VEGETABLES.
Much care in selecting vegetables is necessary, but still more in preparing them for the table. It is to be regretted that so little attention is given to this. Half the enjoyment that should be derived from the abundance of the best varieties which our farms and markets offer in every summer season is lost by unskillful cooking. So evident is this fact, that it appears quite important to call the particular attention of young housekeepers to this part of their duty. We are so much in earnest, and deem this part of their labors so worthy of extra care, that no doubt those who think us quite too particular and whimsical in our inculcations of extreme neatness in household management will find the same grounds for objection here. We would suggest that those who feel inclined to raise these objections should overlook everything and every place about their houses, and attend with their own hands to all that ought to be done for one month. We imagine that, should they do this, their experience of the beauty of great cleanliness, and the added luxury and pleasure of their table comforts, would justify our teachings.
Of course it is only those who raise vegetables themselves who can enjoy in the highest degree the pleasure of eating them. No luxury of this kind, peas, corn, beans, salads, etc., can ever be had in perfection when gathered overnight and brought to the market or the store, lying for hours it may be before they are used. But even after such exposure and waste of the finer flavors, they can be made more palatable by proper cooking.
Almost all vegetables are better steamed than boiled, as all the juices are secured by this method; particularly is this true in cooking corn and peas. A large kettle half filled with boiling water, a steamer fitting closely in the top of the kettle, and the cover fitting as closely to the steamer, answers very well when there is no better way. But there are now in market various kinds of steamers for cooking, which profess to make it a very convenient mode of preparing food. The “Peerless,” one of the best cooking-stoves we have ever known, has a large steamer of the size and shape of a wash-boiler, with two perforated compartments in which to put the various articles to be cooked, and we have found it exceedingly convenient for steaming all kinds of vegetables. We have elsewhere mentioned the “Rumford Boiler,” the “Warren Cooker,” etc. A large amount of corn—for those who can gather sweet corn right from the stalk are not likely to be satisfied with a small mess—can be placed in one part; peas in a dish, all seasoned, set beside the corn; potatoes, beets, cauliflower, each in separate dish, can find a place in this large steamer, and cooked without losing any of their richness, yet, all being in one large receptacle, less room is occupied on the stove than when each article is put in a separate kettle.
Corn.—Like peas and most summer produce, corn should be used as soon as plucked. Husk, silk, and put into boiling water as soon as possible after it is brought from the garden. Let it boil twenty minutes, or, if large kernels and cob, thirty.
The small early corn that will not cook in fifteen or twenty minutes is too old, or wholly worthless for cooking. As soon as the corn is done, put it on the plates with a napkin under, and send it to the table hot. If you prefer it cut from the cob, as soon as it is cooked cut it off, and to three pints of corn put one spoonful of butter, with pepper and salt to suit your taste; put in but a little at first and then taste (always remember that in seasoning you can add if needed, but cannot easily take away), add a cup and a half of good cream, or if you must use milk instead, put in half a spoonful more butter. Have boiling water in the under part of your farina-kettle, and pour your corn into the upper. Set over the fire till just ready to boil, then dish and send to the table hot.
Another Way.—With a thin, sharp knife, cut the corn from the cob before cooking, being careful not to cut so closely as to take the horny point that fastens the kernel to the cob. Put the corn into the farina-kettle as above directed, with a little salt, pepper, two cups cream, one spoonful butter, or two cups sweet milk and two great spoonfuls of butter. Be sure and scrape all the milk from the cob when you have cut off the kernels, or squeeze it out with your hand. It adds more to the richness of the dish than you would at first imagine. Set the kettle over the fire and let it boil fifteen minutes. It will take less time to cook than when boiled on the cob.
Boiling Potatoes.—To boil potatoes well requires more attention than is usually given. They should be well washed, and left standing in cold water an hour or two, to remove the black liquor with which they are impregnated, and a brackish taste they would otherwise have. They should not be pared before boiling; they lose much of the starch by so doing, and are made insipid. Put them into a kettle of clear cold water, with a little salt, cover closely and boil rapidly, using no more water than will just cover them, as they produce a considerable quantity of fluid themselves while boiling, and too much water will make them heavy. As soon as just done, instantly pour off the water, set them back on the range, and leave the cover off the saucepan till the steam has evaporated. They will then, if a good kind, be dry and mealy. This is an Irish receipt, and a good one.
