VEGETABLES
VEGETABLES.
Never eat boiled vegetables. No one ever hears of a flesh-eater boiling
his staple article of diet and throwing away the liquor. On the contrary,
when he does indulge in boiled meat, the liquor is regarded as a valuable
asset, and is used as a basis for soup. But his meat is generally
conservatively cooked–that is, it is baked, roasted, or grilled, so that
the juices are retained. If he has to choose between throwing away the
meat or the water in which it has been boiled, he keeps the
liquor–witness “beef-tea.” For some unknown reason he does not often
treat his vegetables in the same way, and suffers thereby the loss of much
valuable food material.
The vegetarian–being avowedly a thinker and a pioneer–would, it might be
imagined, treat what is now one of his staple articles of diet at least as
carefully as the out-of-date flesh-eater. But no! For the most part, his
vegetables are boiled, and when the best part of the food constituents and
all the flavour have been extracted, he dines off a mass of indigestible
fibre–mere waste matter–and allows the “broth” to be thrown down the
sink, with the consequence that many vegetarians are pale, flabby
individuals who succumb to the slightest strain, and suffer from chronic
dyspepsia.
The remedy is simple. Treat vegetables as you used to treat meat. Bake or
stew them in their own juice. (See recipe for Vegetarian Irish Stew.) At
the least, steam them. A little of the valuable vegetable salts are lost
in the steaming, but not much. Better still, use a double boilerette. A
very little water is put into the inner pan and soon becomes steam, so
that by the time the vegetable is cooked it has all disappeared.
No exact time can be given for cooking vegetables, as this varies with age
and freshness. The younger–always supposing it has just come to
maturity–and fresher the vegetable, the quicker it cooks.
It should not be forgotten that orthodox cooks put all green and root
vegetables, except potatoes, to cook in _boiling_ water. This rule should
not be neglected when steaming vegetables–the water should be fast
boiling.
I will conclude with a few remarks about preparing greens, cauliflowers,
etc. The general practice is to soak them in cold salted water with the
idea of drawing out and killing any insects. But this often results in
killing the insects, especially if much salt is used, before “drawing them
out.” A better plan is to put the trimmed cabbage or cauliflower head
downwards into _warm_ water for about half an hour. As I trim Brussels
sprouts I throw them into a pan of warm water, and the insects crawl out
and sink to the bottom of the pan. It is astonishing how many one finds at
the bottom of a pan of warm water in which sprouts are soaked.
1. ARTICHOKE, JERUSALEM.
Steam until tender, or bake with a small piece of nutter on each artichoke
until brown. Serve with tomato or white sauce.
2. ASPARAGUS.
Tie in a bundle and stand in a deep saucepan with the stalks in water, so
that the shoots are steamed. Serve with melted butter or white sauce.
3. BEETROOT.
Bake or steam. It will take from 2 to 4 hours, according to size.
4. BROAD BEANS.
Steam until tender, but do not spoil by overcooking. Serve with parsley
sauce.
5. BROCCOLI.
This is a rather coarser variety of cauliflower. Cook in the same way as
the latter.
6. BRUSSELS SPROUTS.
These should be steamed for not more than 20 minutes. They are generally
spoiled by overcooking. Serve plain or with onion sauce.
7. CABBAGE.
Steam. Put in vegetable dish, chop well, and add a small piece of butter.
8. CARROT.
Steam until tender. Serve whole or mashed with butter.
9. CAULIFLOWER.
Steam. This may be done in a large saucepan if a steamer is not available.
Support the cauliflower on a pudding basin or meat stand–anything which
will raise it just above the level of the water. Serve with white sauce or
tomato sauce.
10. CELERY.
Stew. Choose a small head of celery, not a large, coarse head which will
be tough. Well wash and cut into about 8 pieces. (Keep any large coarse
sticks, if such are unavoidably present, for soup.) Put in stew-pan and
barely cover with water. Simmer until tender. Lift out on to hot dish.
Thicken the liquor with a little wholemeal flour, add a small piece of
butter pour this sauce over celery, and serve.
11. CELERIAC.
This is a large, hard white root, somewhat resembling a turnip in
appearance, with a slight celery flavour. It is generally only stocked by
“high-class” greengrocers. It costs from 1-1/2d. to 3d., according to
size. It is nicest cut in slices and fried in fat or oil until a golden
brown.
12. CUCUMBER.
Although not generally cooked, this is very good steamed, and served with
white sauce.
13. GREEN PEAS.
Do not spoil these by overcooking. Steam in a double boilerette, if
possible. About 20 minutes is long enough.
14. LEEKS.
Cut off green leaves rather close to the white part. Wash well. Steam
about 30 minutes. Serve with white sauce.
15. NETTLES.
The young tops of nettles in early spring are delicious. Later they are
not so palatable. Pick the nettles in gloves. Grasp them firmly, and wash
well. Put a small piece of butter or nutter with a little pounded thyme
into the saucepan with the nettles. Press well down and cook very slowly.
A very little water may be added if desired, but if the cooking is done
slowly, this will not be needed. When quite tender, dish up on a layer of
bread-crumbs, taking care to lose none of the juice. This dish somewhat
resembles spinach, which should be cooked in the same fashion, but without
the butter and thyme.
16. ONIONS.
If onions are peeled in the open air they will not affect the eyes. Only
the Spanish onions are pleasant as a vegetable. The English onion is too
strong for most people.
Steam medium-sized onions from 45 mins. to 1 hour. Serve with white sauce,
flavoured with a very little mace or nutmeg, if liked. For baked onions,
first steam for 30