This section is from the book "A Manual Of Home-Making", by Martha Van Rensselaer. Also available from Amazon: A Manual of Home-Making.
Vegetables may be classified according to flavor into those with strong juices, and those with mild juices.
Strong-juiced vegetables, such as cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, onions, and turnips, should be washed in cold water and cooked until they are just tender, in boiling water in an uncovered kettle to allow the volatile oils to pass off in the steam. In this way the flavor is made more delicate, and the color is kept better. If strong-juiced vegetables are over-cooked, they become dark in color, strong in flavor, and may produce digestive disturbances.
Vegetables with mild juices, which include the greater number, should be washed in cold water and cooked in boiling water in a kettle with the cover ajar until they are soft.
If salt is added to the water in which vegetables are cooked, the flavor and color will be improved. Less mineral matter is dissolved out in cooking when salt is added at the beginning of the period than at the end. If the vegetables are wilted and likely to be tough, it may be better to add the salt just as they are done.
The use of soda in cooking vegetables is a questionable practice if it is employed in a larger amount than is necessary just to neutralize any acid of the vegetable and thus prevent loss of color in cooking. If used in this small amount, it accomplishes the purpose and does not make the vegetable water unfit for use in soups and sauces. It is thought that the vitamines of vegetables may be destroyed if heated in an alkaline solution; therefore, only a very small amount of soda should be used. For soaking and cooking dried legumes, however, 1/4 teaspoon of soda is recommended for each quart of water, to soften the water and the skins.
Vegetables may be made more delicate in flavor if they are blanched. To blanch vegetables, they should be covered with boiling water and allowed to boil for 5 minutes. They may then be drained, rinsed in cold water, and cooked as usual. Since blanching causes a loss of a certain amount of the food substance, it is not recommended.
Boiling vegetables is a wasteful method of cooking them unless all the water is used in some way, such as in soups or sauces. Much of the nutrutive value, especially the mineral substances, is dissolved out by the water. In the average well-planned dietary, vegetables and fruits are depended on to furnish much of the mineral needed by the body; even though they may seem high in price compared with certain other foods, an effort is made to procure them. Therefore, a loss of these important mineral substances - iron, phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium - through careless cooking should be avoided. The loss of iron in boiling spinach, for example, has been found to be as great as 50 per cent under certain conditions. The percentage of loss is increased by paring the vegetables or cutting them in small pieces and thus exposing more surface, before cooking them, and also by putting them on to cook in cold water.
If vegetables are to be boiled, therefore, plans should be made for using the water in which they are cooked. Unless all the water is to be used, they should be cooked with the skins on, they should not be cut in small pieces, and they should be put on to cook in boiling water.
Steaming vegetables effects a great saving over boiling them. However, the most economical method of cooking those vegetables that allow it, is to bake them.
Vegetable | Part of plant used | Points in buying | Preparation | Cooking | ||
Potatoes..... | Tuber | Choose smooth, medium-sized potatoes | Wash for baking or boiling. Scrape new potatoes. Pare if desired, for steaming. Drop into cold water | Rub with fat and bake in hot oven. Steam. Drop into boiling salted water and remove skins after cooking | Bake 40-50 min. Boil 20-30 min. | Serve boiled or steamed potatoes plain with seasoning on table; or mash, season with butter, milk, salt, and pepper |
Beats........ | Root | Fresh green leaves with dirt clinging to roots | Cut tops 2 inches from root. Wash, but do not break skin | Drop into boiling water, and cook until tender. Add salt in last half hour. Drain and peel by-rubbing with a dry cloth | Young, 1 hr. Old, 4-5 hrs. | Slice large beets. Season with salt, pepper, and butter |
carrots ..... | Root | Fresh green leaves and roots not too large | Wash, scrape, and drop into cold water | Drop into boiling salted water and cook until tender. Steam young carrots | 20-60 min. | Season. Serve with green peas. Serve in a cream sauce |
Sweet potatoes | Root | Choose good-sized smooth sweet potatoes | Wash or pare and drop into cold water | Bake. Steam. Drop into boiling salted water and cook until tender. Drain and remove skins if not already pared | Bake 30 min. Boil 20-30 min. | Serve plain with seasoning, or candy by reheating in oven with a sirup or butter poured over them. |
Onions .... | Bulb | Choose medium-sized onions | Cover with cold water and peel under water. Drop into cold water | Drop into boiling salted water, cook uncovered. For very strong onions, drain off the water after the first 5 min. and cover with fresh boiling, salted water | 40-60 min. | Serve in a cream sauce or with butter and seasoning |
* Tables XL to XLII were compiled by Anna M. East.