Another Way.—Put them, with skins on, into a kettle of hot water; let them come just to the boiling point, and pour in a cup of cold water, and, as the Irish say, the boiling is “backed.” Repeat this till the potato is tender. The object is to keep the water just on the verge of boiling, but check it by a little cold water till the potato is done.
To Boil New Potatoes.—When fresh dug take the small potatoes not quite ripe, wash clean, then rub the skin off with the hand—never use a knife—and put them into boiling water with a little salt; boil quickly; when done, drain dry and lay into a dish, spreading a little butter over them, or boil some new milk, put in a great spoonful of butter, and thicken with a little flour wet smooth with milk. When the potatoes are cooked and laid in the dish pour this dip over them. This is very nice.
Mashed Potatoes.—Boil with skins on; when done, peel quickly, and put, as you peel, into a saucepan over the stove, but not hot enough to burn; mash free from lumps to a smooth paste; have ready, before peeling the potatoes, a piece of butter half the size of an egg, melted, and half a cup of sweet milk, with pepper and salt to taste; when the potatoes are mashed smooth, pour in the milk and butter, and work it quick and smooth, then dish; dress the top with a knife so as to be round and smooth, rub on a little beaten egg, and brown in the oven very delicately. Serve with fowls or roast meat.
Potato Croquettes.—Boil potatoes with just enough water to cover; when three quarters done pour off the water and let them steam to finish cooking; then press them through a wire sieve; this done, put them into a stewpan, adding one ounce butter to one quart potatoes, and the well-beaten yelks of two eggs; mix together thoroughly; then flour the paste-board, divide the potato paste into square parts and roll them on the board to any shape,—balls, pears, corks, or what you choose,—dip them in egg and bread crumbs, and fry in hot fat to a light brown.
Saratoga Fried Potatoes.—Wash the potatoes clean, slice with a potato-slicer very thin, throw into cold water long enough to take out some of the starch, then wipe dry and put into boiling lard, a few pieces at a time; be sure and keep the lard boiling; as soon as the potatoes are of a clear golden brown, skim out, drain in a colander or sieve, and serve hot.
Scalloped Potatoes.—Boil in the skins. Peel quickly, when done, and rub through a colander or coarse sieve, or mash smoothly; season highly with salt, pepper, and butter; add two or three hard-boiled eggs chopped fine. Four eggs to a quart of mashed potatoes are nice; but if eggs are not plenty, two will do. Fill a bake-dish with it, and bake long enough to form a delicately brown crust. Serve as soon as taken from the oven.
Snow Potatoes.—Boil till just done; peel and throw into a colander or coarse sieve; break them up a little; then sprinkle in a little salt; add as much butter as for common mashed potatoes, and enough milk to enable you to rub them easily through the colander. They will, if not too moist, come through in strings and fall in a light snowy mass into the vegetable-dish, which should be placed underneath. Do not stir it, but send to the table just as it falls into the dish.
Potato Cakes.—Grate one teacup of raw ham, mix it with a quart of finely mashed potatoes; beat and stir into this two eggs, add pepper, salt (not too much), and a little mustard,—a small teaspoonful is not too much if you like it highly seasoned,—roll in balls and fry a light brown. Sage and sweet-marjoram can be added if their taste is agreeable.
To Fry Sweet Potatoes.—Pare, slice thin, fry in hot lard, like fritters, and sprinkle with a little salt as they are taken from the lard.
Maccaroni.—Boil a quarter of a pound of maccaroni in clear water till tender. While boiling, thicken half a pint of boiling milk with enough flour to make it as stiff as thick cream; add half a table-spoonful of butter and two table-spoonfuls of cream, half a small teaspoonful of mustard, a little pepper (white if you have it, if not black will answer), a little salt, and a very little cayenne pepper. Stir into this a quarter of a pound of grated cheese. Boil this all together a few moments, stirring it constantly to prevent its burning, then drain the water from the maccaroni, and stir it into the thickened milk; let it boil up a few moments, and serve hot; or, if preferred, after dishing it, set the dish in the oven and let it brown. For variety, a little parsley chopped fine and stirred in before adding the maccaroni is considered an improvement.
