How to cook vegetables

The English method of universal boiling is as a rule condemned by them, and it remains to consider the many other modes of vegetable cookery which prevail in more enlightened countries. Stewing in a jar in the oven in very little liquid, either stock or water, is a far more preferable method to cooking in an open saucepan with enough water to cover. Haricot beans are excellent cooked in this way. They should be soaked several hours beforehand, then stewed in a moderate oven for several more. They could even be left all night to cook slowly. Steaming is largely practised on the continent. It has the double advantage of conserving the flavour and making the food more digestible. Its only drawback is that it takes more time, and this is probably the reason why it has somewhat fallen into disfavour in England, where careless cooks so often prefer to rush their vegetables on at the last moment. Braising vegetables in flavoured stock is another excellent method. The combination of stewing and steaming, and the added richness of the broth, all tend to make this method a very satisfactory one for vegetables. Stuffing vegetables with savoury and seasoned ingredients is rarely practised in England to the same extent as upon the continent. Chou Farci, for instance, is a distinct advantage upon our national idea of plain boiled cabbage. All legumes, such as these, are rich in nitrogen, and, unlike most members of the vegetable tribe, are therefore adequate substitutes for meat. But they are, unfortunately, very difficult of digestion. Much may be done to obviate this, however, by slow, prolonged cooking (and soaking in the case of dried beans). Broad beans should be stripped of their pale outer skins whilst still hot before sending to table. Beans and peas are also more digestible if served mashed, as in soups and purees. The second great indictment against us as a nation is the monotony of our vegetable selection. Vegetables which are used daily upon the continent are utterly unknown, or else mere names to conservative English cooks, whose horizon is mainly bounded by boiled cabbage and potatoes, and who look upon all vegetables as mere accompaniments -to the national roast, entirely neglecting to serve them as separate and important courses. At the last annual Exhibition of the National Vegetable Society in London, a most praiseworthy attempt was made to bring to the notice of the general public some of the lesser known vegetables which at present only figure in the kitchen gardens of the wealthy. Some of the exhibits on that occasion included Chinese artichoke tubers, little knotted, spiral rootlets, much smaller than the ordinary Jerusalem artichoke ; Kohl-rabi, or kale-turnip, a curious combination of cabbage and turnip, but more nutritious than either ; cardoons, the favourite vegetable of the great statesman, Bismarck, but scarcely ever seen in this country ; Couve Tronchuda or Portugal Cabbage, a gargantuan specimen of the cabbage tribe, of which only the leaf-stalks are eaten ; celeriac, or turnip-rooted celery, seakale, beet, chicory, and clusters of young maize cobs. These last, in their pale green leafy sheaths, make a picturesque-looking vegetable, and when lightly boiled, and served in their sheaths, are very excellent tasting. ♦ ARTICHOKES. Globe Artichokes ( Artichauls ).