Vegetable | Points in buying | Preparation | Cooking | Time for boiling | Serving |
String beans | Pods brittle; on breaking, strings tender and beans small | Wash, string, and snap, or cut into short pieces | Drop into boiling water to cover, bring to boiling again; or steam. Cook covered until last 15 min. Add salt during last hour | Young beans 1 hr. Older 2-3 | Season with butter and pepper, and serve without draining. |
Corn.......... | Silk brown, ear well filled with kernels which give sweet milky juice when broken. Use as soon as possible after picking | Husk and carefully remove all silk | Drop into boiling water to cover, bring rapidly to boiling; or steam. Cook covered. Corn is done when the juice is set. Add no salt | 5-15 min. | Serve with butter and salt, or cut from cob, season, and re-heat in milk. |
Peas ........ | Pods green and brittle, peas small and green. Use as soon as possible after gathered | Wash pods and shell. | Drop into boiling water just to cover. Cover and let boil, or steam. Add salt during last 15 min., and remove cover to let water boil down | 30-40 min. | Season and serve without draining, or drain |
Squash ............ | Choose summer squash which are light yellow, and shell of which can be broken by finger nail. Choose winter squash having no soft spots | Wash, cut in pieces, and pare summer squash. Break winter squash with hatchet. Remove seeds | Steam over boiling water, or bake in hot oven | Steam 30-40 min. Bake 1-2 hrs. | Mash and season with salt,pepper, and butter. Season and serve in shell, or scoop out. mash, season, and serve. |
Tomatoes | Should be firm, smooth, of even color, no bruised or green spots | To peel, pour boiling water over them, and let stand 1 minute to loosen skin. Pour off hot water, cool with cold, and peel | Simmer in their own -juice and season; or cut in halves with skin on and broil | 15-20 min. | Season with salt, pepper, and butter, or with sugar. Serve broiled tomatoes well seasoned, on toast squares |
Vegetable | Part of plant used | Points in buying | Preparation | Cooking | Time for boiling | Serving |
Asparagus . . . | Stem | Freshly cut green stalks. Wrap in damp cloth until used | Cut off stalks in bunch as far down as they are brittle. Untie, wash, and re-tie in bunches of serving size | Stand heads up in deep kettle. Pour on boiling salted water nearly to cover. Steam. Cook covered | 45 min. | Drain and butter, or serve on toast with melted butter poured over |
Cabbage ....... | Leaves | Pick out heavy-heads. Keep in cool cellar | Remove outer leaves. Soak in salted water head down for 30 minutes to draw out insects. Quarter, and cut out stalk | Drop into rapidly boiling salted water. Cook uncovered, drain as soon as tender | 20 min. | Season with salt, pepper, and butter, or serve with a cream sauce |
Spinach...... | Leaves | Choose spinach with leaves fresh and dirty rather than shiny | Cut off roots, stems, and poor leaves. Wash by lifting from one pan of water to another till free from sand | Place in kettle with no water. Allow to heat gradually, then cook in its own juice, or steam. If old, cook in boiling salted water, covered; drain, chop and reheat | 25 min. | Season with salt, pepper, and butter and serve with vinegar |
Cauliflower. . . | Stem and flower | Choose white heads with fresh green leaves | Cut off end of stalk. Soak 30 min. in cold salt water, head down | Place head up in kettle, and pour on boiling salted water to cover; or steam. Cook with cover off | 20-30 min. | Season with salt, pepper, and butter, or separate and serve in cream sauce. Leaves may be served as garnish at first meal, then chopped and warmed over in white sauce |
Vegetable | Jan. | Feb. | Mch. | Apr. | May | June | July | Aug. | Sept. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. |
Asparagus | - | - | ||||||||||
Beans, string | - | - | - | |||||||||
Beans, lima | - | - | ||||||||||
Beans, pole lima | - | - | ||||||||||
Beets | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
Brussels sprouts........... | - | - | ||||||||||
Cabbage | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Carrot | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Cauliflower............... | - | - | - | |||||||||
Celery................... | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
Corn..................... | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
Cucumber; ................ | - | - | - | To frost | ||||||||
Eggplant................. | - | - | - | To frost | ||||||||
Endive................... | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Kale..................... | - | - | - | |||||||||
Kohlrabi................. | - | - | - | |||||||||
Lettuce.................. | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Okra..................... | - | - | ||||||||||
Onion, green | - | - | - |
Vegetable | Jan. | Feb. | Mch. | Apr. | May | June | July | Aug. | Sept. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. |
Onion, mature | - | - | ||||||||||
Parsley | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
Parsnips | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
Peas, green............... | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Peas, sugar............... | ■ | - | - | - | ||||||||
Potatoes | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
Potatoes, sweet........... | - | |||||||||||
Pumpkin................. | - | - | ||||||||||
Radish................... | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
Rhubarb | - | - | - | |||||||||
Rutabaga turnip | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
Salsify................... | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||
Squash | - | - | - | |||||||||
Spinach | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
Swiss chard | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Tomato.................. | - | - | - | |||||||||
Turnip | - | - | - | - |
 
Continue to: