VEGETABLES.
Preliminary Remarks—Potatoes—Boiled—Roasted—Baked—Fried—Potato Balls—Ragoût—Purée—Omelette—To Brown—Potato Flour—Jelly—Wa11—To keep—Sweet Potatoes—Turnips—To Boil—Mash, &c.—Beets—To Boil—Bake—Stew, &c.—Carrots—To Boil—Parsnips—Oyster Plant—Green Peas—French Beans—Windsor Beans—String Beans, &c.—To dress Egg Plant—Squashes—Rice—Green Corn—Succatash—Hominy—Cabbage—Cauliflowers—Spinach—Celery—Onions—Leeks—Artichokes—Tomatoes—Asparagus—Mushrooms.
To dress Vegetables.—Vegetables should be fresh gathered, and washed quite clean; when not recently gathered, they should be put into cold spring-water sometime before they are dressed. When fresh gathered, they will not require so much boiling, by a third of the time, as when they have been gathered the usual time those in our markets have.
Shake the vegetables carefully to get out the insects; and take off the outside leaves.
To restore frost-bitten vegetables, lay them in cold water an hour before boiling, and put a piece of saltpetre in the saucepan when set on the fire.
Soft water is best for boiling vegetables; but if only hard water can be obtained, a very small bit of soda, or carbonate of ammonia, will soften it, and improve the appearance of the vegetables. Pearlash should never be used, as it imparts an unpleasant flavor, as will also soda if not cautiously used.
All vegetables (except carrots) should be boiled by themselves, and in plenty of water. Salt should be used with green vegetables; and the water should be skimmed before they are put in. Fast boiling, in an uncovered sauce-pan, will preserve their color. When they sink they are done, and should be taken out and drained, else they will lose their color, crispness, and flavor.
Green vegetables, generally, will require from twenty minutes to half an hour, fast boiling; but their age, freshness, and the season in which they are grown, require some variation of time. They should, almost invariably, be put on in boiling water.
Vegetables are very nutritious and wholesome, when thoroughly boiled; but are very indigestible when not sufficiently dressed. The principal points in cooking them are, to boil them so soft as to be easy of digestion, and sufficiently to get rid of any rankness, without losing their grateful flavor.
POTATOES.
Potatoes require no attention for the preservation of their color, but their flavor will be spoiled if their dressing be not attended to, which, although of the most simple nature, is frequently ill performed. The best mode of doing it is to sort the potatoes, and choose them of an equal size; wash them with a scrubbing-brush, and put them into cold water sufficient to cover them and no more. About ten minutes after the water has come to a boil, take out the half of it, and replace with cold water, to check it; the reason assigned for which is, “that the cold water sends the heat from the surface to the heart, and makes the potatoes mealy.” Then throw in a large handful of salt, leave the pot uncovered, and let it remain upon the fire to simmer until the potatoes are done; this is the moment to be watched, for, if overboiled, they will become waxy. The cook should, therefore, occasionally try them, by piercing them to the heart with a fork, and, when they are tender, the pot should be instantly taken off the fire, and the potatoes passed through a cullender to drain; which being done, and the water thrown out, they should then be replaced upon a folded flannel, in the same pot, which should be left by the side of the fire to keep hot and to cause the evaporation of the steam. When served they should be wrapped in a warmed cotton napkin. If of moderate size they will take about half an hour boiling, to which 15 minutes must be added for evaporation ere they can be sent to table. An iron pot is the best vessel for boiling potatoes in, since, after the water has been poured off, it retains sufficient heat to dry them thoroughly.
A good and economical mode of dressing potatoes, when soup, meat, or other eatables are to be boiled, is to have a tin strainer fitted to the mouth of the sauce-pan, so as to allow the steam to ascend from the boiler. By which simple contrivance a will boil the soup; b, when fixed in the pot, will steam the potatoes; and c, being the lid, will cover the whole, having a couple of small holes left in it to allow the steam to escape, in order to prevent it from falling down upon the potatoes.
Another way to Boil Potatoes.—Pare, wash, and throw them into a pan of cold water; then put them on to boil in a clean pot, with cold water sufficient to cover them, and sprinkle over a little salt; let them boil slowly uncovered till you can pass a fork through them; pour off the water, and set them where they will keep hot till wanted. When done in this way they are very mealy and dry.
Potatoes, either boiled or roasted, should never be covered to keep them hot.
To Boil New Potatoes.—These are never good unless freshly dug. Take them of equal size, and rub off the skins with a brush, or a very coarse cloth, wash them clean, and put them, without salt, into boiling, or at least, quite hot water; boil softly, and when they are tender enough to serve, pour off the water entirely, strew some fine salt over the potatoes, give them a shake, and let them stand by the fire in the sauce-pan for a minute, then dish and serve them immediately. Some cooks throw in a small slice of fresh butter, with the salt, and toss them gently in it after it is dissolved. This is a good mode, but the more usual one is to send melted butter to table with them, or to pour white sauce over them when they are very young, and served early in the season, as a side or corner dish.
Very small, 10 to 15 minutes moderate sized, 15 to 20 minutes.
New Potatoes in Butter.—Rub off the skins, wash the potatoes well, and wipe them dry; put them with three ounces of good butter, for a small dish, and with four ounces, or more, for a large one, into a well-tinned stew-pan or sauce-pan, and simmer them over a gentle fire for about half an hour. Keep them well shaken or tossed, that they may be equally done, and throw in some salt when they begin to stew. This is a good mode of dressing them when they are very young and watery.
To Boil Potatoes; (Captain Kater’s Receipt.)—Wash, wipe, and pare the potatoes, cover them with cold water, and boil them gently until they are done; pour off the water, and sprinkle a little fine salt over them; then take each potato separately with a spoon, and lay it into a clean warm cloth, twist this so as to press all the moisture from the vegetable, and render it quite round; turn it carefully into a dish placed before the fire, throw a cloth over, and when all are done, send them to table quickly. Potatoes dressed in this way are mashed without the slightest trouble; it is also by far the best method of preparing them for puddings or for cakes.
