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Vegetables (These may roughly be divided)

These may roughly be divided for cooking purposes into two classes--viz. roots and greens; the chief point of distinction between the two being that in cooking the latter class due attention must be given to the fact that a good colour is an important point for consideration.

One almost universal principle in cooking vegetables is the addition of salt to the water in which they are boiled; and another, almost as universal, is that they should be put into boiling and not cold water. The quantity of salt that should be added will generally be found to be in the proportion of a good brimming table-spoonful of salt to half a gallon of water. Now, the whole of the following vegetables should be cooked by placing them in boiling water, salted in the proportion named. Turnips, cauliflowers, carrots, cabbages, artichokes (French), asparagus, French beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, parsnips, new potatoes, green peas, and vegetable marrow. The whole of these will, of course, vary as to time, according to their size and age. Old potatoes should be placed in cold water, and medium-aged potatoes in lukewarm water; the reason, of course, why old potatoes are placed in cold water being that otherwise, the root being hard, the outside part of a large potato would be apt to get pulpy before the inside got soft. In cooking Jerusalem artichokes it seems to be an open question whether they should be placed in hot water or cold; they should, however, be treated like potatoes--when young and small, boiling water; when old, cold water. Spinach is, again, a vegetable about which there is much dispute; some cooks maintaining that the less water used the better the spinach; some going even so far as to steam the spinach, and use no water at all; others boiling the spinach till it is tender in an ordinary quantity of water, and then draining it, and rinsing it in cold water before pounding it in a mortar. My own opinion is, that the latter method is the preferable one.

We next come to consider the principle of obtaining a good colour. Of course, if the vegetables--such as peas--are old and stale, and of a bad colour to start with, there is no way of making them green by cooking. However, it will often be found that quite young and fresh green peas--and we take peas merely as the type of a class--will turn yellow in boiling. The chief points to be considered for the purpose of avoiding a bad colour are--first, see that the water is boiling before the vegetables are put in; secondly, do not shut in the steam.

Consequently, whenever it is possible, let green vegetables boil in an open saucepan. Of course, when you have a shut stove and a hot-plate this is very easy; when, however, it is an open fire, care must be taken to place the lid half open, in such a way that the steam may escape, and yet afford no opportunity for the smoke to be sucked into the saucepan. Smoky vegetables are extremely disagreeable. To obtain a good colour for carrots, they must be lightly scraped, and not peeled.

Another important point in cooking the majority of vegetables is to have plenty of water.

First, if the quantity of water is not large, the moment the vegetables are put in the water goes off the boil, whereas it is important the water should boil the whole time. Again, it is well known how extremely disagreeable green-water smells; consequently, should, say, a cabbage be placed in a small quantity of water, this disagreeable green-water becomes more concentrated. Let me here, however, give you one most important word of warning with regard to green-water, and that is, never on any account allow it to be poured down the sink, as the smell that will consequently arise will probably have the very uncomfortable result of rendering the whole house disagreeable for some time after. The best way of getting rid of green-water is to pour it down an outside sink.

Of course, in all culinary operations the first principle of cookery--viz. cleanliness--should be strictly attended to. But in cooking vegetables even extra care, if possible, should be taken on this point. For instance, in cooking potatoes the unsightly black spots should be scooped out with the greatest care. In boiling spinach, the enemy to be encountered is grit; consequently the spinach should be washed in several waters, the water being sufficiently deep to allow the dirt to settle. In boiling greens, and especially cauliflowers and broccoli, those most disgusting enemies, caterpillars and little slugs, must be met and defeated. Now, in a close cauliflower or broccoli this is not always so easy a task as some would imagine; but by letting the vegetables soak in cold salted water for an hour or more, and occasionally shaking them, every one of these nasty creatures can be got rid of--for to find a boiled caterpillar on one's plate at dinner is quite sufficient to destroy one's enjoyment of the meal. The fact really implies that the cook is dirty; and when this is the case, it is difficult to really fancy any of the dishes that have necessarily passed through her hands.

