Steaming Vegetables

Ingredients

• a little piece of bread
• one teaspoonful of salt
• half-gallon of water
• a piece of dripping about the size of a walnut
• some thin vegetable stock
• a few drops or more of Mapleton’s nut gravy essence
• all sorts of vegetables

Method

1. 1

   Steam greens, sprouts, cabbage, lettuce, and cauliflower quickly in a perforated steamer.

2. 2

   Serve immediately.

3. 3

   For ragouts, brown onions in butter with equal parts carrot and chopped celery, add vegetable stock, and cook gently for about 1.5 hours.

4. 4

   Optionally add cauliflower, artichokes, or tomatoes, thicken with baked flour, and add gravy essence.

Nutrition per serving

Estimated from matched ingredients across 4 servings.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Tried favourites cookery book (1909) by Kirk, E. W. Mrs, page 61. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

a little piece of bread in muslin and put in pan. A little vinegar may be kept boiling on the stove while onions or cabbage is being cooked; this also will prevent the disagreeable odour going through the house. The proportion of salt to allow in cooking vegetables is one teaspoonful to every half-gallon of water. Remember that all green vegetables, except spinach, are cooked with the cover of the saucepan off. V egetables of strong flavour, which include most green vegetables, shoidd be well covered with fast boiling water, and cooked rather rapidly till done, but if at any time the water go off the boil replace the lid till water boils up again, as slow boiling spoils the colour of all green ""egetables. A good rule is that vegetables which grow 58 TRIED FAVOURITES COOKERY BOOK. below the ground should always be put in cold water for cooking, while all that grow above should be plunged in boiling water. All white vegetables need a little acid; all green, a little soda. When boiling green vegetables of any kind, if a. piece of drip- ping about the size of a ivalnut is put in the centre of the vege- tables just as they begin to boil it ivill prevent all boiling over. After cookmg, vegetables must be zvell drained of all super- fluoits moisture, ivhether they are to be served with sauce over or not. Before cooking onions, let them lie, when peeled, in a little boiling water with a tiny piece of soda added. When preparing onions for cooking it will be fotind much more com- fortable work if they are peeled or .diced under water. Hold in the lap a large bowl filled ivith clear water, and work with the hands under the water. Onions done in this manner will not cause tears of stained fingers. To clean a knife that has been used for cutting onions, hold it under the cold water tap. It is a mistake to use hot water to remove the smell of onions from a knife. Onions should not be eaten after they have lain about peeled and cut, as they absorb any bad odour or infectious con- dition that may exist. All waste leaves of vegetables should be burned; if thrown into the dust-bin they will decay, and help to create bad smells and fever. When burning vegetable refuse in stove or fireplace, put a handful of salt into the fire with it, and there ivill be no unpleasant odour. KECIPE FOR STEAMING VEGETABLES, Jiy Miss L. Bardsley, I<''uotl JkTorm Cookery Lecturer. For cooking greens, sprouts, cabbage, lettuce, and caulitlowei’, I find the most successful -way is' to steam them in a perforated steamer and do them very quickly, at a great rate. This I find preserves their green colour more than in any otlier way. They ought to be served as quickly as possible after cooking. Lettuce does in about 7 minutes, cabbage and caulifiower from 20 to 30 (cut up slightly). The loss of salts is so infinitesimal that it is hardly Avorth speaking of. Experiments have been made by Mr Broadbent, and he says the residue of salts in a cup of water that has boiled the cabbage in an ordinary AA'ay, and that Avliich lias steamed it, is remarkable, so much more being extracted by lioiling. I often steam cabbage (first shred- ding it) in a “Yankee Idea” steamer (not perforated), anrl add no UxOre Avater than the drippings left on it. I have also used a Wellbank boilerette, and steAA'ed my cabl3age, first putting a very little boiling Avater at the bottom, as not so mucli steam is generated as in the Hutchinson Patent. What makes them strong, I find, is too much cooking. Celery and root vegetables I steam Avithout a perforator. I find a large fish kettle the best thing for sprouts, Ac., as the heat penetrates better ini account of the extra surface. Quarter of an hour quick steaming is quite enough. Do you OA^er try A’egetable ragouts? This is a splendid Avay for conservatively cooking the vegetables. BroAvn some onions in butter, Avitli some carrot and some chopped 59 TRIED FAVOURITES COOKERY BOOK. celery (about equal quantity of all), with some thin vegetable stock (not too much),’ and cook gently for about U- hours. A little cauli- Mcyver, artichokes, or tomatoes could be added if liked, and thicken with a little baked flour, and add a few drops or more of Mapleton’s nut gravy essence. This, with some crisp toast or fried bread, makes .a tasty and wholesome dish. I .save nearly all my rough pieces of veo-etable for stock, even tho outside of onions washed well, and tougli pi«:es of cabbage, Ac. A delicioms soup is made from all sorts of vegetables

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.