To Roast or Bake Potatoes.—Scrub, and wash exceedingly clean, some potatoes nearly assorted in size; wipe them very dry, and roast them in a Dutch oven before the fire, placing them at a distance from it, and keeping them often turned; or, arrange them in a coarse dish, and bake them in a moderate oven. Dish them neatly in a napkin, and send them very hot to table; serve cold butter with them.
One and three-quarters to upwards of two hours.
Another way to Roast Potatoes.—Part oil, rub off the skin, and put them into the Dutch-oven, or, if there are embers, wrap them in two or three papers; wet the last, and cover them with the hot ashes, or bake them in the oven. Best of all, if the ashes are reduced and hot, to wash the potatoes clean, and bury them in them, which frees them from all moisture.
Scooped Potatoes (entremets); or second course dish.— Wash and wipe some large potatoes of a firm kind, and with a small scoop adapted to the purpose, form as many diminutive ones as will fill a dish; cover them with cold water, and when they have boiled gently for five minutes, pour it off, and put more cold water to them; after they have simmered a second time, for five minutes, drain the water quite away, and let them steam by the side of the fire from four to five minutes longer. Dish them carefully, pour white sauce over them, and serve them with the second course. Old potatoes thus prepared, have often been made to pass for new ones, at the best tables, at the season in which the fresh vegetable is dearest. The time required to boil them will of course vary with their quality: we give the method which we have found very successful.
Fried Potatoes (entremets).—After having washed them, wipe and pare some raw potatoes, cut them in slices of equal thickness, or into thin shavings, and throw them into plenty of boiling butter, or very pure clarified dripping. Fry them of a fine light brown, and very crisp; lift them out with a skimmer, drain them on a soft warm cloth, dish them very hot, and springle fine salt over them. This is an admirable way of dressing potatoes. When pared round and round to a corkscrew form, in ribbons or shavings of equal width, and served dry and well-fried, lightly piled in a dish, they make a hand-some appearance and are excellent eating. We have known them served with a slight sprinkling of Cayenne. If sliced, they should be something less than a quarter-inch thick.
Cold Potatoes.—They may be cut in slices somewhat less than half an inch thick, and fried in like manner. They are sometimes fried with onions as an accompaniment to pork chops, or a rasher of bacon.
Mashed Potatoes.—Boil them perfectly tender quite through, pour off the water, and steam them very dry; peel them quickly, take out every speck, and while they are still hot, press the potatoes through an earthen cullender, or bruise them to a smooth mash, with a strong wooden fork or spoon, but never pound them in a mortar, as that will reduce them to a close heavy paste. Let them be entirely free from lumps, for nothing can be more indicative of carelessness or want of skill on the part of the cook, than mashed potatoes sent to the table full of lumps. Melt in a clean sauce-pan a slice of good butter with a low spoonsful of milk, or, better still, of cream; put in the potatoes after having sprinkled some fine salt upon them, and stir the whole over a gentle fire, with a wooden spoon, until the ingredients are well mixed, and the whole is very hot. It may then be served directly; or heaped high in a dish, left rough on the surface, and browned before the fire; or it may be pressed into a well-buttered mould of handsome form, which has been strewed with the finest bread-crumbs, and shaken free of the loose ones, then turned out, and browned in an oven.
Obs.—More or less liquid will be required for potatoes of different kinds. For 2 pounds of potatoes add 1 tea-spoonful of salt, 1 ounce of butter and one-quarter pint of milk or sweet cream.
Potatoes a-la Maitre D’Hotel.—Cold potatoes that have been boiled should be used for this purpose. Lay them in a frying-pan with sufficient milk (or cream) to cover them, add a little butter, salt, and chopped parsley, and fry them until the milk thickens. They will be sufficiently cooked in a quarter of an hour, and make an excellent dish for breakfast.
Purée of Potatoes.—Mash the potatoes, and mix them while quite hot with some fine white gravy drawn from veal, together with butter and cream. The purée should be rather thin, and seasoned with salt, a very little pepper, and an atom of nutmeg.
Potato Omelette,—It may be made with a mashed potato or 2 ounces of potato-flour and 4 eggs, and seasoned with pepper, salt, and a little nutmeg. It should be made thick, and, being rather substantial; a squeeze of lemon will improve it. Fry a light brown.
Potato Balls.—Make mashed potatoes into balls with egg yolk, flour them, fry them in dripping, and drain them; or brown before the fire.
Ragoût of Potatoes.—Fry potato-balls, as above, drain them dry, and serve them covered with brown sauce.
To Brown Potatoes.—While the meat is roasting, and an hour before it is served, boil the potatoes and take off the skins; flour them well, and put them under the meat, taking care to dry them before they are sent to table. The kidney potatoes are best dressed in this way. The flouring is very essential.
Boiled Potatoes.—If waxy, or to be eaten with cold meat, they should be peeled and put whole upon the gridiron until nicely browned.
Potato Flour.—Rasp the potatoes into a tub of cold water, and change it repeatedly until the raspings fall to the bottom like paste; then dry it in the air, pound it in a mortar and pass it through a hair sieve. It is nearly as nutritive, and much lighter, than wheaten flour; it is, therefore, preferable for making puddings and pastry for infants and invalids; a portion of it also improves the appearance of household bread, and dealers constantly pass it off as arrowroot. If kept dry, it will remain good for years.
Potato Jelly.—Is made from the flour, only boiling water must be poured upon it, but care must be taken that it be absolutely boiling, or the complete change into jelly will not take place. It does not take many minutes to thus change a raw potato into this substance, which is not only highly nutritive, but extremely agreeable to the palate when flavored with a little sugar, nutmeg, and white wine.
Potato-Wall, or edging, to serve round fricassees, forms also a pretty addition to a corner dish.—Mash in a mortar as many boiled potatoes as you may want, with a good piece of butter; then, with the bowls of two silver spoons, raise a wall of it 2½ inches high within the rim of the dish to be used. Let the upper part be a little thinner than the lower; smooth it; and, after brushing it all over with egg, put it into the oven to become hot and a little colored. Before egging it, the outside may be ornamented with bits of paste cut into shapes,
To Keep Potatoes.—Buy them as dug from the ground, without taking off the earth that adheres to them, and never wash them till they are wanted to be dressed. Place them in a dry cellar, upon straw, and cover them in winter with straw or mats, to guard them from the frost.