The re-heating of vegetables is a matter that should be considered in every economical household. While good housekeepers know many appetising ways of re-heating meat, cold vegetables are too often thrown out on the dust-heap or behind the fire. The remains of cold cabbage, haricot beans, peas, and potatoes are considered absolutely useless, and many odds and ends are thrown away which might make nice little luncheon or supper dishes. Take, for example, the remains of cauliflower. Probably all the centre has been eaten, and only the stalks remain, but still much that is good is left. Cut all that remains over of the cauliflower into neat pieces, melt a little butter or clarified dripping, and brush each piece with it. Grate any stale cheese that has become too dry to send to table and lay it on the vegetable. Sprinkle browned bread-crumbs plentifully over all. Place the pieces of vegetable thus prepared on a baking-tin, and cook them in a moderate oven for twenty minutes. The result is a supper dish that will not be despised. Again, we will suppose that there is some cold cabbage in the larder. Do not warm it up on the frying-pan, as is so often done. Instead of doing so, grease a small pudding basin, then throw in browned bread-crumbs, and turn the basin round and round so that these may adhere evenly to the sides. Having thus prepared the basin, press the cabbage through a wire sieve with a wooden spoon, and season it with pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Stir in about an ounce of butter, more or less, according to the amount of cabbage, and an egg well beaten up. Mix the ingredients thoroughly, fill the pudding basin, and bake in a moderate oven for twenty minutes. Turn it out on a very hot dish, and serve with brown sauce.

The following is a good way of using up cold potatoes. Cut the potatoes into slices. Make a sauce with a table-spoonful of gravy or good stock, an ounce of grated cheese, an ounce and a half of butter, the juice of half a lemon, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and the well-beaten yolks of two eggs. Whisk these ingredients over the fire until they thicken, or are near boiling point. Place a layer of the sliced potatoes on a fireproof dish, mask with the sauce, and so on in alternate layers till all the potatoes and sauce are used up. Sprinkle grated cheese and browned bread-crumbs over the top layer of sauce. Bake for half an hour, and serve hot.

Croquettes, made with haricot beans left over from a dish of the previous day, will be found excellent. Pass the beans through a wire sieve, or mash them finely with a fork, season with chopped onion, pepper, and salt; add sufficient bread-crumbs to make them mould easily. Shape them either into balls or rolls; egg and bread-crumb them, and fry in deep hot fat until a nice brown colour.

Before leaving the subject of vegetables, one word in regard to preserved vegetables in tins. Take, for instance, peas. Of course, like everything else, peas are best when fresh gathered and in season; but it is really wonderful to what perfection the art of preserving vegetables has been brought. However, just as in the case of tinned soups we gave a few simple directions for the improvement of the contents of the tin when opened, so, too, with vegetables much may be done to what we may call "increase the illusion." For instance, take the case of a tin of peas. Of course, they are already cooked, and only want warming up. Now, these tinned peas will be found, as a rule, to be not quite so sweet as fresh-gathered young ones; consequently, whenever you use a tin of peas as a vegetable, or to be piled up in the centre of an entree, such as chicken cutlets, act as follows. First obtain, if possible, a few leaves of fresh mint, and boil these leaves in a little water till tender; then turn out the tin into a small stewpan, liquor and all, and put it on the fire to warm gently. Suppose the tin contains a pint of peas, add about half a salt-spoonful of salt, and one third of a salt-spoonful of powdered sugar. The sugar will, of course, cause the peas to taste sweeter, and consequently more like the real fresh ones. Add the mint-leaves, which, in addition to really improving the flavour of the peas, undoubtedly help the imagination to regard them as fresh-gathered ones. Really, if the tin is a good one, it requires a very sensitive palate to distinguish between fresh peas and preserved ones. The same method must be pursued with French beans--the latter, however, are improved by having a little chopped boiled parsley added instead of mint, and a piece of butter mixed with them when they are strained off. In heating preserved vegetables (and this applies to all kinds) do not allow them to remain on the fire longer than is necessary simply to make them hot through.