Another very good way to prepare maccaroni is, boil it fifteen or twenty minutes in clear water, then drain it, and use chicken or veal broth instead of milk for the seasoning.
Another: Prepare as above or with milk, and just before it is done beat up two eggs and stir in.
Egg-Plant.—Take the fruit fully ripe; cut in slices not more than a quarter of an inch thick, and put it to soak in cold salted water for two hours. This removes a black, bitter property, said to be unhealthful, certainly disagreeable; then wipe the slices on a clean cloth, dip in the white of egg and fry in boiling hot butter till well browned, but be careful not to scorch them; serve hot.
Another Way.—Pare and quarter two or three egg-plants, according to the size of your family. Soak them in salt and water, as directed above, then boil till soft enough to mash like turnips. Mash them smooth, add a few bread crumbs soaked in milk, and one or two table-spoonfuls of butter, according to the quantity; a little chopped parsley, an onion boiled and mashed, and salt and pepper. Mix all thoroughly; pour into a baking-dish, cover the top with grated bread, and bake for a half-hour. Serve hot. For a fancy dish some boil the plant till soft, then cut in halves and scoop out the flesh, leaving the skin whole. Mash the inside smooth, and dress as above. Mix well, and stew half an hour, then put it back into the shell or skin; strew bread crumbs over, and brown slightly.
Cucumbers after they begin to turn yellow, and muskmelons that come on too late to ripen, may be sliced and fried like the egg-plant, and can scarcely be distinguished from it. Some think they are better.
Fricasseed Egg-plant.—Peel and slice the egg-plant; lay the slices in salt-water two hours, to remove the bitterness and the black which it would otherwise have; after soaking, drain off all the water; have enough boiling water in a clean, bright saucepan to cover the slices; throw in a table-spoonful of salt, and lay in the egg-plant; let them boil till thoroughly cooked; then drain off the water, pour in sufficient milk to cover the slices, and add two table-spoonfuls of butter, rolled in flour; let it simmer gently, shake the pan over the fire till the sauce is thick, and then stir in the beaten yelks of three eggs just before serving.
To Stew Tomatoes.—Pour boiling water over fair and fully ripe tomatoes, that you may peel them quickly; let the water remain only long enough to start the skin. When peeled, cut into an earthen pipkin or a porcelain-lined kettle, as tin or iron turns them dark and gives a bad taste. If onions are agreeable, cut one small one in with the tomatoes. Cover closely and set where they will gently simmer, but not boil hard. Stir them occasionally to prevent burning, and when they have cooked two hours add salt and pepper to suit your own taste, and to a quart of tomatoes add a table-spoonful and a half of sugar, and two and a half even spoonfuls of bread or cracker crumbs. After the crumbs are added stir often or they will stick to the bottom of the dish and soon burn. Twenty minutes before dinner beat two eggs, or if you have more than a quart of tomatoes increase the number in the proportion of two eggs to a quart; stir briskly and often after the eggs are added, and serve hot. If possible the tomatoes should be skinned and on the back part of the stove before breakfast, as the longer they simmer the better they will be. Three hours’ slow cooking at least, five is better. If prepared according to rule, they are thought very nice by tomato-lovers, and are better warmed over the second day than they were the first.
Baked Tomatoes.—Peel and slice good, firm, but ripe tomatoes; put them in a pudding-dish, season with pepper, salt, two great spoonfuls of sugar to a quart of tomatoes, and one spoonful of butter. Sprinkle some finely powdered bread crumbs over the top and bake slowly two hours.
To add two well-beaten eggs is thought by some to improve this dish.
Scalloped Tomatoes.—Peel as many large, ripe tomatoes as you wish to prepare; cut them in slices a quarter of an inch thick; pack in a pudding-dish first a layer of tomatoes, then a thick layer of bread crumbs, pepper, salt, a little white sugar, and a teaspoonful of butter; then a layer of tomatoes, then bread crumbs, etc., till the dish is nearly full, having tomatoes last. Now dust over pepper, a little sugar, and more butter; strew the top with bread crumbs, and bake, covered, half an hour; then remove the cover, and bake brown, but be careful not to scorch.