Obs.—Potatoes should always be boiled a little before being put into stews, &c, as the first water in which they are boiled is of a poisonous quality.
Sweet Potatoes.—These are better roasted or baked, than boiled.
To bake them, wash them clean and wipe them dry; then place them in a quick oven. They will take from half an hour to an hour, according to their size.
To roast them; prepare them as for baking, and either cook them in the hot ashes of a wood fire, or in a Dutch oven. They will take from half to three-quarters of an hour.
To boil them; wash them carefully, put them in a pot with just water enough to cover them; let them boil from one-half to three-quarters of an hour; try them with a fork to see if they are done.
TURNIPS.
To boil Turnips.—Pare entirely from them the stringy rind, and either split the turnips once or leave them whole; throw them into boiling water slightly salted, and keep them closely covered from smoke and dust till they are tender. When small and young they will be done in from 15 to 20 minutes; at their full growth they will require from three-quarters to a full hour, or more, of gentle boiling. After they become old and woolly, they are not worth dressing in any way. When boiled in their skins and pared afterwards, they are said to be of better flavor and much less watery than when cooked in the usual way.
Young turnips, 15 to 20 minutes: full grown, three quarters to one hour, or more.
To mash Turnips.—Split them once or even twice should they be large; after they are pared, boil them very tender, and press the water thoroughly from them with a couple of trenchers, or with the back of a large plate and one trencher. To ensure their being free from lumps, it is better to pass them through a cullender or coarse hair-sieve, with a wooden spoon; though, when quite young, they may be worked sufficiently smooth without this. Put them into a clean sauce-pan, and stir them constantly for some minutes over a gentle fire, that they may be very dry; then add some salt, a bit of fresh butter, and a little cream, or in lieu of this new milk (we would also recommend a seasoning of white pepper or Cayenne, when appearance and fashion are not particularly regarded), and continue to simmer and to stir them for five or six minutes longer, or until they have quite absorbed all the liquid which has been poured to them. Serve them always as hot as possible. This is an excellent receipt.
Turnips, weighed after they are pared, 3 lbs.: dried 5 to 8 minutes. Salt, 1 tea-spoonful; butter, 1 oz. to 1½ oz.; cream or milk, nearly half pint: 5 or 6 minutes.
Turnips in White Sauce. (Entremets.)—When no scoop for the purpose is at hand, cut some small finely-grained turnips into quarters, and pare them into balls, or into the shape of plums or pears of equal size; arrange them evenly in a broad stew-pan or sauce-pan, and cover them nearly with good veal broth, throw in a little salt, and a morsel of sugar, and boil them rather quickly until they are quite tender, but unbroken; lift them out, draining them well from the broth; dish, and pour over them some thick white sauce. As an economy, a cup of cream, and a tea-spoonful of arrowroot may be added to the broth in which the turnips have stewed, to make the sauce; and when it boils, a small slice of butter may be stirred and well worked into it should it not be sufficiently rich without.
Turnips stewed in Butter. (Good.)—This is an excellent way of dressing the vegetable when it is mild and finely grained; but its flavor otherwise is too strong to be agreeable. After they have been washed, wiped quite dry, and pared, slice the turnips nearly half an inch thick, and divide them into dice. Just dissolve an ounce of butter for each half-pound of the turnips, put them in as flat as they can be, and stew them very gently indeed, from three-quarters of an hour to a full hour Add a seasoning of salt and white pepper when they are half done. When thus prepared, they may be dished over fried or nicely broiled mutton cutlets, or served by themselves.
For a small dish: turnips, 1½ lb.; butter, 3 oz.; seasoning of white pepper; salt, half tea-spoonful, or more: three-quarters to one hour. Large dish, turnips, 2 lbs.; butter, 4 ozs.
Turnips in Gravy.—To a pound of turnips sliced and cut into dice, pour a quarter-pint of boiling veal gravy, add a small lump of sugar, some salt and Cayenne, or white pepper, and boil them quickly 50 to 60 minutes. Serve them very hot.
Turnip-Tops.—Should be nicely picked, (as the full leaves are coarse and strong,) and thrown into cold water an hour before boiling; put them on in plenty of boiling water, with salt, and they will be done in about 20 minutes; when press them dry.
BEETS.
To boil Beets.—Wash the roots delicately clean, but neither scrape nor cut them, as not a fibre even should be trimmed away, until after they are dressed. Throw them into boiling water, and according to their size boil them from one hour and a half to two hours and a half. Pare and serve them whole, or thickly sliced, and send melted butter to table with them. Beet-root is often mixed with winter salads; and it makes a pickle of beautiful color; but one of the most usual modes of serving it at the present day is, with the cheese, cold and mere by pared and sliced, after having been boiled or baked.
Boiled, 1½ to 2½ hours; baked, 2½ to 3½ hours.
Obs.—This root must not be probed with a fork like other vegetables, to ascertain if it be done or not; but the cook must endeavor, by attention, to learn the time required for it. After it is lifted out, the thickest part may be pressed with the fingers, to which it will yield, if it be sufficiently boiled.
To bake Beets.—Beet-root, if slowly and carefully baked until it is tender quite through, is very rich and sweet in flavor, although less bright in color than when it is boiled: it is also, we believe, remarkably nutritious and wholesome. Wash and wipe it very dry, but neither cut nor break any part of it: then lay it into a coarse dish, and bake it in a gentle oven for 4 or 5 hours: it will sometimes require even a longer time than this. Pare it quickly, if to be served hot; but leave it to cool first, when it is to be sent to table cold.
The white beet-root is dressed exactly like the red: the leaves of it are boiled and served like asparagus.
Bake in slow oven from 4 to 6 hours.
Stewed Beet.—Bake or boil it tolerably tender, and let it remain until it is cold, then pare and cut it into slices; heat and stew it for a short time in some good pale veal gravy (or in strong veal broth for ordinary occasions), thicken this with a tea-spoonful of arrow-root, and half a cupful or more of good cream, and stir in, as it is taken from the fire, from a tea-spoon to a table-spoonful of vinegar. The beet may be served likewise in thick white sauce, to which, just before it is dished, mild eschalots may be added.
