FoodNetArchive

The household (of the Detroit free press)

1886

Page 517 · 2 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Get a joint of beef, have the bones sawed, not broken, and put in the soup kettle with about six quarts of cold water ; bring to a boil and skim ; let it cook steadily four or five hours, supplying more water, if it boils away too much. About two hours before the dinner hour, put in a cup of pearl barley, and an hour before dinner put in the following vegetables, grated : one turnip, two small carrots, or one large one, two tablespoonfuls dried celery leaves. If you have not the leaves, use the celery green ; season to taste, with pepper and salt, and a tablespoonful of tomatoes, if liked ; cut five or six potatoesVegetable Soup into small pieces and put in with the other vegetables. 40 626 VEGETABLES. VERMICELLI. A knuckle of lamb, a small piece of veal, and water to cover well ; when well cooked, season with salt, pepper, herbs to taste, and a small onion, to which may be added (or not), about a tablespoonful of Wor- cestershire sauce. Have ready about a quarter of a pound of vermi- celliVermicelli Soup, which has been boiled tender; strain the soup from the meat add the vermicelli, let it boil well and serve. VEGETABLES. Always boil vegetables in soft water, if you can procure it ; if not, put a teaspoonful or more of carbonate of soda in it to render it so. The water should be freshly drawn, and should be put over the fire only in time to reach the boiling point before the time for putting in veget- ables, as standing and long boiling frees the gases and renders the water insipid. The fresher all vegetables are the more wholesome. Take care to wash and cleanse them from dust and other impurities, before putting them into the pot or pan; they should be thoroughly cleansed, for which purpose it will be necessary to open the leaves of all greens. It is best to boil vegetables, if possible, by themselves. The quicker they boil the greener they will be. When vegetables are quite fresh gathered, they require much less boiling than those that have been kept. Strong scented vegetables ought to be kept apart. If onions, leeks and celery, are laid among such delicate vegetables as cauliflowers, they will spoil in a very short time. In boiling vegetables, if they sink they are generally done enough, if the water has been kept constantly boil- ing. When done, take them up immediately, and thoroughly drain. If vegetables are a minute too long over the fire, they lose all their beauty and flavor. If not thoroughly boiled tender, they are tremen- dously indigestible ; and much more troublesome during their residence in the stomach, than underdone meats. Vegetables are in greatest perfection, when in greatest plenty, and they are only in greatest plenty when in full season. All vegetables are best when they are so cheap as to enable the artisan to eat them. Very early peas, or very early potatoes — that is, peas or potatoes raised by arti- ficial means — may be valued as great rarities, but for nothing else. The same thing may be asserted of nearly all other vegetables; early rhubarb is perhaps an exception. All vegetables should be ripe ; that is, ripe as vegetables ; otherwise, like fruits, they are bad tasting and unwholesome. VEGETABLES. 627