|
Classic
Cook Books
< last page | next page >
page 277
VEGETABLES.
All vegetables are better cooked in soft water, provided it is clean and pure;
if hard water is used put in a small pinch of soda. The fresher all vegetables
are the more wholesome. After being well washed, they should lie in cold water
half an hour before using, and some peel potatoes and let them stand in cold
water over night, putting them in immediately after being peeled, as exposure to
the air darkens them. Green corn and pease should be prepared and cooked at
once. Put all kinds into salted water, boiling hot (excepting potatoes which may
be put on in salted cold water) and cook until thoroughly done, draining well
those that require it. Never split onions, turnips and carrots, but slice them
in rings cut across the fiber, as they thus cook tender much quicker.
Always add both salt and a little soda to the water in which greens are cooked,
as soda preserves color; for the same purpose French cookery books recommend a
small pinch of carbonate of ammonia.
A little sugar added to turnips, beets, pease, corn, squash and pumpkin is an
improvement, especially when the vegetables are poor in quality. Sweet potatoes
require a longer time to cook than the common variety. In gathering asparagus,
never cut it off, but snap or break it; in this way you do not get the white,
woody part which no boiling can make tender.
Put rice on to cook in boiling salted water, having first soaked for about an
hour; or steam it, or cook in custard-kettle.
A piece of red pepper the size of finger-nail, dropped into meat or vegetables,
when first beginning to cook, will aid greatly in killing the unpleasant odor.
Remember this for boiled cabbage, green beans, onions, mutton and chicken. All
vegetables should be
< last page | next page >
Classic
Cook Books
|
