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.