Cooking for Two

A handbook for two at table, 1909 — Janet MacKenzie Hill scales the whole art of cookery down to the newlywed kitchen.

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CHAPTER XI: Parboil

BOSTON BAKED BEANS 1 pint of pea beans 2 tablespoonfuls of molasses 1 teaspoonful of bi-carbonate 1 teaspoonful of mustard of soda 1 teaspoonful of salt 1/4 pound of salt pork Let the beans stand in cold water over night; wash and rinse in several waters. Parboil until a pin will pierce the beans. Change the water during the parboiling, adding the soda with the last water. Rinse thoroughly. Put half the beans in the bean pot. Pour scalding water over the pork, scrape the rind thoroughly, wash in the water, then score the rind in half inch strips (for cutting in slices when cooked). Put the pork on the beans in the pot, and pour in the rest of the beans. Mix the molasses, salt and mustard with hot water to pour and turn over the beans. Then add boiling water to cover. Bake about eight hours in a moderate oven. Keep the beans covered with water and the cover on the pot until the last hour. Then remove the cover, and bring the pork to the top, to brown the rind. Less than a pint of beans can not be baked very successfully.

LIMA BEANS BAKED WITH SALT PORK Parboil one quart of lima beans with half a pound of salt pork. Take out the pork, and score it in slices for serving. Then turn the beans into a baking-dish. Set the pork in the center, and bake until the beans are tender. Do not have the beans too moist when ready for the oven. Cover the dish for a time with an agate plate, then remove the plate to crisp the beans and pork. Use with the pork beans that are rather old and require at least two hours' cooking. Dried beans soaked over night in cold water may be used after an hour of parboiling. Parboil young, tender beans about twenty minutes. Add butter, pepper, and salt, and bake nearly an hour. Do not use pork with young beans, unless it be first cooked by itself two or more hours. COLD BAKED - BEAN SANDWICH, CLUB STYLE Butter two slices of Boston brown bread; on one of these dispose a heart-leaf of lettuce holding a teaspoonful of salad dressing; above the dressing set a generous tablespoonful of cold, baked beans, then another lettuce leaf and dressing; then finish with a second slice of bread, a tablespoonful of beans, a floweret of cauliflower, and a teaspoonful of the dressing over the cauliflower.

VEGETABLES WITH STARCH IN FORM OF CELLULOSE For general directions see beginning of the chapter. BOILED PARSNIPS, BUTTERED Parsnips are much sweeter in the spring than in the fall. To prepare wash and scrape until clean. Set to cook in boiling water and continue the boiling until nearly tender, then add salt and finish cooking. Cut in halves, lengthwise, the parsnips will cook in about half an hour; left whole it will take nearly an hour. Drain carefully, sprinkle with salt and add plenty of butter.

BOILED PARSNIPS, SAUTED Scrub the parsnips with a brush, without scraping or cutting them in halves. Let boil until tender, then drain, cover with cold water and with the hands slip off the skin. Cut into slices three-fourths an inch thick and set to cook in a frying pan containing about three spoonfuls of fat tried out from salt pork. Let cook until browned on one side, then turn, to brown the other side. PARSNIP FRITTERS (Left over parsnips) 1 cup of parsnip puree 1 egg, beaten light 1/4 teaspoonful of salt Salt pork or bacon fat 1/4 teaspoonful of pepper Press the cooked parsnips through a gravy strainer, set into part of a double boiler (into which it fits). Use a wooden pestle; to the puree add the salt, pepper and egg (often the white may be omitted, the yolk being sufficient to hold the pulp together) and mix thoroughly; shape into small flat cakes. Have ready a frying pan containing a little hot fat; cook the cakes until brown on one side, then turn to brown the other side.

BOILED TURNIPS Pare the turnips and cut them in slices from half to a whole inch thick. Set to cook in boiling water without salt. When nearly tender add salt and cook until tender. Serve with butter, or, drain carefully, then mash with a pestle, add salt and butter and stir over the fire until very hot. BOILED TURNIPS, CREAMED Cut the boiled turnips into half inch cubes. For a generous cup of cubes prepare a cup of cream sauce. Pour the sauce over the cubes and let stand over hot water until very hot.

STRONG JUICED VEGETABLES ONIONS Hold the onions under the water from the faucet while peeling. Set to cook in a large saucepan of boiling water. After boiling half an hour, pour off the water and again add a generous quantity of boiling water. Let cook rapidly, uncovered, until tender. Add salt when the water is changed. Season with salt, black pepper and butter. For Creamed Onions, pour over four hot boiled onions about three-fourths a cup of hot cream sauce.

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