Uncooked vegetables. — Crisp vegetables with tender fiber are eaten raw. Their preparation includes freshening in cold water, thorough washing to remove grit and insects, thorough drjdng by shaking in a soft cloth or wire basket, and coohng on the ice. Let- tuce should not be served so wet that the water collects on the plate, making it impossible to dress the salad with oil. See salad making, Chapter XV. Cooked vegetables. — Vegetable cooking is an art much neg- lected, and in consequence vegetables are sometimes served lacking their proper flavor and their original nutrients. To cook vege- VEGETABLES AND VEGETABLE COOKERY 115 tables in boiling salted water, throwing the water away, is not the correct method, except in a few cases. With this method much of the valuable mineral matter and the flavoring substances are lost in the water. With such strong flavored vegetables as the cabbage, old onions and beets, and old potatoes this method is permissible, but even in these cases the nutritive value is decreased. Principles of cooking. — Softening of the fiber. Opening of the starch granules, when starch is present, at a tem- perature of 212° F. Retaining mineral and flavoring matters. Cooking processes. — These rank in value as they do or do not retain the mineral and flavoring matters. Baking. — No nutritive material lost. The best method for potatoes and sweet potatoes. Used also for squash, pumpkin, beets, young onions, dried beans, peas, and lentils. Steaming. (Cooking in a steamer.) — No nutritive material lost. A good method for all fresh vegetables. Steamed vegetables have less flavor than baked. Stewing. — Cooking in a stew pan or kettle with so little water that it is almost boiled out at the end of the process, any remaining liquid being served with the vegetable. The best method for spinach, which can be cooked with no additional water, beyond that remaining on the leaves from the washing. The French use this method almost entirely, and with tender peas and carrots they omit water and use butter only. A substitute for this latter is a very small amount of water, with the addition of butterine or some good butter substitute. Boiling. — Cooking in a large amount of boiling, salted water, the water to be drained off and thrown away. May be used with old beets of rank flavor, strong onions, old potatoes, or potatoes boiled with the skins on. A wasteful method. Adjuncts. — Salt, pepper, butter, or some other fat, milk, cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, eggs. Utensils. — A vegetable brush, a sharp knife, a chopper, a po- tato masher, a strainer, a colander, a stew pan, kettle or steamer, baking pan, baking dish, bean pot, frying pan or kettle. General directions. — Wash the vegetables, scrubbing the skin vegetables with a brush. Washing in several waters is important with spinach to remove all grit. Scrape off thin skins or pare off the thicker. Thick skins such as those of old beets are more easily 116 FOODS AND HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT removed after oooking. The outer covering must be removed in the case of peas, shell beans, and sweet corn. Pull or out strings from string beans with great care. Discard all poor portions. Remove and throw away the inner pulp and seeds of old squashes and pumpkins. The whole of a tender summer squash is eatable.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Uncooked vegetables. — Crisp vegetables with tender fiber are eaten raw. Their preparation includes freshening in cold water, thorough washing to remove grit and insects, thorough drying by shaking in a soft cloth or wire basket, and cooling on the ice. Lettuce should not be served so wet that the water collects on the plate, making it impossible to dress the salad with oil. See salad making, Chapter XV. Cooked vegetables. — Vegetable cooking is an art much neglected, and in consequence vegetables are sometimes served lacking their proper flavor and their original nutrients. To cook vege- tables in boiling salted water, throwing the water away, is not the correct method, except in a few cases. With this method much of the valuable mineral matter and the flavoring substances are lost in the water. With such strong flavored vegetables as the cabbage, old onions and beets, and old potatoes this method is permissible, but even in these cases the nutritive value is decreased. Principles of cooking. — Softening of the fiber. Opening of the starch granules, when starch is present, at a temperature of 212° F. Retaining mineral and flavoring matters. Cooking processes. — These rank in value as they do or do not retain the mineral and flavoring matters. Baking. — No nutritive material lost. The best method for potatoes and sweet potatoes. Used also for squash, pumpkin, beets, young onions, dried beans, peas, and lentils. Steaming. (Cooking in a steamer.) — No nutritive material lost. A good method for all fresh vegetables. Steamed vegetables have less flavor than baked. Stewing. — Cooking in a stew pan or kettle with so little water that it is almost boiled out at the end of the process, any remaining liquid being served with the vegetable. The best method for spinach, which can be cooked with no additional water, beyond that remaining on the leaves from the washing. The French use this method almost entirely, and with tender peas and carrots they omit water and use butter only. A substitute for this latter is a very small amount of water, with the addition of butterine or some good butter substitute. Boiling. — Cooking in a large amount of boiling, salted water, the water to be drained off and thrown away. May be used with old beets of rank flavor, strong onions, old potatoes, or potatoes boiled with the skins on. A wasteful method. Adjuncts. — Salt, pepper, butter, or some other fat, milk, cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, eggs. Utensils. — A vegetable brush, a sharp knife, a chopper, a potato masher, a strainer, a colander, a stew pan, kettle or steamer, baking pan, baking dish, bean pot, frying pan or kettle. General directions. — Wash the vegetables, scrubbing the skin vegetables with a brush. Washing in several waters is important with spinach to remove all grit. Scrape off thin skins or pare off the thicker. Thick skins such as those of old beets are more easily removed after oooking. The outer covering must be removed in the case of peas, shell beans, and sweet corn. Pull or out strings from string beans with great care. Discard all poor portions. Remove and throw away the inner pulp and seeds of old squashes and pumpkins. The whole of a tender summer squash is eatable.

Foods and household management