CARROTS.
To boil Carrots.—Wash the mould from them, and scrape the skin off lightly with the edge of a sharp knife, or, should this be objected to, pare them as thin and as equally as possible; in either case free them from all blemishes, and should they be very large, split them across the tops a few inches down; rinse them well, and throw them into plenty of boiling water with some salt in it. The skin of very young carrots may be rubbed off like that of new potatoes, and from 20 to 30 minutes will then be sufficient to boil them; but at their full growth they will require from l½ to 2 hours. It was formerly the custom to tie them in a cloth, and to wipe the skin from them with it after they were dressed; and old-fashioned cooks still use one to remove it; but all vegetables should be served with the least possible delay. Melted butter should accompany boiled carrots.
PARSNEPS.
To boil Parsneps.—Parsnips are cooked as carrots, but they do not require so much boiling, and are sometimes served differently, being mashed with some butter, a little cream or milk, and seasoned with pepper and salt.
Parsneps are also excellent fried.
Parsnep Fritters.—Boil 6 parsneps tender; then skin and mash them; mix with them 1 or 2 eggs well beaten, and 2 tea-spoonsful of wheat flour. Make them up in small cakes, and fry them in a little lard or beef gravy, made boiling hot before the cakes are put in. A little salt should be added to the lard or gravy.
SALSIFY, OR OYSTER PLANTS.
Salsify, or Oyster Plants.—Scrape the salsify, cut it in long strips, and parboil it, then chop it up fine with egg batter.
It is sometimes served with the roots whole, having been first thoroughly boiled and then fried in egg batter.
PEAS.
Green Peas.—Boil them very fast in plenty of water with the lid off the stew-pan; the water should be moderately salted. They are unfit for eating when they become hard and yellowish, but when growing rather old a very small quantity of carbonate of ammonia put into the water, with 2 or 3 lumps of loaf-sugar, will greatly improve them. The old English method of putting a sprig of mint, or a little parsley, is still a good practice, and ought to be continued unless specially forbidden, or the mint may be chopped and put round the dish. A few bits of raw butter should also be put into the peas when boiled, and a dust of pepper and salt thrown over them if they be completely ripe; but if quite young, neither butter, salt, nor pepper should be added to them, but a tea-spoonful of pounded white sugar. When growing to maturity the pods are of different ages, and young and old peas should not be boiled together; sift them, therefore, from each other, and put the old ones into the water some minutes sooner than the young: they require from 15 to 20 minutes boiling.
Another way to boil Green Peas.—Having shelled them, put a tea-spoonful of white sugar and some salt into the water, and when it boils, put in the peas, with a small bunch of mint; boil 20 minutes, or until they are done; then drain them in a cullender; put a piece of butter into the dish, with the peas, stir them about, and serve.
A peck of peas will require a gallon of water to boil them in.
To stew Green Peas.—Put into a stew-pan a quart of peas, one onion, two ounces of butter, a sprig of mint, a tea-spoonful of white sugar, and two table-spoonsful of gravy; stew till soft, when take out the onion and mint, and thicken with flour and butter. A lettuce is sometimes stewed with them.
Peas dressed together should be as nearly one size as possible, else some only will be properly done. To ensure this the peas should be passed through a coarse sieve.
To stew Old Peas.—Soak a quart of good boiling peas in water an hour, and put them into a stew-pan, with weak gravy, a slice of lean bacon, and a tea-spoonful of white sugar; stew till tender, when take out the bacon, and mix well with the peas a beaten egg or two, and a bit of butter rolled in flour.
Split-Peas Pudding.—Take any quantity, say 1 pint of yellow split peas; allow them to remain in water the whole night before you wish to use them; after which take them out and put them into a cloth so loose as to allow the peas to swell; boil them for 4 hours, or until they are quite tender, then rub them through a cullender, so as to render them perfectly smooth; add to the pulp a lump of butter and some salt. After being well mixed put the peas again into a cloth, tie tightly, and boil for about half an hour. Pour over it melted butter.
A richer pudding may be made if two well-beaten eggs are added along with the butter. It is served with boiled pork.
To preserve Peas for Winter use.—Gather them when ripe, for if too young they will be watery Shell them, put then in strong jars, or open-mouthed bottles, and shake them to make them sit closely together. Cork the jars tightly; place them in any iron pot large enough to contain them, with hay between them to prevent breakage; fill the pot with cold water up to the neck of the jars, and allow it to boil 1½ hour if in cool moist weather, but for 2 hours if it be hot and dry. Do not take the jars out of the pot till the water is cold.
Obs.—French beans and asparagus may be preserved in the same manner; they retain their color, but lose much of their flavor, and require a little sugar to improve it.
BEANS.
To boil Windsor Beans.—When young, freshly gathered, and well dressed, these beans, even with many persons accustomed to a luxurious table, are a favorite accompaniment to a dish of streaked bacon, or delicate pickled pork. Shell them only just before they are wanted, then wash, drain, and throw them into boiling water, salted as for peas. When they are quite tender, pour them into a hot cullender, drain them thoroughly, and send them to table quickly, with a tureen of parsley and butter, or with plain melted butter, when it is preferred. A boiled cheek of bacon, trimmed free of any blackened parts, may be dished over the beans, upon occasion.
From 20 to 30 minutes; less when very young.
Obs.—When the skin of the beans appear wrinkled, they will generally be found sufficiently tender to serve, but they should be tasted to ascertain that they are so.
To stew.—Take them when too old to dress any other way, boil them, and remove the tough outer skin by peeling it off after the beans are boiled; thicken some white broth with a little cream or flour and butter, add the beans to it, and stew them all together over the fire for a few minutes. Add pepper and salt to palate.
To boil French, or String Beans.—When early and young, they should be clipped and cut finely, or almost shred, and thrown into cold water; then put them on in boiling water with some salt, and boil till tender.
When the beans are older, cut off the ends, strip off the strings, and cut each bean into 4 or 8 pieces; and boil as above.
To preserve the fine green color of beans, cover them as soon as done with melted butter.
String Beans fricasseed.—When nearly boiled tender, strain the beans, and put them into a stew-pan with a tea-cupful of white gravy; add 2 table-spoonsful of cream, a little butter and flour, simmer a few minutes, season, and serve.
