CHAPTER V.
Preparation of Vegetables for Cooking.—Time Table for Cooking Vegetables.—Cabbage, Beets, Greens, Tomatoes, Turnips, Mushrooms, Succotash, etc.
All vegetables must be carefully looked over. Remove the unripe or decayed parts, and then wash in cold water. When to be boiled they should be put in boiling salted water, and if necessary to replenish the water before the cooking is complete, boiling water should be always used. Keep the vessel covered, and drain the vegetables as soon as done. Do not let the water boil long before the vegetables are put in. Old and strong vegetables sometimes require boiling in two or three waters.
The following time table for cooking vegetables, culled from the writer's scrap-book, is reliable:
Potatoes, old, boiled, 30 minutes.
Potatoes, new, baked, 45 minutes.
Potatoes, new, boiled, 20 minutes.
Sweet potatoes, boiled, 45 minutes.
Sweet potatoes, baked, 1 hour.
Squash, boiled, 25 minutes.
Squash, baked, 45 minutes.
Shell beans, boiled, 1 hour.
Green peas, boiled, 20 to 40 minutes.
String beans, boiled, 1 to 2 hours.
Green corn, 25 minutes to 1 hour.
Asparagus, 15 to 30 minutes.
Spinach, 1 to 2 hours.
Tomatoes, fresh, 1 hour.
Tomatoes, canned, 30 minutes.[C]
Cabbage, 45 minutes to 2 hours.
Cauliflower, 1 to 2 hours.
Dandelions, 2 to 3 hours.
Beet greens, 1 hour.
Onions, 1 to 2 hours.
Beets, 1 to 5 hours.
Turnips, white, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Turnips, yellow, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
Parsnips, 1 to 2 hours.
Carrots, 1 to 2 hours.
If a piece of lean salt pork is boiled with some of the above, they will be sufficiently seasoned. If not, season with salt, pepper and butter.
Potatoes and Corn.
For all methods of cooking these vegetables, see Chapter V. of Part I.
Boiled Cabbage.
Remove the outer and all bad leaves, examining carefully for insects, and halve or quarter the cabbage, according to size. Wash, soak a short time in cold water, and put in a covered pot of boiling salted water. When it is tender and "smells good" it is done. Drain, and press out the water, seasoning with salt, pepper and butter. The latter should be omitted if it is boiled with pork.
Cabbage aux Legumes.
Cut out the centre of a large cabbage, and fill the hole with small potatoes, onions, parsnips, beets, etc. Cover with a cloth and boil till tender.
Fried Cooked Cabbage.
Have enough lard in the pan to just cover the bottom when melted. Chop the cabbage, put into the melted lard and stir frequently till the cabbage is piping hot, when it is ready to serve.
Succotash.
Cut the corn from the cob and shell the beans. If string beans are used, string and cut into half-inch pieces. The right proportion for succotash is two-thirds corn to one-third beans. Put them into enough boiling salt water to cover them. Stew gently till tender, stirring frequently; then drain, add a cup of milk and a piece of butter the size of an egg, and stir till it boils up once. Season to taste.
Boiled Beets.
Winter beets must be soaked over night in water. Wash them, but do not scrape or cut them, as they lose in color and quality by being cut. Put them in boiling water enough to cover them well, cover and boil till tender, which will take from one to three hours. Then put them in cold water and rub off the skins quickly. If large, slice them; if young, split lengthwise.
Greens.
When in camp or on a cruise, a most delicious dish can be made of boiled greens, of which a large variety of weeds and plants furnishes the material. Dandelion leaves, nettles, milkweed, spinach, young beet tops, turnip tops, mustard, narrow dock, mountain cow-slip, kale, cabbage, poke, sprouts and other "weeds" are good. They should be picked over carefully, washed in three or four waters, and soaked in cold water half an hour; then drain and put in enough boiling salt water to cover them. Press them down till the pot is full, as they "boil away" and lose more than half in substance. Cover, and boil steadily till tender. Then drain and press out the water. Season to taste with butter, pepper and salt. Greens are good boiled with salt pork, bacon, corned beef or ham. Put them in the pot in time to be done with the meat.
Stewed Tomatoes.
Peel by pouring over them boiling water, when the skin will easily come off. Cut up, discarding unripe and hard parts. Put into a pot, seasoning with butter, pepper, salt, and if very acid, two tablespoonfuls of sugar. Cover, and stew gently. See time table.
Boiled Turnips.
Wash and peel, and if old, pare off part of the "meat" next the skin. Cut into pieces of a uniform size, soak in cold water half an hour, put into enough boiling salt water to cover them, cover, and cook according to time table. Season with butter, pepper and salt. Omit the butter if they are cooked with meat.
Mushrooms.
Edible mushrooms are found in clear, open, sunny fields and elevated ground where the air is pure and fresh; poisonous ones are found in woods, low, damp ground, in shady places and upon putrefying substances. The edible kind are most plentiful in August and September, and spring up after low lying fogs, soaking dews or heavy rains. They first appear very small and of a round form, on a little stalk, the upper part and stalk being then white. They grow very fast, and, as the size increases, the under part gradually opens and shows a fringy fur (called "gills") of a delicate salmon color. After the mushroom is a day old this salmon color changes to a russet or dark brown. The gills of the poisonous variety are red, green, blue, yellow or orange red, and sometimes white, but they never have the delicate salmon color of the edible mushroom. The latter have an agreeable odor, and the poisonous have sometimes a similar odor, but generally smell fetid. The flesh of the edible kind is compact and brittle; that of the poisonous generally soft and watery. The skin of the former is easily peeled from the edges, and the seeds or sprouts are for the most part roundish or oval; the skin of the latter is not easy to peel and the seeds are mostly angular. Some poisonous ones assume a bluish tint on being bruised and others exude an acrid, milky juice. The mushroom should have all of the above-named characteristics of the edible variety before it is put in the pot, and it is safest not to select mushrooms gathered by somebody else, as they change color after being picked several hours, and the two kinds are then difficult to distinguish. Finally, if a white peeled onion cooked with them turns black, or if a silver spoon with which they are stirred while cooking turns black, don't eat them; and if you don't know a salmon color from a yellow let somebody gather them who does.
Stewed Mushrooms.
Select mushrooms of uniform size. Wipe them clean with a soft cloth; peel, commencing at the edge and finishing at the top; cut off the lower part of the stem; put them into a tin or earthen vessel and half cover them with cold water, and stew gently for fifteen minutes, frequently stirring to prevent burning; season with pepper and salt. When the stew is done stir into it one or more tablespoonfuls of butter, previously cut in small pieces, and rolled in flour; stir three or four minutes. Do not let it boil.
Fried Mushrooms.
Prepare as directed for stewing; heat in a frying pan enough butter to thinly cover the bottom; put in the mushrooms and fry both sides a golden brown.
Broiled Mushrooms.
Prepare as above, put on a broiler with gills uppermost, sprinkle on a little salt and pepper and a tiny piece of butter, and hold over a bed of coals.
Fried Beans.
Put enough butter in a frying pan to just cover the bottom when melted. When it is hot put in your beans, already boiled and drained, and fry brown, stirring occasionally.