GREEN CORN, PEAS, AND BEANS.
Description.—Corn, peas, and beans in their immature state are so nearly allied to vegetables, that we give in this connection recipes for cooking green corn, green beans, and green peas. A general rule applicable to all is that they should, when possible, be cooked and eaten the day they are gathered, as otherwise they lose much of their sweetness and flavor. For corn, select young, tender, well-filled ears, from which the milk will spurt when the grain is broken with the finger nail. Beans and peas are fresh only when the pods are green, plump, snap crisply when broken, and have unshriveled stems. If the pods bend and appear wilted, they are stale. Corn, peas, and beans are wholesome and nutritious foods when thoroughly cooked and sufficiently masticated, but they are almost indigestible unless the hull, or skin, of each pea, bean, or grain of corn, be broken before being swallowed.
RECIPES FOR CORN.
Baked Corn.—Select nice fresh ears of tender corn of as nearly equal size as possible. Open the husks and remove all the silk from the corn; replace and tie the husks around the ears with a thread. Put the corn in a hot oven, and bake thirty minutes or until tender. Remove the husks before serving.
Baked Corn No. 2.—Scrape enough corn from the cob (as directed below for Corn Pulp) to make one and a half quarts. Put into a baking dish, season with salt if desired, add enough milk, part cream if convenient, barely to cover the corn, and bake in a hot oven twenty-five or thirty minutes.
Boiled Green Corn.—Remove the husks and every thread of the silk fiber. Place in a kettle, the larger ears at the bottom, with sufficient boiling water nearly to cover. Cover with the clean inner husks, and cook from twenty to thirty minutes, according to the age of the corn; too much cooking hardens it and detracts from its flavor. Try a kernel, and when the milk has thickened, and a raw taste is no longer apparent, it is sufficiently cooked. Green corn is said to be sweeter, boiled with the inner husks on. For cooking in this way, strip off all outer husks, and remove the silk, tying the inner husk around the ear with a bit of thread, and boil. Remove from the kettle, place in a heated dish, cover with a napkin and serve at once on the cob. Some recommend scoring or splitting the corn by drawing a sharp knife through each row lengthwise. This is a wise precaution against insufficient mastication.
Stewed Corn Pulp.—Take six ears of green corn or enough to make a pint of raw pulp; with a sharp knife cut a thin shaving from each row of kernels or score each kernel, and with the back of the knife scrape out the pulp, taking care to leave the hulls on the cob. Heat a cup and a half of rich milk—part cream if it can be afforded—to boiling, add the corn, cook twenty or thirty minutes; season with salt and a teaspoonful of sugar if desired.
Corn Cakes.—To a pint of corn pulp add two well-beaten eggs and two tablespoonfuls of flour; season with salt if desired, and brown on a griddle. Canned corn finely chopped can be used, but two tablespoonfuls of milk should be added, as the corn is less moist.
Corn Pudding.—One quart of corn pulp prepared as for stewing, one quart of milk, three eggs, and a little salt. Mix the corn with a pint of the milk, and heat it to boiling. Break the eggs into the remainder of the milk, and add it to the corn, turn all into an oiled pudding dish, and bake slowly until the custard is well set.
Roasted Green Corn.—Remove the husks and silk, and place the corn before an open grate or in a wire broiler over hot coals until the kernels burst open, or bury in hot ashes without removing the husks. Score the grains, and serve from the cob.
Stewed Green Corn.—Cut the corn from the cob and with the back of the knife scrape off all the pulp, being careful to leave the hull on the cob. Put into a stewpan with half as much water as corn, cover closely and stew gently until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently to prevent the corn from sticking to the pan; add cream or milk to make the requisite amount of juice, and season with salt if desired. A teaspoonful of white sugar may be added if desired.
Cold boiled corn cut from the cob and stewed a few minutes in a little milk, makes a very palatable dish.
Summer Succotash.—This maybe made by cooking equal quantities of shelled beans and corn cut from the cob, separately until tender, and then mixing them; or the beans may be cooked until nearly soft, an equal quantity of shaved corn added, and the whole cooked fifteen or twenty minutes or longer. Season with cream, and salt if desired.
Dried Corn.—The sweet varieties of corn taken when young and tender and properly dried, furnish an excellent material for nearly all purposes to which green corn is put. Take green corn, just right for eating, have it free from silk; cut the fleshy portion from the cob with a sharp knife, then with the back of the knife gently press the remaining pulp from the cob. Spread thinly on plates and put into an oven hot enough to scald, not scorch it. Watch closely for a half hour or more, turning and stirring frequently with a fork. When thus thoroughly scalded, the corn may be left without further attention if placed in a moderate oven, save an occasional stirring to prevent its sticking to the plate, until the drying is complete, which ought to be in about forty-eight hours; however, if one can spend the time to watch closely and stir very frequently, the drying may be completed in a single afternoon in a rather hot oven. Be careful that it does not scorch.
When needed for use, soak over night and cook in accordance with recipes for Stewed Corn, Succotash, etc., pages 265, 234, only remembering to allow a longer time.
RECIPES FOR PEAS.
Stewed Peas.—If from the garden, pick and shell the peas with clean hands; if from the market, wash the pods before shelling, so that the peas will not require washing, as they are much better without. When shelled, put into a colander and sift out the fine particles and undeveloped blossoms. If not of equal growth, sort the peas and put the older ones to cook ten minutes before the others. Use a porcelain kettle, with one half pint of boiling water for each quart of peas, if young and tender; older ones, which require longer stewing, need more. Cover closely, and simmer gently till tender. The time required for young peas is from twenty-five to thirty minutes; older ones require forty to fifty minutes. Serve without draining, season with salt and enough sweet cream to make them as juicy as desired. If preferred, the juice may be thickened with a little flour.
The peas may be purposely stewed in a larger quantity of water, and served in their own juices thickened with a little flour and seasoned with salt.
RECIPES FOR BEANS.
Lima Beans.—Lima beans are not good until they are full grown and have turned white. Shell, wash, cover with boiling water, and cook about one hour or until tender. Let the water nearly evaporate, and add milk or cream thickened with a little flour. Season with salt to taste, boil up once, and serve.
Shelled Beans.—Shell, wash, drop into boiling water sufficient to cover, and cook until tender. Let the water boil nearly away, and serve without draining. Season with thin cream, and salt if desired.
String Beans.—Wash well in cold water. Remove the strong fiber, or strings, as they are called, by paring both edges with a sharp knife; few cooks do this thoroughly. Break off stems and points, carefully rejecting any imperfect or diseased pods. Lay a handful evenly on a board and cut them all at once into inch lengths. Put in a porcelain kettle, cover with boiling water, and cook from one to three hours, according to age and variety, testing frequently, as they should be removed from the kettle just as soon as done. When very young and tender, only water sufficient to keep them from burning will be needed. When done, add a half cup of thin cream, and salt to taste. If the quantity of juice is considerable, thicken with a little flour.