String Beans a la Français (an excellent Receipt).—Prepare as many young and freshly gathered beans as will serve for a large dish, boil them tender, and drain the water well from them. Melt a couple of ounces of fresh butter, in a clean sauce-pan and stir smoothly to it a small dessert-spoonful of flour; keep these well shaken and gently simmered until they are lightly browned, add salt and pepper, and pour to them by degrees a small cupful of good veal gravy, (or, in lieu of this, of sweet rich cream,) toss the beans in the sauce until they are as hot as possible; stir quickly in, as they are taken from the fire, the beaten yolks of 2 fresh eggs, and a little lemon juice, and serve them without delay. The eggs and lemon are sometimes omitted, and a table-spoonful of minced parsley is added to the butter and flour; but this, we think, is scarcely an improvement.
Beans, 1 to 2 quarts: boiled 15 to 20 minutes. Butter, 2 oz.; flour, 1 dessert-spoonful; salt and pepper; veal gravy, a small cupful; yolks of egg, 2; lemon juice, a dessert-spoonful.
To dress Dried French Beans.—Boil for more than 2 hours, in 2 quarts of water, a pound of the seeds or beans of scarlet runners; fill a pint basin with onions peeled or sliced, brown them in a sauce-pen, with rather more than a quarter of a pound of fresh butter; stir them constantly; strain the water from the beans, and mix them with the onions; add a tea-spoonful of pepper, some salt, and a little gravy. Let them stew for 10 minutes, and stir in the beaten yolks of 2 eggs, and a table-spoonful of vinegar. Serve them hot.
To stew Red Beans.—Put 1 pint of red beans in 2 quarts of water, and let them soak over night. Drain off the water early the next morning and place them over the fire in 2 quarts of fresh water. When they are perfectly soft break them a little without throwing off the water; add 2 table-spoonsful of butter; season with pepper, salt, parsley, thyme, and add an onion. When the beans are soft and mashed, let them simmer slowly till dinner.
Lima Beans.—Wash in cold water 1 quart of Lima beans shelled; then put them in a stew-pan with just enough boiling water to cover them. Let them boil, with the stew-pan closely covered for half an hour; then try them to see if they are tender; turn off almost all the water, and add a tea-cup nearly full of butter, salt and pepper to your taste. Stir them well together. Heat them for a few minutes longer and serve.
EGG-PLANT.
To dress Egg-Plant.—Parboil the egg-plants till they become soft, then cut them in half lengthwise. Scoop out the inside, leaving the skin whole; take half of a small onion to about seven egg-plants, with half pound of butter, and put them over the fire in a pot for a few moments; then mix with it half a good-sized loaf of bread which has been soaked in milk; mix it all well together; put in salt, black and red pepper, and a little parsley, and let it stew an hour. Then take some grated toast and strew over it, and put it for half an hour over the coals on a gridiron, then return the mixture to the shells, and serve them.
A very fine way to dress. Egg-Plant.—Take as many eggplants as the size of your family requires—pare, quarter and boil them till soft enough to mash like turnips. Mash them, add a little bread crumb soaked in milk, butter, chopped parsley, an onion boiled and mashed, some butter, pepper, and salt. Mix these well together, and pour it into a baking dish; cover the top with grated bread, and bake it for half an hour.
Another way to dress Egg Plant.—Split the egg-plant in half-parboil it until soft enough to scrape out the inside, leaving the shell whole. Take an onion cut up, pepper, salt, parsley, and one egg. Sprinkle in a little flour; stew all together with a lump of butter, in a sauce-pan, until thoroughly cooked. Then put them in the shells, sprinkle them with crumbs of bread, and bake them till brown.
To fry Egg-Plant.—Cut the egg-plant into slices quarter of an inch thick; let it lie for several hours in salted water to remove the bitter taste. Heat a small quantity of butter; when very hot, put in the slices; turn them when one side is done. Let them cook thoroughly.
Summer Squashes or Cymbelins.—When these vegetables are fresh, the rind will be crisp when cut by the nail. If very young and tender, they may be boiled whole; if not, pare them. Extract the seeds and strings, cut them small, put them in a stew-pan with water enough just to cover them; add one tea-spoonful of salt to each common sized squash; boil them till the pieces break; half an hour is generally enough, and then press them through a culender with a skimmer. Mix them with butter to your taste, and a little salt if necessary.
Winter Squash.—This requires rather more boiling than the summer kind. Pare it, cut it in pieces, take out the seeds and strings; boil it in a very little water till it is quite soft. Then press out the water, mash it, and add butter, salt, and pepper to your taste.
From half to three-quarters of an hour will generally suffice to cook it.
RICE.
To Boil Rice.—Wash the rice perfectly clean, and put on one pound in two quarts of cold water; stir it up from the bottom of the kettle once or twice, till it boils; let it boil twenty minutes, strain it through a sieve, and put it before the fire; shake, it up with a fork every now and then, to separate the grains, and make it quite dry. Serve it hot.
To Boil Rice Carolina Fashion.—Wash and pick the rice in cold water, which, when you are ready for the rice, pour off. Put it in a pot of boiling water, already salted. Boil it hard for 20 minutes; then take it off the fire, and pour off the water Set the pot in the chimney corner with the lid off, while dishing the dinner, to allow the rice to dry. Each grain will then be separate and free from moisture.
Casserole de Riz aux Œufs.—Clean and wash 6 ounces of rice, put it into a stew-pan with cold water, and, after it has boiled for about a minute, strain it; then add twice the quantity of broth, and let it stew gently until the rice will break easily with a spoon. Should the liquor dry too much before the rice is soft enough, add a little more broth. Work it well with stock and an egg beaten, as the rice should be firm and well blended; then make it into a wall, lining the inside of a mould of the requisite height; bake the casserole. Take the white portion of cold fowl, cold veal, or sweetbreads; mince them finely, add some thick white sauce and mushrooms, fill the casserole, and cover the top with poached eggs; cover them with glaze, and serve it up very hot.
GREEN CORN.