We have received from a South Carolina lady the two following receipts:—
Boiled Rice.—One pint of rice, as new as it can be had,—old rice has a dead taste,—to one quart of boiling water and one table-spoonful of salt. Boil briskly a few minutes, until the water seems absorbed; then, keeping it closely covered, set on one side of the stove, where it can be kept hot and steam itself done,—not become soft and mushy. In about half an hour it will be cooked sufficiently. Serve very hot with the meats, like potatoes. If cooked soft and watery, and stirred till gluey—as is so often done—it would not be thought eatable at the South. Never stir more than once, and then only when it first boils. Some prefer only one pint of water to one pint of rice.
Cooking Rice.—Pick over and wash a cup of rice; cover with cold water, and set where it will cook slowly. When the rice has absorbed all the water, pour in a cup of milk; stir often and cook slowly; in ten or fifteen minutes it will take up all the milk; then add another cup, and so on, till the rice is soft, then add a little salt, and dish. Eat with meat, or as dessert; if the latter, sweeten rich sweet cream and grate in nutmeg, and use as sauce to the pudding.
Peas.—To prepare any article of food in the best way should not be thought “too much trouble.” Many kinds of early peas are dry, almost tasteless, and if what sweetness there may be in the pod is not added to the peas to remedy this deficiency, they will be very insipid.
“Carter’s Full Crop” and the “Daniel O’Rourke” are among our earliest, but neither is a very sweet pea. To use these with any enjoyment, securing all the saccharine properties of the pod, is very essential. They are of the smooth, round kind, and these are never as sweet as the wrinkled peas,—that is, those that wrinkle in boiling or drying.
“The Little Gem” and the “Champion of England” are later, but among our best and sweetest peas. They do not need the juices of the pod so much in cooking, but we think are enough sweeter and richer for it to pay for the trouble. Some cooks throw in a little sugar to increase the flavor, as they use soda to make them tender; but don’t do it unless your taste is so deficient that you can be satisfied with simple sweetness and tenderness, without regard to rich, genuine flavor. For such, any tasteless thing, so that it is sweet and tender, is as good as peas.
Green Peas.—The first rule is to use the peas fresh from the vines, every hour’s delay in cooking after they are gathered destroys something of their finest flavor. Wash them before shelling, never after. Shell and pick over nicely. First put in the fresh pods. Press them down, leaving only water enough to cover them. Let them boil fifteen minutes, then skim out, and put in the peas. If there is more than enough water to cover the peas after the pods have been removed, pour it out. Let them boil fifteen or twenty minutes. Peas that require more than twenty minutes, or need soda to make them tender, are only fit for soup. When done, put what butter is needed into the dish, and pour the peas on it, adding a little pepper. Some prefer them dry, and drain them through a strainer, but we think some of the water in which they were boiled is a very great improvement. The amount of butter needed must be decided by the quantity of peas and the taste. Boiling the pods adds greatly to the sweetness and richness of the peas.
Beans.—The dwarf wax beans are among the best string-beans. The pod is very tender and white, almost transparent when cooked. The Valentine is also very good. Of the pole-beans the Horticultural and Lima are the best. If you cannot raise the Lima, the Saba is a good substitute, though by no means equal to it.
In cooking the wax bean, simply cut off the ends, and snap the pod in small bits. Put salt into boiling water and then put in the beans. If the salt is thrown in before the vegetables, they retain their color; but if salt is added after they are in hot water, they will be of a faded olive color when cooked, and not so well flavored. String-beans should cook a full hour unless very tender. When done put in your vegetable-dish some butter, allowing an even great spoonful to a pint of string-beans; add a little pepper and pour the beans upon it, with some of the water in which they were boiled. Like peas, some prefer them quite moist; those who do not can easily be suited by having theirs taken out free from the liquor. Lima beans are not good to use for string-beans, but the bean itself is delicious. It requires a full hour to boil. When ready to dish, season the same as peas or string-beans. Many consider cream an addition both for peas and beans, but we think much of the peculiar delicacy is lost by it. The more simple such articles can be prepared the more of the true flavor is retained.
