While no claim is made that all vegetables are improved through paper bag cookery, experiments prove that quite a number can be successfully cooked by the paper bag process. Vegetables of strong flavor as a rule are best cooked in a large quantity of water and are not recommended for paper bag cookery; only the more delicate vegetables that need to have their flavors conserved. Dried peas, lentils and beans are excellent cooked in paper bags but require a longer preliminary soaking than is usual with other methods of cooking.
Asparagus.—Trim and scrape as for boiling; wash very clean. Tie in bundles and put into a buttered bag with a little salt and a quarter cupful of water. Seal and cook from thirty-five to forty minutes in a hot oven.
Asparagus With Cheese.—Boil two bunches of asparagus twelve minutes in salted water. Drain, but save the water. Put the asparagus in a buttered bag or in one of the oval wooden dishes, scattering grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese between the layers. Turn over all a cup of the water in which the asparagus was boiled, sprinkle the top of the scallop with a little cheese and a few buttered bread crumbs. Seal the bag and cook fifteen minutes in a moderate oven.
Lima Beans.—Add to a quart of shelled Lima beans three tablespoonfuls of butter or vegetable oil, a quarter pound of diced bacon or ham, a little minced parsley or other seasoning herbs, and a teaspoonful of flour. Put in a greased bag with a cupful of water, seal and cook an hour in a moderate oven.
String Beans, Oriental Style.—String the beans, cut in two lengthwise, then break in inch pieces. To every pint of beans, which should be young and tender, allow one cupful boiling water, two tablespoonfuls vegetable oil, one small onion sliced, and a half cupful tomato. Salt and pepper to taste. Put all in greased paper bag and cook forty-five minutes. A wooden cookery dish can be employed to advantage.
Boston Baked Bean Cakes.—These are made of left-over baked beans. Heat with a little water to moisten, rub through a colander, season with salt, pepper and mustard. Put a tablespoonful of pork drippings or butter in a frying pan, and cook in it, when hot, a tablespoonful of minced onion, taking care not to let it blacken. Add to the beans, make into cakes and lay in well-greased bag. Cook twenty minutes and serve with tomato sauce.
Bean Croquettes.—Soak one pint white pea beans or the little brown Mexican frijoles over night in cold water. In the morning cook until soft in water to which a saltspoonful of soda has been added, changing the water after it first comes to a boil. Rub through a colander, then add to the pulp one cup grated bread crumbs, one tablespoonful minced parsley, two tablespoonfuls melted butter, two eggs well beaten, one small onion grated and salt and pepper to season. Mix thoroughly, shape into cylinders, dip in beaten egg, then in cracker dust and put in buttered bag. Seal and cook ten minutes in hot oven.
German Cabbage.—Take two small hard heads of red cabbage and cut in slices half an inch thick, discarding the hard stalk and veins. Put onto a greased wooden cookery bowl two rounding tablespoonfuls of melted butter or vegetable oil, then add the cabbage, sprinkle with a level teaspoonful of salt, three tablespoonfuls of vinegar and one onion chopped fine. Put in bag, seal, and put in oven. Bake one hour with only one burner on after the first ten minutes.
Cabbage Hot Slaw.—Chop a small hard head of cabbage fine and salt it lightly. Let stand half an hour then put in wooden bowl with two tablespoonfuls of butter. Put in bag, seal, and cook slowly in the oven for twenty minutes. No water is necessary, as the salt will draw out the juices of the cabbage so it will have moisture enough. At the end of twenty minutes take up with a hot dish, add a teaspoonful of flour that has been stirred in a little cold water, then cooked until thick with a half cupful of cream. Lastly, add one tablespoonful of pure vinegar and serve at once.