Sweet or sugar corn is best for boiling. Trim off the husks, excepting the inside leaves; throw the corn into boiling water with a little salt in it, and let it boil from one-half to three-quarters of an hour, according to its size. Then take off the remaining husks, and serve the corn, laid in a dish on a napkin; let the corners of the napkin be thrown over the corn, to keep it hot. It is eaten with salt and butter.
Or:—Cut the corn from the cob and put it in a stew-pan, with a tea-cupful of water to each quart of corn; cover it closely, and let it stew gently for nearly one hour; then add half a tea-cupful of butter, and pepper and salt to your taste.
Common white corn may be improved by the addition of a little white sugar. To roast it, take off the husks, and lay it over the coals on a gridiron, turning it occasionally.
Succatash.—Take 12 ears of sweet corn, and cut the kernels from the cob; string 1 quart of green beans, and cut them in small pieces; wash them, and put them with the corn in a stew-pan with half a pint of boiling water; milk may be used if preferred. Let them boil three-quarters of an hour, closely covered; then add a piece of butter the size of a large egg a tea-spoonful of salt, and a little pepper; stir them well together; cover them for ten minutes, and serve them.
Half a pound of salt fat pork cut in slices may be substituted for the butter.
Lima beans and corn make a still finer succatash than string beans.
Corn Pudding—to be eaten as a vegetable.—Grate ears of green corn; add to a quart of it a tea-cupful of cream or milk, a lump of butter about the size of an egg, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Mix all well together; put it in your dish and bake it an hour and a half. To be eaten as a vegetable, with butter, pepper and salt.
Hominy.—There are three sizes of hominy. Large hominy requires to be boiled from 4 to 5 hours over a gentle fire. It should be washed clean, and put in the stew-pan with just enough water to cover it. It is eaten as a vegetable. To cook the smaller hominy, wash it in two waters; then, to one tea-cupful of hominy, add a quart of water and a tea-spoonful of salt, and place the dish that contains it in a kettle of boiling water, to prevent it from getting burnt, or else over a very gentle fire. Let it boil for an hour, stirring it well with a spoon. It is generally eaten for breakfast. It is excellent, sliced and fried, after it has become cold.
CABBAGES.
To boil Cabbage and Greens.—A full-grown cabbage, quartered, will require an hour’s boiling; a young one, half that time. Greens will require about 20 minutes quick boiling. In both cases, salt should be put into the water.
Savoys should be boiled whole, and quartered before serving.
It has been recommended to boil cabbages in two waters; that is, when they are half done to pour off the water, and add fresh boiling water.
Be careful to press the greens as dry as possible.
Sauer Kraut.—Shred very finely 6 white cabbages, having cut out the stalks; mix with them half a pound of salt, and press them as closely as possible into a cask; put over a cloth, then a wooden, cover, and upon that a heavy weight: let it stand in a warm cellar 2 months, keeping the liquor that rises on it, and it will be fit for use: it should then be removed to a cooler, place. In Germany, half an ounce of juniper berries, anniseed, or caraway seeds, would be added to the above; but this is not recommended for American taste.
To dress Sauer Kraut.—Put a quart into a stew-pan with a little butter, and half a pint of weak gravy; stew gently until tender, and serve under boiled pork or beef, or sausages, boiled or fried. The Bavarian method of dressing sauer kraut is, after it has been boiled, to mix it with butter and red wine.
To stew Cabbage.—Parboil in milk and water, and drain it, then shred it, put it into a stew-pan, with a small piece of butter, a small tea-cupful of cream, and seasoning, and stew tender. Or, it may be stewed in white or brown gravy.
To stew Red Cabbage.—Shred finely half a cabbage, and put it into a stew-pan, with a tea-cupful of gravy, and 2 oz. of butter; stew slowly till tender, season with salt and serve. To heighten the color of the cabbage, a slice or two of beetroot may be added, but should be taken out before serving.
Another Way (Flemish Receipt).—Strip the outer leaves from a fine and fresh red cabbage; wash it well, and cut it into the thinnest possible slices, beginning at the top; put it into a thick sauce-pan in which two or three ounces of good butter have been just dissolved; add some pepper and salt, and stew it very slowly indeed for 3 or 4 hours in its own juice, keeping it often stirred, and well pressed down. When it is perfectly tender add a table-spoonful of vinegar; mix the whole up thoroughly, heap the cabbage in a hot dish, and serve broiled sausages round it; or omit these last, and substitute lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and half a cupful of good gravy.
The stalk of the cabbage should be split in quarters, and taken entirely out in the first instance.
To boil Cauliflowers.—Choose those that are close and white, cut off the green leaves, and look carefully that there are no caterpillars about the stalk; soak an hour in cold water, with a handful of salt in it; then boil them in milk and water, and take care to skim the sauce-pan, that not the least foulness may fall on the flower. It must be served very white, and rather crimp.
In White Sauce.—Take off the whole of the leaves of a cauliflower, and half boil it; then cut it into handsome pieces and lay them in a stew-pan with a little broth, a bit of mace, a little salt, and a dust of white pepper; simmer half an hour, but let the stalk be put down quarter of an hour before the flower; then put a little cream, butter, and flour; shake, and simmer a few minutes, and serve.
To boil Brocoli.—Peel the stalks, and boil them 15 minutes with a little salt in the water; tie the shoots into bunches, and boil half the above time; serve with melted butter or toast.
SPINACH.
Spinach, (Entremets,) French receipt.—Pick the spinach leaf by leaf from the stems, and wash it in abundance of spring water, changing it several times; then shake it in a dry cloth held by the four corners, or drain it on a large sieve. Throw it into sufficient well-salted boiling water to allow it to float freely, and keep it pressed down with a skimmer that it may be equally done. When quite young it will be tender in from eight to ten minutes, but to ascertain if it be so, take a leaf and squeeze it between the fingers. If to be dressed in the French mode, drain, and then throw it directly into plenty of fresh water, and when it is cool form it into balls and press the moisture thoroughly from it with the hands. Next, chop it extremely fine upon a clean trencher; put two ounces (for a large dish) of butter into a stew-pan or bright thick sauce-pan, lay the spinach on it, and keep it stirred over a gentle fire for ten minutes, or until it appears dry; dredge in a spoonful of flour, and turn the spinach as it is added; pour to it gradually a few spoonsful of very rich veal gravy, or, if preferred, of good boiling cream, (with the last of these a dessert-spoonful or more of pounded sugar maybe added for a second-course dish, when the true French mode of dressing the vegetable is liked.) Stew the whole briskly until the whole is well absorbed; dish, and serve the spinach very hot, with small, pale fried sippets round it, or with leaves of puff paste fresh from the oven, or well dried after having been fried. For ornament, the sippets may be fancifully shaped with a tin cutter. A proper seasoning of salt must not be omitted in this or any other preparation of the spinach.
