A text-book of cooking

How should the water boil in cooking vegetables ? Why ? Why should not potatoes be covered with a tin lid or plate after cooking ? LESSON XV Root Vegetables (II) > Experiment 27: The Effect of Soaking Starchy Vegetables in Water. — Over several pieces of potato or other starchy vegetable pour enough water to cover. Allow the vegetable to stand at least 15 minutes. Pour the water from the vegetable into a test tube and heat it. Cool, then test the water with iodine. What does the water contain ? What conclusion can you draw concerning the soaking of vegetables in water before cooking ? BEETS Scrub beets carefully so as not to break the skin. Leave two or three inches of the stems on until the beets are cooked. Cook whole. (Refer to the General Rules for Cooking Vegetables, p. 60.) Test only the largest beet for sufficient cooking. Use a knitting needle or wire skewer for testing. Drain and cover with cold water and rub off the skin with the hands. Cut the beets into slices, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, and add a little butter. A small quantity of vinegar may be added, if desired. Serve hot. Beets may also be served with a sauce. Prepare the sauce like White Sauce, using for the liquid three parts of water and one part of vinegar. Beets may be pickled by slicing them or by cutting into cubes and placing in plain or spiced vinegar. Serve cold. SWEET POTATOES Cook with or without the skins according to the General Rules for Cooking Vegetables (p. 60). Peel (if cooked with the skins), mash, add a little hot milk, salt, and butter, beat thoroughly and serve. Cooked sweet potatoes may also be cut into halves lengthwise, spread with butter, sprinkled with a very little sugar, and browned in the oven. SWEET POTATOES (Southern Style) 3 tablespoonfuls butter 6 sweet potatoes 2 tablespoonfuls sugar Salt and pepper Boiling water Scrub and pare the sweet potatoes, cut them into halves lengthwise. Put the butter and sugar in a frying pan and when hot, add the sweet potatoes. Brown the potatoes, add the salt and pepper and enough boiling water to cover the j bottom of the frying pan. Cover and cook slowly until the potatoes are tender. Nearly all of the water should be evaporated when the potatoes are cooked. That which remains should be poured over the potatoes as a sauce for serving. For the purpose of economy, less butter may be used. Sweet potatoes may also be cooked in a casserole in the oven. Uncover the casserole when the potatoes are almost tender, in order to brown them. GREEN CORN Note : — Although green corn is neither a root nor a tuber, it contains carbohydrates in sufficient quantity to be grouped with these vegetables. In selecting corn for cooking, choose ears of corn with brown silk. Tear off some of the husk and select those ears that are filled with well-developed kernels, from which milky juice flows when pressed with the thumb. Cook as soon as possible after gathering. BOILED GREEN CORN Remove silk and husk from the corn, place the ears in boiling water. Cook the corn until no juice flows from the kernels when pressed (usually from 12 to 20 minutes). Serve whole on a platter. The platter may be covered with a folded napkin. Corn may also be cooked by cutting through the center of each row of grains, slicing off the tops of the kernels, scraping the pulp thoroughly from the cob, seasoning with salt and pepper, adding a little milk and butter, and allowing to simmer for a few minutes. Why should vegetables be placed in boiling rather than in cold water for cooking? . (See Experiment 27, p. 63.) Why should the water be drained from boiled vegetables immediately after cooking ?