=Cooking processes.=--These rank in value as they do or do not retain the mineral and flavoring matters.
_Baking._--No nutritive material lost. The best method for potatoes and sweet potatoes. Used also for squash, pumpkin, beets, young onions, dried beans, peas, and lentils.
_Steaming._ (Cooking in a steamer.)--No nutritive material lost. A good method for all fresh vegetables. Steamed vegetables have less flavor than baked.
_Stewing._--Cooking in a stew pan or kettle with so little water that it is almost boiled out at the end of the process, any remaining liquid being served with the vegetable. The best method for spinach, which can be cooked with no additional water, beyond that remaining on the leaves from the washing. The French use this method almost entirely, and with tender peas and carrots they omit water and use b.u.t.ter only. A subst.i.tute for this latter is a very small amount of water, with the addition of b.u.t.terine or some good b.u.t.ter subst.i.tute.
_Boiling._--Cooking in a large amount of boiling, salted water, the water to be drained off and thrown away. May be used with old beets of rank flavor, strong onions, old potatoes, or potatoes boiled with the skins on.
A wasteful method.
=Adjuncts.=--Salt, pepper, b.u.t.ter, or some other fat, milk, cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, eggs.
=Utensils.=--A vegetable brush, a sharp knife, a chopper, a potato masher, a strainer, a colander, a stew pan, kettle or steamer, baking pan, baking dish, bean pot, frying pan or kettle.
=General directions.=--Wash the vegetables, scrubbing the skin vegetables with a brush. Washing in several waters is important with spinach to remove all grit. Sc.r.a.pe off thin skins or pare off the thicker. Thick skins such as those of old beets are more easily removed after cooking.
The outer covering must be removed in the case of peas, sh.e.l.l beans, and sweet corn. Pull or cut strings from string beans with great care. Discard all poor portions. Remove and throw away the inner pulp and seeds of old squashes and pumpkins. The whole of a tender summer squash is eatable.
When boiling salted water is used, allow one tablespoonful of salt to four quarts of water. Steamed and stewed vegetables are salted and dressed with b.u.t.ter or b.u.t.ter subst.i.tute before serving. b.u.t.ter is a better dressing for vegetables than white sauce. Where cream is available, nothing is so delicious. Use white sauce very sparingly with some escalloped vegetable for variety. Making a sauce adds to the labor of preparation, and the sauce hides the delicious flavor of a well-cooked vegetable. Some vegetables are mashed before serving; potatoes, turnip, squash, either boiled or baked.
=Time of cooking.=--The following table is a guide, but one must learn from practice, for the time depends upon the quality of the vegetable, whether tender or tough, and upon the size whether large or small. Test by gently inserting a fork.
Allow more time for cooking in a steamer, than for stewing or boiling. It requires more time to bake a potato than to boil one of the same size.
Why?
Time-table
(For stewing and boiling unless stated otherwise.)
_Fifteen minutes._--Tender cabbage and sweet corn. These are usually cooked too long.
_Thirty minutes._--Asparagus; peas; potatoes of medium size; summer squash; tomatoes.
_Forty-five minutes._--Young beets and carrots; onions; young parsnips; medium potatoes baked, sweet potatoes boiled.
_One hour._--String and sh.e.l.led beans; cauliflower; oyster plant; winter squash, steamed or baked; young turnips.
_Two hours._--Old carrots, beets, and turnips.
_Six to eight hours (or more)._--Dried beans, lentils, and peas, baked in the oven, with water added.
=The potato, a starchy vegetable.=--Make it your pride to serve a plain potato, mealy and inviting. Potatoes are "new," fully ripe, and old. The new potato is in market in July and August, and may be recognized by its very thin skin. The later potatoes have a thicker skin, the color still being fresh. In the spring after its winter storage, the potato is "old."
It seems a little less firm, the color of the exterior is somewhat changed; perhaps the buds in the eyes of the potato are beginning to grow.
When cooked it has a stronger flavor, and rather darker color. If the potato has been frozen, a sweet flavor is developed, and the quality is waxy. Potatoes are sometimes inferior in quality when the season is a poor one, or when some potato disease is prevalent. The following cla.s.sification shows you in how many ways potatoes may be cooked, and also shows you how easy it is to cla.s.sify recipes in an orderly way.
I. Potatoes cooked whole.
1. Steamed.
_a._ With skin.
_b._ Without skin.
2. Boiled.
_a._ With skin.
_b._ Without skin.
3. Baked.
_a._ With skin.
_b._ Without skin.
II. Potatoes, not whole.
1. From raw potatoes.
_a._ Sliced and escalloped.
_b._ Cut in cubes and stewed.
_c._ Cut in slices or fancy shapes and fried.
2. From cooked potatoes.
_a._ Mashed.
(_a_) From boiled potatoes, plain or browned on top.
(_b_) From baked potatoes, seasoned and served in sh.e.l.l.
_b._ Creamed. From either cold-boiled or baked potatoes; the latter are better.
_c._ Saute.
(_a_) Sliced and browned.
(_b_) Hashed and browned.
If you know some other method, see if you can fit it into this grouping.
=1. Baked potatoes.=
_Method 1._ The best method, for new potatoes. Select those of uniform size. When scrubbed, place them in a shallow pan, or upon the rack of the oven. The oven should be hot, about 450 F. or even a higher temperature. (See oven tests, Chapter IX.) The length of time required depends upon the size of the potato, forty-five minutes being the average time.
A potato is largely water. What is the temperature of the interior of the potato during the baking process?