Spinach, (common English mode.)—Boil the spinach very green in plenty of water, drain, and then press the moisture from it between two trenchers; chop it small, put it into a clean sauce-pan, with a slice of fresh butter, and stir the whole until well mixed and very hot. Smooth it in a dish, mark it in dice, and send it quickly to table.
Eggs and Spinach.—Boil and mince the spinach, and serve upon it the eggs, poached; or, stew spinach, or sorrel, and place the poached eggs round the dish, with pieces of fried bread between them.
To stew Celery.—Wash the heads, and strip off their outer leaves; either halve or leave them whole, according to their size, and cut them into lengths of 4 inches. Put them into a stew-pan with a cup of broth or weak white gravy; stew till tender; then add 2 spoonsful of cream, a little flour and butter, seasoned with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a little pounded white sugar; and simmer all together.
Or:—Parboil it, cut it into quarters, fry it, and serve it on a napkin, or with beef gravy.
Celery is a great improvement to all soups and gravies, and much used as a white sauce, either alone or with oysters.
CUCUMBERS.
To stew Cucumbers.—Pare eight or ten large cucumbers, and cut them into thick slices, flour them well, and fry them in butter; then put them into a sauce-pan with a tea-cupful of gravy; season it with Cayenne, salt and catsup. Let them stew for an hour, and serve them hot.
Boiled Cucumbers. Dr. Kitchiner’s receipt.—Cucumbers may be cut into quarters and boiled like asparagus, and served up with toasted bread and melted butter. This is a most delicate way of preparing cucumbers for the dinner are, and they are a most luscious and savory dish.
ONIONS.
To Preserve Onions.—Onions should be pulled up as soon as their tops are nearly dead, or they will push out fresh roots after rain, which will greatly injure their bulbs, and prevent, their keeping sound.
Being gathered in September, they should be spread thin on the ground, in the full sun; turn them over once or twice daily, until they are thoroughly dried, and then store them in a well-aired loft; lay them thinly, string them up by the tails, or hang them in nets. The outer husks should be taken off before housing, as should also the tails, if the onions are not to be strung. String them thus:—tie three or four onions by the tails, with matting, or packthread; then place on two or three more onions and bind the thread once or twice round their tails; place and bind more onions, and so on. In this manner is made a string or rope of onions, which will keep, if hung up in a dry, well-aired place, free from frost. If onions begin to sprout, sear the roots with a hot iron, which will check the vegetation.
To Boil Onions Plain.—Peel them and soak them an hour in cold water; put them into boiling milk and water, boil them till tender, and serve with melted butter. Or, boil the onions in two waters.
To Stew Onions.—Peel them, flour, and fry them in a little butter, a light brown; then put them into weak gravy, season, and stew slowly two hours. Dish them up-side down, with the sauce over them. In peeling, be careful not to cut the top or bottom too closely, else the onion will not keep whole.
Baked or Roasted Onions. Put them, as taken from the store-room, into a tin, and bake in a moderate oven; or, roast in a Dutch oven. Serve with cold butter in a small plate. The outer peel should not be removed until the onions are to be eaten.
Ragoût of Onions.—Boil button onions, peeled, until they are tender; put them into brown sauce, and add salt.
Or: having peeled the onions, brown them in a Dutch oven, and put them into a stew-pan with any meat bones, a slice of lean bacon, a little water, and some pepper; stew them till tender, when take out the bone and bacon, and thicken the gravy.
The onions should be spread in one layer in the stew pan.
Leeks—Are generally looked upon as a species of onion, and, as such, commonly employed in the same manner, though rather milder in flavor. If boiled in separate waters, changing it 3 or 4 times, until stewed quite tender, then served in white sauce, or quartered and placed upon toast like asparagus, they will eat nearly, if not quite, as delicate.
ARTICHOKES.
Boiled.—Cut the stalk even, trim off a few of the outside leaves and the points of the others. If young, half an hour will boil them. Serve them with melted butter in as many small cups as there are artichokes, to help with each.
Or: Cut the artichokes in 4, remove the choke, trim the pieces neatly, boil them quickly in salt water, dish them, laying the leaves outwards, and pour melted butter or white sauce over the bottoms.
Stewed.—Strip off the leaves, remove the choke, and soak them in warm water for two or three hours, changing the water every hour; then put them into a stew-pan with a piece of butter rolled in Cayenne pepper and flour; a tea-cupful of gravy, and a spoonful or two of catsup or other sauce; add a spoonful of vinegar, or one of lemon-juice, before serving; let all stew till the artichokes are quite tender, and, if necessary, thicker the sauce with a little more butter.
Artichoke Bottoms.—If dried, must be soaked, then stewed in weak gravy, or baked and served with or without forcemeat in each. Or they may be boiled in milk, and served with cream-sauce or added to ragoûts, French pies, &c.
They may also be dipped in batter and fried, then served with a sauce made of fine herbs, a spoonful of oil, and the juice of lemon.
A-la Poivrade.—Take very small artichokes, cut them in quarters from the bottom, and remove the choke. Serve them in a little cold water, like radishes; make a sauce with oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt: they have the flavor of nuts.
Jerusalem Artichokes—Should be boiled, putting them at first into cold water, and must be taken up the moment they are done, or they will be too soft.
They may be boiled plain, or served with white fricassee-sauce. When boiled, if rubbed through a sieve with a little fresh butter and cream, they form an excellent purêe as a sauce for cutlets, or as a thickening for some sorts of white soup; or they may be sliced and fried.
TOMATOES.
