The Cooking of Vegetables
By MRS. E. E. KELLOGG
THE preparation of vegetables for the table is generally thought to be a very simple process, one which the most inexperienced cook need not hesitate to undertake. "Anybody can cook vegetables" is a common expression. It is not difficult so to apply heat and the solvent property of water as to soften vegetable tissues enough for mastication, and by the addition of condiments and seasonings to make them taste well; but to cook them so as to preserve their natural flavors, and change their constituent elements into the most digestible form, requires no little care and skill. Vegetables admit of much variety in preparation for the table. They may be wholesomely cooked by baking, roasting, steaming, boiling, and stewing. Water enters so largely into their composition that but little additional liquid is needed for cooking, and a general rule, applicable to all tubers to be cooked by boiling or stewing, is to cook them in as small an amount of water as possible without burning. The salts and the nutrient juices are largely dissolved in the water, and if this is drained off, much of the little nutriment these foods possess is wasted. The potato is the most commonly used of all the tubers, and in nutritive value it exceeds all others. In a mealy state the potato is easily digested, but when waxy or water-soaked, it is exceedingly trying to the digestive powers. To obtain the desired result, when the potato is to be cooked by boiling, it should be introduced into water that is actively bubbling, and cooked continuously until it can be easily pierced, then thoroughly drained. Cover the kettle, with the exception of a small aperture for the steam to escape, and set it on the back of the range or in some other warm place for a few minutes, to allow the moisture on the outside of the vegetables to evaporate, and serve at once. Whether or not to cook the potatoes with skins on is a matter to be settled by individual consumers. The chemists have demonstrated that when boiled in their skins, the waste of nutritive elements is only three per cent; when boiled without skins, fourteen per cent, or two ounces to every pound. Because so much of the nutriment is lost in water, the potato, as well as most other tubers, is better when cooked by steaming, roasting, or baking. To cook a potato by baking, first thoroughly clean and dry it. For cleaning tubers nothing is better than a vegetable brush. Put into the oven, the temperature of which should not at any time during the cooking exceed four hundred degrees. A common test is a temperature in which the hand can be held long enough to count twenty. Do not pierce to try. When done, the tuber will feel soft or mellow when pressed with the fingers. On taking from the oven, burst the distended skins by a quick pressure of the fingers, just enough to allow the steam to escape, and serve at once. A principle to be observed in the cooking of tubers is to remove them from the water or oven just as soon as tender. The cooking will continue some minutes after their removal, owing to the heat stored within. By overcooking, vegetables become less digestible.—Good Health.