With regard to the quality of vegetables, the middle size are to be
preferred to the very large. Green vegetables, such as cabbages, cau-
liflowers; etc., should be eaten fresh, before the life is out of them.
When once dead, they are good for nothing but to throw away.
Greens, roots, salads, etc., etc., when they have lost their freshness
by long keeping, may be refreshed a little by putting them in cold spring
water for an hour or two before they are dressed ; but this process will
not make them equal to those which are gathered just before they are7
boiled.
Old potatoes should stand in cold water for several hours ; put them
in immediately after they are peeled, as exposure to the air darkens
them. Before putting on to boil, take out of the water and dry with a
towel. New potatoes are best baked. If you wish to have potatoes
mealy, do not let them stop boiling for an instant ; and when they are
done, turn the water off, and let them steam a few moments over the
fire with the cover off. Or peel them, and put them in a pan over steam
to cook. They will be mealy and white and look like large snow-balls.
Green corn and peas should be prepared and cooked at once. Onions
should be soaked in warm salt water, one hour before cooking, to
remove the rank flavor. Never split onions, turnips or carrots, but cut
them crosswise, as they thus cook tender much quicker.
In boiling vegetables there should be a tablespoonful of salt for each
two quarts of water. Nearly all vegetables are eaten dressed with salt,
pepper and butter, but sometimes a small piece of lean pork is boiled
with them which seasons them sufficiently.
Egg plants should be picked when full grown, but before they are
ripe. A little sugar added to peas, beets, corn, squash, turnips, and
pumpkin is an improvement, especially when the vegetables are not of
prime quality. Sweet potatoes require longer 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 will
make tender. Do the same way with rhubarb, taking it close to the
ground and being careful it does not split.
Cabbage, potatoes, carrots, turnips, parsnips, onions and beets lose
their flavor by being cooked with meat, as also does the meat. When
vegetables are to be served with salt meat, the meat should be cooked
first, and then removed and the vegetables cooked in the liquor, except
in boiled dinner. A piece of red pepper, the size of the finger nail,
dropped into vegetables when first beginning to cook, will add greatly
in killing the unpleasant odor, or a small piece of bread crust will do
the same service. This fact is worth remembering in cooking onions
and vegetables.
When green peas have become old and yellow, they may be made
628 VJ^ETABLES.
tender and green by sprinkling in a pinch or two of pearlash while they
are boiling. Old potatoes are improved in the same way.
Succulent vegetables, such as cabbages, and all sorts of greens, are
best preserved in a cool, damp, and shady place. Potatoes, turnips,
carrots, and similar roots, intended to be stored up, should never, on
any account, be cleaned from the earth adhering to them, till they are
to be dressed.
TO BOIL ASPARAGUS. ✪ To Boil Asparagus
Page 518 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
With regard to the quality of vegetables, the middle size are to be preferred to the very large. Green vegetables, such as cabbages, cauliflowers; etc., should be eaten fresh, before the life is out of them. When once dead, they are good for nothing but to throw away.
Greens, roots, salads, etc., etc., when they have lost their freshness by long keeping, may be refreshed a little by putting them in cold spring water for an hour or two before they are dressed ; but this process will not make them equal to those which are gathered just before they are boiled.
Old potatoes should stand in cold water for several hours ; put them in immediately after they are peeled, as exposure to the air darkens them. Before putting on to boil, take out of the water and dry with a towel. New potatoes are best baked. If you wish to have potatoes mealy, do not let them stop boiling for an instant ; and when they are done, turn the water off, and let them steam a few moments over the fire with the cover off. Or peel them, and put them in a pan over steam to cook. They will be mealy and white and look like large snow-balls. Green corn and peas should be prepared and cooked at once. Onions should be soaked in warm salt water, one hour before cooking, to remove the rank flavor. Never split onions, turnips or carrots, but cut them crosswise, as they thus cook tender much quicker.
In boiling vegetables there should be a tablespoonful of salt for each two quarts of water. Nearly all vegetables are eaten dressed with salt, pepper and butter, but sometimes a small piece of lean pork is boiled with them which seasons them sufficiently.
Egg plants should be picked when full grown, but before they are ripe. A little sugar added to peas, beets, corn, squash, turnips, and pumpkin is an improvement, especially when the vegetables are not of prime quality. Sweet potatoes require longer 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 will make tender. Do the same way with rhubarb, taking it close to the ground and being careful it does not split.
Cabbage, potatoes, carrots, turnips, parsnips, onions and beets lose their flavor by being cooked with meat, as also does the meat. When vegetables are to be served with salt meat, the meat should be cooked first, and then removed and the vegetables cooked in the liquor, except in boiled dinner. A piece of red pepper, the size of the finger nail, dropped into vegetables when first beginning to cook, will add greatly in killing the unpleasant odor, or a small piece of bread crust will do the same service. This fact is worth remembering in cooking onions and vegetables.
When green peas have become old and yellow, they may be made
628 VJ^ETABLES.
tender and green by sprinkling in a pinch or two of pearlash while they are boiling. Old potatoes are improved in the same way.
Succulent vegetables, such as cabbages, and all sorts of greens, are best preserved in a cool, damp, and shady place. Potatoes, turnips, carrots, and similar roots, intended to be stored up, should never, on any account, be cleaned from the earth adhering to them, till they are to be dressed.
TO BOIL ASPARAGUS.
Records on this page
To Boil Asparagus