FoodNet

Girl's home manual of cookery, home management, home nursing and laundry

1913

Page 14

Presented as published in 1913. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
flatulence. Thorough cooking is necessary to soften the cellulose; partly cooked vegetables are very indigestible. General Rules for Cooking Vegetables. (1.) Remove those parts which are decayed or not edible. (2.) Wash the vegetables, scrub roots and tubers except beets. (3.) Root vegetables, unless freshly gathered, need to be soaked in cold water from fifteen to sixty minutes to restore moisture. Soak dried pulses overnight. VEGETABLES 25 (4.) Prepare as follows: (a.) Potatoes: scrub and peel thinly, or cook in skins. (b.) Carrots and parsnips: scrub and scrape off the thin skin. (c.) Turnips: scrub and peel thickly. (d.) Beets: wash carefully. Take care not to break the skin. Cook in their skins. When cooked, rub skin off. (e.) Onions: peel under water. Leeks: remove roots and part of green tops. (f.) Cabbage and cauliflower: remove outer circle of leaves. Cut a cabbage in four at stalk end. Soak in salted water one hour. (g.) Spinach and nettle greens: remove brown leaves. Wash well in salted water. (h.) French beans: remove a small piece at either end and with it the coarse skin from each narrow side. Slice each bean in three or four slanting pieces. (i.) Peas: shell. (5.) Cooking. Put all fresh vegetables into boiling salted water, except onions, for which use cold. Allow YZ tbsp. salt to each quart of water, and Y% tsp. baking soda if hard water is used. Cook green vegetables with lid off saucepan to allow the gases. to escape. Put pulses, after soaking, into cold water and heat gradually. Cook all vegetables until tender when pierced with a fork. When cooked strain off the water, dry for a few minutes. at the back of the stove with the lid half off to allow steam to escape. Season with salt and pepper, add a little butter if desired. Serve hot, whole or mashed, in a hot-tureen. it served mashed, mash them in the saucepan in which they were cooked. Carrots and parsnips are often chopped and served in white sauce. Serve white sauce with cauliflower, and melted butter with asparagus. Time for Cooking Vegetables. The age, size and number of the vegetables will cause the time to vary somewhat. Potatoes..30 to 60 minutes. The latter for very old potatoes Carrots...30 minutes for young to 60 minutes when very old Parsnips..30 4 - 60 3 ~ Turnips...30 a 45 ;? : Cad fe Beets..... 45 ss is 3 to 4 hours when old Ca pba Cem nc etches Hoe e+ BEE isles 40 to 60 minutes yee eos ee CD oe 45 to 60 F SpittaciP Om Nettles! nm. «+ + +t hoe aon ae 25 to 40 se Peas (sree eee riae . anes <0 a cis ae ehe See enie ds 20 to 45 a UP ae ak Sich) UNE ae Re CRO Re reac Cac 30 to 50 x aC WEE es Eee ae ec he oro es 20 to 45 ey Brussels sprouts and other greens .......--- 20 to 30 Teen COTM oon. pecs < Ped ih AS cae, eee Se Tetomou PNENALAGUS! tide sssmitipe << + wine ny + ale 7 4 ais 25 to 40 . Effect of Cooking on Vegetables. (1.) The flavour is improved in most cases. (2.) The cellulose is softened. (3.) The starch grains are burst and cooked. (4.) The vegetables are usually more digestible. (5.) There is a poisonous substance in the potato, which is destroyed. (6.) Some of the mineral matter and other nutrients are lost if vegetables are cooked in water. 26 GIRLS’ HOME MANUAL Care of Vegetables Fresh green vegetables should be cooked as soon as they are gathered. If that is impossible, keep them in a cool, ventilated cellar, Lettuce and parsley sprinkle with cold water and make airtight in covered jar. Potatoes, carrots and other root vegetables should be stored in a barrel in a cool, dry cellar away from the light. Dried Parsley and Other Herbs. Wash the parsley and pick from stalks. Spread on a sheet of paper and dry in a warm, not hot, oven, with the door open. The parsley must not be allowed to discolour. When dry and crisp powder between the hands and sift through a fine strainer. Make airtight in a jar.