FoodNet

The school kitchen textbook

1915

Page 92 · 1 recipe record on this page

Presented as published in 1915. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Empty a quart can of tomatoes into a granite pan having a broad surface, and put them over the fire. Add a two inch bit of a salt codfish and let them simmer until tender and well broken up. Mash and cut it frequently with a wooden spoon. When done add one or two tablespoons of sugar according to the acidity of the tomato, and two tablespoons of butter and a few slivers of canned red pepper, or lacking this use a dash of cayenneStewed Tomatoes. Remove the bit of fish and add salt if needed and serve as a vegetable. The fish gives a new flavor and is very appetizing. Some prefer to sweeten the tomato with a bit of soda instead of sugar, but this is a matter of taste. Be sure that it cooks long enough, so there are no thick pieces of tomato floating round in a thin liquid. Yet it should not be too dry. LESSON XXIV VEGETABLES Under the name of vegetables we include one or more parts of a great variety of annual plants cultivated for food. Roots: beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, radishes, parsnips, turnips, and salsify. Tubers: potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, tapioca. Bulbs: onions, garlic. Stalks: asparagus, celery, leeks. Flowers : cauliflower, globe artichokes. Leaves: beet greens, cabbage, dandelion, lettuce, spinach, etc. Fruit: classed as vegetable fruit, cucumbers, egg plant, squash, tomatoes, sweet peppers. Seed vessels : string beans, okra. Seeds : beans, corn, peas, lentils. Vegetables contain all the food stuffs, but in varying pro- portion. Seeds are rich in protein, and are a good substitute for meat. Roots and tubers are rich in starch and sugar, help to make variety and give us more bulk than we have in the starchy cereals. Stalks, leaves, stems and fruit are rich in cellulose and water and are especially valuable in supplying the mineral matter which is less abundant in other common food mate- rials ; their cellulose provides the bulk desirable for normal digestion and their great variety makes the diet more attrac- tive. In summer they are refreshing after the heavy food of winter and being easily prepared, many of them needing 173 174 SCHOOL KITCHEN TEXTBOOK no cooking, they lessen the labor of getting a meal. But they cannot take the place of protein. Although improved transportation gives us fresh vege- tables all the year, many vegetables are best when they are in season, — that is at the time when they ripen in the lo- cality where they are to be used.. Unseasonable products always command high prices, far beyond their real food value. Each season has a large variety of vegetables, which by cooking and serving in different ways will supply all that are needed for that time. A good brand of canned vegetables is better than those that are unseasonable, for the latter are not only expensive but frequently not well ripened and never strictly fresh. Selection. Select vegetables of uniform size, medium rather than large; sound, firm texture; smooth surface, free from green spots or brown blight, and but few bruised leaves ; pods crisp and easily snapped, or fresh, well-filled with tender seeds ; leaves and stalks crisp, tender, and juicy.