Asparagus.—Wash it clean, but do not leave in water. Cut off all of the white ends that are woody and tough, and when ready to boil tie up the stalks in a neat bunch, lay them in the saucepan, sprinkle over as much salt as is needed to season, then just cover the bunch or bunches with boiling water. Cook twenty minutes. When done, take the asparagus out and with a sharp knife cut off any part that has not cooked tender and throw away. Then cut the stalks up into pieces half an inch long and put them back into the saucepan with two table-spoonfuls of butter to each good-sized bunch; a little pepper, one cup of good cream, and enough finely rolled bread crumbs to thicken it a little, say only two even table-spoonfuls. If there is enough water left after boiling to make the dish too liquid, pour off part of it before returning the asparagus, cream, and bread crumbs to the saucepan. Let it all boil up for two or three minutes, then dish and send to the table hot.
Spinach.—Pick and wash it with great care. Put into a saucepan that will just hold it; sprinkle in some salt, and pour over only one cup and a half of boiling water; cover close, set on the stove, and shake the pan often to prevent the spinach from burning. When done, beat it up with a little butter and pepper. It should come to the table quite dry. It looks nicely when pressed into a mold in the form of a leaf. Serve with poached eggs.
To Boil Cabbage.—Wash very thoroughly in cold water; look between the leaves, where insects and worms are very often secreted; then put into boiling water, some say without any salt; we prefer to add salt, when half done; boil quickly till tender; then take it out with a skimmer into a colander or sieve, and drain free from all water. Season with a little butter and pepper.
To Boil Cabbage with Meat.—Select small, white, firm heads; cut in quarters; examine carefully; then lay the quarters an hour in cold salted water, to drive out any insects that may have escaped your observation. Skim all the fat from the pot in which the pork or beef is boiling, and put in the cabbage while the water boils; cook till tender; then drain, and serve as whole and compact as possible. If the meat is to be used cold, take out some of the water in which it is boiling, and put in another kettle and boil the cabbage in that, as it gives a disagreeable taste to meat when cold.
Another Way.—After washing and examining the cabbage, put it into a kettle of fast-boiling water, into which you have put some salt and a small bit of soda. Press it down into the water, then let it boil quickly eight minutes; have on hand another kettle of fast-boiling water prepared as above, and transfer the cabbage to that; press it down into the water and let it boil twelve minutes more; meanwhile throw away the first water and prepare more like it; after the second boiling remove the cabbage once more to another water, and boil ten minutes if the cabbage is small, twenty if large; then take it up in a colander, lay a plate over, and drain well; dish on toasted bread that has been dipped in drawn butter, and pour a little over the cabbage.
Cabbage like Cauliflower.—Chop a good, solid head of cabbage fine, as if for cold slaw. Put it into boiling water. Boil till tender; then drain quite free from water; season with salt, pepper, and butter; add a cup of cream or milk, and simmer a few minutes. Send to table hot.
Cauliflower.—Soak the head two hours in salt and water, and boil until tender in milk and water, if you have plenty of milk, if not, boiling water will answer. Serve whole with drawn butter, or cut it up and season richly with butter, and a little pepper and salt. The first way is the most stylish, the last the most palatable. In either case it must be well drained.
Hot-Slaw.—Cut a firm white head of cabbage in thin shreds; put it into boiling water; cook till tender; only just cover with water, so that when done there may be hardly any remaining. Just before dishing, add to one good-sized head half a teacupful of good cider vinegar and a piece of butter half the size of an egg, with salt and pepper to suit your taste.
Cold Slaw.—Shave a firm head of cabbage fine; put a teaspoonful of salt, the same of sugar, and a little pepper into a small cup of vinegar, and pour over the cabbage.
To Cook Onions.—The strong, disagreeable taste and smell from onions may be in a large degree removed by leaving them to soak in cold salt and water an hour after the outside skin has been removed; then boil them in milk and water till thoroughly tender; lay into a deep dish, season with pepper and salt, and pour over them drawn butter.