To stew Tomatoes.—Take 10 large tomatoes—put them into a pan, and pour scalding water over them to remove the skins easily; peel them and cut out all the hard or unripe portion; then cut them through and take out the seeds. Boil an onion and mash it fine, add it to the tomatoes with pepper and salt to your taste, and a piece of butter as large as a hen’s egg. Put them on to stew in an earthen pipkin, and let them simmer 2 hours. A quarter of an hour before dinner is ready, add 4 or 5 table-spoonsful of grated bread, and let it all stew till ready to serve.
The onion may be put in raw if cut fine, provided the tomatoes are stewed longer, which is desirable, and instead of bread, 2 table-spoonsful of flour might be mixed with a piece of butter as large as a turkey’s egg, and stirred in half an hour before dinner.
Another way to stew Tomatoes.—Slice the tomatoes into a well-tinned stew-pan, seasoning them with pepper and salt; place bits of butter over the top. Put on the lid close, and stew gently for about 20 minutes. After this stir them frequently, letting them stew until they arc well done. A spoonful or two of vinegar will be considered an improvement by many. Excellent with roast beef or mutton.
To bake.—Slice them into a baking-dish; season, put butter over in bits, and strew bread-crumbs on the top. Bake them for about three-quarters of an hour in a moderate oven.
To stuff.—Cut them in halves and hollow out the centre; take whatever cold meat may be at hand, either chicken, partridge, or hare, with ham, &c, onions, fine herbs, crumbs of bread, and form a forcemeat ball, with beaten eggs; fill up the centres of the tomatoes, and let them stew gently in any gravy; before serving up, pass them over with a salamander or hot iron.
Portuguese way.—A favorite mode of dressing them in Portugal, where they are largely grown, is, to stew them along with rice and onions in strong brown gravy; the rice forming the greater portion of the dish. There are also various other ways employed throughout the Continent, but garlic should never be added, as it destroys the delicacy of the tomato.
Eggs and Tomatoes.—Peel the skins from 12 large tomatoes; put 4 oz. of butter in a frying pan; add some salt, pepper, and a little chopped onion; fry it a few minutes—add the tomatoes and chop them while frying; when nearly done, break in 6 eggs, stir them quickly, and serve them up.
Ochra and Tomatoes, or Gumbo.—Take an equal quantity of each; let the ochras be young; slice them and skin the tomatoes; put them into a pan without water, adding a lump of butter, an onion chopped fine, some pepper and salt, and stew them one hour.
A Spanish Dish.—Peel the skins from ripe tomatoes; put them in a pan with a table-spoonful of melted butter, some pepper, salt, and an onion chopped fine. Shred cold meat or fowl; add it to the tomatoes, and fry it sufficiently.
To keep Tomatoes a year.—Take half a bushel, skin and boil them well, then add a tea-cupful of salt, a table-spoonful of black pepper, one table-spoonful of Cayenne, an ounce of cloves, an ounce of mace. Mix well, and put them in jars, and run mutton suet over them, and tie them up with strong paper or buckskin, and they will keep well, free from mould and acidity.
ASPARAGUS.
To boil Asparagus.—Scrape clean the stalks, and throw them into cold water; tie them in bundles of about 20 each, with tape, and cut the stalks even. Put them into boiling water, with a handful of salt, and boil half an hour, or until they are tender at the stalk. Having toasted a round of bread, dip it into the water in which the asparagus were boiled, lay them upon the toast, the white ends outwards each way; and serve with melted butter.
Asparagus dressed like Green Peas.—This is a convenient mode of dressing asparagus, when it is too small and green to make a good appearance plainly boiled. Cut the points so far only as they are perfectly tender, in bits of equal size, not more than the third of an inch in length; wash them very clean, and throw them into plenty of boiling water, with the usual quantity of salt and a morsel of soda. When they are tolerably tender, which will be in from 10 to 12 minutes, drain them well, and spread them on a clean cloth; fold it over them, wipe them gently, and when they are quite dry put them into a clean stew-pan with a good slice of butter, which should be just dissolved before the asparagus is added; stew them in this over a brisk fire, shaking them often, for 8 or 10 minutes; dredge in about a small tea-spoonful of flour, and add half that quantity of white sugar; then pour in boiling water to nearly cover the asparagus, and boil it rapidly until but little liquid remains; stir in the beaten yolks of 2 eggs, heap the asparagus high in a dish and serve it very hot. The sauce should adhere entirely to the vegetable.
MUSHROOMS.
Cooks should be perfectly acquainted with the different sorts of things called by this name by ignorant people, as the dish of many persons has been occasioned by carelessly using the poisonous kinds.*
The eatable mushrooms at first appear very small and of a round form on a little stalk. They grow very fast, and the upper part and stalk are white. As the size increases, the under part gradually opens, and shows a fringed fur of a very fine salmon color, which continues more or less till the mushroom has gained some size, and then turns to a dark brown. These marks should be attended to, and likewise whether the skin can be easily parted from the edges and middle. Those that have a white or yellow fur should be carefully avoided, though many of them have the same smell, but not so strong, as the right sort.
To stew Mushrooms.—The large buttons are best for this purpose, and the small flaps while the fur is still red. Rub the buttons with salt and a bit of flannel; cut out the fur, and take off the skin from the others; put them into a stew-pan with a little lemon juice, pepper, salt, and a small piece of fresh butter, and let the whole simmer slowly till done; then put a small bit a butter and flour, with 2 spoonsful of cream; give them one boil, and serve with sippets of bread.
To stew Mushrooms—an easy way.—Cut off that part of the stem that grows under ground, wash them carefully, and take the skin from the top. Put them into a stew-pan with some salt but no water; stew them till tender, and thicken with a table-spoonful of butter, mixed with one of browned flour.
To broil Mushrooms.—The largest are the best. Have a clear cinder fire; make the gridiron hot, and rub the bars with suet to prevent the mushrooms from sticking; place them also on the gridiron with their stalks upwards; sprinkle them slightly with salt, and a good shake of pepper, and serve them on a hot dish, with a little cold butter under and over them. When they begin to steam they are sufficiently done.
* We do not believe that mushrooms are nutritive; every one knows they are often dangerously indigestible; therefore the rational epicure will be content with extracting the flavor from them, which is obtained in the almost perfection in good mushroom catsup.—Dr. Kitchiner.