All vegetables should be eaten while young, or they lose considerably in flavour. When French or runner beans are quite young it is better merely to remove the strings and to cook them whole; but when old age approaches they are more palatable when sliced.
To Boil Vegetables
When boiling vegetables remember that all fresh vegetables should be plunged into boiling salted water, the proportions being 1 tablespoonful of salt to 1 gallon of water.
Dried vegetables should be placed in lukewarm water.
A piece of sugar put into the water in which green vegetables are cooked helps to bring out the flavour.
Leave the cover off the pan in which vegetables are cooked, or, at all events, leave it half off, so that the steam can escape easily.
Do not allow vegetables to stay in the water in which they are boiled, but drain them at once, pressing out all the water possible.
Green vegetables take on an average about 20 minutes to cook, though 10 minutes is often long enough for young peas, while cabbages sometimes take nearly an hour.
The best way of cooking peas is as follows:—Shell a pint of peas and place them in a jar with a closely-fitting lid, put in with them a saltspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of butter, a teaspoonful of powdered white sugar, a sprig of mint and a shake of black pepper. Cover the jar closely and place it in a saucepan of boiling water. Boil briskly, until done, which should be in ½ an hour to ¾ of an hour.