Or, if
preferred, they can be served in sauce dishes, with white sauce.
BOILED CABBAGE
A nice way to serve cabbage hot is to chop fine after it has soaked half
an hour in cold water, put on in boiling salted water, and cook in an
open kettle with a pinch of soda, about forty minutes or until tender.
Then drain and serve immediately with butter, pepper and salt, or with
white sauce. Some people prefer to add simply a little vinegar, so find
out the family taste.
BAKED BEANS
For a small family, soak one pint of the small navy beans over night,
and next morning boil gently until nearly tender. Drain, throw away that
water, and add a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoon of molasses and a
cupful of boiling water. Cut a quarter of a pound of salt pork in small
pieces, put half of the beans in a baking dish, add a layer of half the
pork, fill up with the rest of the beans and lay the rest of the pork
around over the top. Cover the beans with boiling water, put a tin over
the dish, and bake a number of hours,--the longer the better. As the
water boils away, add enough more to keep from burning, and half an hour
before serving, uncover and allow to brown over the top. If a slow fire
is going in the range, the beans will be the better for cooking most of
the day, but they must be watched to keep from burning. However, they
will taste very fine if boiled longer at first,--until perfectly tender,
and then baked only an hour.
CREAMED ONIONS
Peel off the outside skin, cover with boiling water, cook five minutes,
drain, and cover with fresh boiling water, well salted. Cook until
tender, the length of time depending on the size, then drain and serve
in a hot covered vegetable dish with white sauce, made while the onions
were cooking.
BAKED ONIONS
First boil as above directed, then lift into a piepan, sprinkle with
salt and pepper, place a small lump of butter in a little hole on top of
each, and bake until brown.
ASPARAGUS
With the coming of the spring vegetables will be opened a new field for
the child to explore. Asparagus, one of the first in the market, is
considered one of the choicest, and it is also one of the most easily
prepared. To retain all the delicate flavor many people think it should
be served plain. For this, tie the asparagus in bunches, after washing
carefully and snapping off the tough ends. Set upright in a deep kettle
and pour over boiling salted water enough to reach nearly to the tips,
but do not cover. The tender ends will cook enough at first, for ten
minutes, in the steam, and then the bunches should be turned down
sideways for thirty minutes more. Lift carefully with a skimmer,
allowing the water to run off, lay on a hot platter, remove the strings
and serve immediately with tiny lumps of butter and a dash of pepper
over the top. Or the asparagus can be first cut in small lengths, boiled
until tender in salted water, then drained, laid on hot toast and
covered with cream sauce. As mentioned before, the water in which it has
been cooked can be set away to be used for soup, with a few tips added
if desired.
CUCUMBER JELLY
Take one pint of well-seasoned bouillon, and while still warm, add the
quantity of gelatine stated on the package necessary to make one pint of
jelly, and when thoroughly dissolved, set away until it begins to
stiffen. Then slice one cucumber, after peeling and ridging the sides,
season with salt and pepper, and lay in vinegar for a moment. Rinse out
the mould in cold water, lay around the cucumber in any pattern desired,
and fill up the mould with the thickening jelly. Leave on ice after set,
until ready to serve.
[Illustration: CUCUMBER JELLY]
STRING BEANS
Wax or string beans should be snapped in small pieces and all strings
removed, then washed and put on to boil in hot salted water. Cook until
tender (generally this requires about forty minutes), drain and serve in
a hot dish with butter, pepper and salt, or, if preferred, the cream
sauce. Our young cook will have many opportunities to use her recipe for
white sauce with the spring vegetables, for almost all kinds are
improved when it is added.
PEAS AND LIMA BEANS
Peas and Lima beans, after being shelled and covered with salted boiling
water, are cooked until tender (forty to sixty minutes) and then served
either plain, as directed for the beans, or with the cream sauce, which,
by the way, is better for such vegetables if thinned with more milk than
when used in other ways.
CAULIFLOWER
Cauliflower, after being carefully washed, should be tied up in a piece
of cheese-cloth to keep the shape, and after soaking for an hour in cold
water, cooked in boiling salted water at least half an hour. When
tender, it should be carefully lifted to the vegetable dish and the
cream sauce poured around the base. A little chopped parsley scattered
on top the sauce improves the appearance.
BEETS
Young beets have to be washed carefully to avoid breaking the skin, and
have roots and half an inch of the tops left on while cooking. They
should be kept covered with salted boiling water, and cooked until
tender, allowing at least an hour for new beets, and possibly even three
for old. When perfectly tender (on being tried by the prong of a kitchen
fork), remove from the fire, drop into cold water for a moment to cool
enough to slip off the skins, and then slice in a hot dish. They can be
served plain, with butter, pepper and salt, although our grandmothers
preferred the addition of a few spoonfuls of warm, thick cream. Many,
however, like a little vinegar instead.
TOMATOES
Baked tomatoes are made by taking the fresh tomatoes, scooping out the
centers and mixing with bread crumbs, seasoning with butter, pepper and
salt, and then refilling the shell, sprinkling a few crumbs on top. They
require about twenty minutes to bake, and can be served on rounds of
toast, with cream sauce. In winter, however, canned tomatoes, alternated
with layers of buttered bread, seasoned with butter, pepper and salt,
are nice baked in a dish, with crumbs browned over the top.
GREEN CORN
Green corn "on the cob" must first have the husks and silk carefully
removed and then be dropped into boiling salted water and kept boiling
(under a cover) for from ten to twenty minutes, according to the age of
the corn. If very fresh and tender, it will cook quickly, but it should
be served as soon as removed from the water.
CORN OYSTERS
Any corn left from a meal can be grated off the cob and used for corn
oysters. To one cupful of corn, add half a cup of milk, one beaten egg,
half a teaspoon of salt, and one tablespoon of melted butter. Into this
stir one-half cup of sifted flour, and bake like pancakes on a hot, well
greased skillet. Be careful to avoid too hot a fire or they will scorch
on the bottom before cooking through, and they must not be raw in the
middle. It may be necessary to put a little extra butter in the pan when
they are turned, but they have to be watched carefully all the time.