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Some Kitchen Kinks: Tomatoes

Tomatoes. The tomato, although not very nutritious, may be classed as one of our must useful vegetables.

Raw, it makes an attractive and refreshing salad and may be served by itself or in combination with other vegetables, with meat or with fish.

As a vegetable the tomato may be prepared in many ways. It makes a good foundation for soups and sauces. Made into catsup or pickles it serves as a relish. The addition of a little tomato gives a pleasant, acid flavor to many soups and sauces, and also to meat, fish, and vegetable dishes. If possible the tomatoes should ripen fully on the vines, as the flavor is much better than when picked green and then allowed to ripen.

When properly canned this vegetable keeps well and retains its natural flavor. The housekeeper who has a generous supply of canned tomatoes on hand will find them very valuable at all times of the year, but especially in the winter months when the variety of vegetables is not great.

Overcooking spoils the flavor and color of the tomato.

To Peel Tomatoes.

Put the ripe tomatoes into a dish and pour boiling water over them.

Let them rest in the water about one minute; then pour the water off. The thin skin will now peel off readily.

When a quantity of tomatoes are to be peeled have a deep stewpan a little more than half filled with boiling water and on the fire where the water will continue to boil. Put the tomatoes in a frying basket and lower into the boiling water. Let the basket remain one minute in the water. There must, of course, be water enough to cover the tomatoes.

Stewed Tomatoes.

Peel the tomatoes and cut into small pieces. Put into a stewpan and on the fire. Boil gently for twenty minutes or half an hour, counting from the time it begins to boil. Season five minutes before the cooking is finished. Allow for each quart of tomato one generous teaspoonful each of salt and sugar and one tablespoonful or more of butter. Escalloped Tomatoes. 1 pint peeled and cut tomatoes. 1 pint grated bread crumbs. 1 level teaspoonful salt. 1 tablespoonful butter.

A suggestion of pepper.

Reserve three tablespoonfuls of the bread crumbs, and spread the remainder on a pan. Brown in the oven, being careful not to burn them.

Mix the tomato, browned crumbs, salt, pepper, and half the butter together, and put in a shallow baking dish. Spread the unbrowned crumbs on top, and dot with the remainder of the butter, cut into bits. Bake in a moderately hot oven for half an hour. The top of this dish should be brown and crisp.

Tomato Toast.

Boil one quart of peeled and cut tomatoes for ten minutes, then rub through a strainer. Return to the stewpan and add two level teaspoonfuls of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, and two tablespoonfuls of butter. Place on the fire and cook APPENDIX five minutes. Have the bottom of a hot platter covered with well-toasted slices of bread and pour the hot tomato over it. Serve at once. A dropped or poached egg may be put on each slice of toast.

Okra. Though okra, a variety of Hibiscus with mucilaginous edible pods, will grow in most parts of the United States, it is much more commonly eaten in the Southern States than elsewhere. The young pods should be boiled in salted water until tender (about twenty minutes), drained, and heated for 5 minutes with cream (a scant cup to a quart of okra), a tablespoonful of butter, and salt and pepper. Okra is also a common ingredient of soups.

The cultivation of okra, methods of serving it, and related topics are discussed in a recent publication of the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

Green Peppers. -The sweet green pepper, though fairly common in our city markets, is not as widely known as a vegetable as it deserves. Sliced, it makes a very fine salad alone, or, more commonly, mixed with other salad plants like lettuce. Stuffed and baked peppers are very palatable.

Green Peppers Stuffed and Baked.

Use only tender sweet peppers.

For six medium-sized peppers make a dressing in the following manner:

Soak, in cold water, enough stale bread to make one pint when the water is pressed out. Season this with two teaspoonfuls of salt, one tablespoonful of fine herbs, about one-fifth of a teaspoonful each of sweet basil and summer savory, and two tablespoonfuls of butter or savory drippings.

Cut off the stem end of the pepper and remove all the interior, being careful to take out every seed. Fill the peppers with the dressing. Place them on end in a shallow baking dish and pour around them a sauce prepared as follows: Put into a saucepan and on the fire, one tablespoonful of drippings. When hot, add one level tablespoonful of flour. Stir until smooth and brown, then add, gradually, three gills of meat stock or water. Season with one level teaspoonful of salt. Cook five minutes, then pour around the stuffed peppers.