but horse feed ; indeed, unless very young, they should
always be cooked until the skins crack, then shelled,,
and served, after being tossed over the fire with a pat
of butter, lemon juice, pepper and salt, and some
minced parsley ; or worked into a pretty stiff puree.
To boil broad beans, put them on in absolutely boiling
water, and cook them very gently till the skins crack,
which, if fairly young, they will do in twenty to twenty-
five minutes ; then at once lift them out, drain them
remove the skins by rubbing them on a clean cloth,
and toss them till quite hot in butter, &c. as described
above ; or put them when shelled into good parsley
or maitre d’hotel sauce, and cook them gently till
ready. There are two points to be remembered in
cooking beans — (1) be careful with the salt, for if ton
much is put in they burst and spoil, so it is better tn
put in too little, as more can be added when re-heating
them. (2) Cook beans always very slowly, especially
if getting elderly, but remember that once broad beana
are really old nothing will soften them, and prolonged
cooking only serves to harden them. For a puree,
boil the beans in plain salted water (^oz. salt to half
a gallon of water is about the right average) till tender
enough to rub through a sieve ; then stir them over
the fire to a stiff mash, seasoning them with salt,
pepper, and minced parsley, and moistening them
with butter or thick cream.
Beans and Bacon. — Put into a pan a nice piece of
back or streaky bacon, with plenty of water to cover
it, then boil it for half an hour, when you add in the
beans and cook them together till the latter are
tender. They can then be drained off and served plain
VEGETABLES.
27
on a hot dish, round the piece of bacon ; or the latter
can be dished separately, the beans being served in
a vegetable dish, finished off by any of the preceding
recipes, as you please.
Beans, French {Haricots verts). — In this country
we all but invariably cook these beans when too old.
They should only be just old enough for the bean to
be formed in the pod, while the whole is tender enough
to need nothing beyond the breaking or snipping off
of the tips and the consequent pulling away of the-
string that goes round them. This is of course to
town dwellers a counsel of perfection ; but those pos-
sessing gardens wdll soon realise the difference. If,
however, necessity obliges the eating of French beans
when old enough to require stringing and slicing,,
remove the tip with a sharp knife, tearing away the
string, and then cutting them through diagonally
(Fig. 1) if to serve as a vegetable, or in lozenges (Fig. 2)
if to be used for a garnish. When beans, however,.
Fig. 1.
•28
VEGETABLES.
Page 14
Presented as published in 1902. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
but horse feed; indeed, unless very young, they should always be cooked until the skins crack, then shelled, and served, after being tossed over the fire with a pat of butter, lemon juice, pepper and salt, and some minced parsley ; or worked into a pretty stiff puree. To boil broad beans, put them on in absolutely boiling water, and cook them very gently till the skins crack, which, if fairly young, they will do in twenty to twentyfive minutes ; then at once lift them out, drain them, remove the skins by rubbing them on a clean cloth, and toss them till quite hot in butter, &c. as described above ; or put them when shelled into good parsley or maitre d’hotel sauce, and cook them gently till ready. There are two points to be remembered in cooking beans — (1) be careful with the salt, for if too much is put in they burst and spoil, so it is better tn put in too little, as more can be added when re-heating them. (2) Cook beans always very slowly, especially if getting elderly, but remember that once broad beana are really old nothing will soften them, and prolonged cooking only serves to harden them. For a puree, boil the beans in plain salted water (^oz. salt to half a gallon of water is about the right average) till tender enough to rub through a sieve ; then stir them over the fire to a stiff mash, seasoning them with salt, pepper, and minced parsley, and moistening them with butter or thick cream.
Beans and Bacon. — Put into a pan a nice piece of back or streaky bacon, with plenty of water to cover it, then boil it for half an hour, when you add in the beans and cook them together till the latter are tender. They can then be drained off and served plain
on a hot dish, round the piece of bacon ; or the latter can be dished separately, the beans being served in a vegetable dish, finished off by any of the preceding recipes, as you please.
Beans, French {Haricots verts). — In this country we all but invariably cook these beans when too old. They should only be just old enough for the bean to be formed in the pod, while the whole is tender enough to need nothing beyond the breaking or snipping off
of the tips and the consequent pulling away of thestring that goes round them. This is of course to town dwellers a counsel of perfection ; but those possessing gardens wdll soon realise the difference. If, however, necessity obliges the eating of French beans when old enough to require stringing and slicing,, remove the tip with a sharp knife, tearing away the string, and then cutting them through diagonally (Fig. 1) if to serve as a vegetable,or in lozenges (Fig. 2) if to be used for a garnish. When beans, however,.
Fig. 1.
•28