Enquire Within Upon Everything Part 103

Roots, greens, salads, &c., and the various productions of the garden, when first gathered, are plump and firm, and have a fragrant freshness no art can give them again; though it will refresh them a little to put them into cold spring water for some time before they are dressed.

1093. To Boil Vegetables.

Soft water will best preserve the colour of such as are green; if you have only hard water, put to it a teaspoonful of carbonate of potash.

1094. Preparing Vegetables.

Take care to wash and cleanse Vegetables thoroughly from dust, dirt, and insects--this requires great attention. Pick off all the outside leaves, trim them nicely, and if they are not quite fresh-gathered and have become flaccid, it is absolutely necessary to restore their crispness before cooking them, or they will be tough and unpleasant.

To do this, lay them in a pan of clean water, with a handful of salt in it, for an hour before you dress them. Most vegetables being more or less succulent, it is necessary that they possess their full proportion of fluids in order to retain that state of crispness and plumpness which they have when growing.

1095. Staleness.

On being cut or gathered, the exhalation from their surface continues, while from the open vessels of the cut surface there is often great exudation or evaporation, and thus their natural moisture is diminished; tho tender leaves become flaccid, and the thicker ma.s.ses or roots lose their plumpness. This is not only less pleasant to the eye, but is a serious injury to the nutritious powers of the vegetable; for in this flaccid and shrivelled state its fibres are less easily divided in chewing, and the water which exists in the form of their respective natural juices is less directly nutritious.

1096. Preservation.

The first Care in the preservation of succulent vegetables, therefore, is to prevent them from losing their natural moisture. They should alway be boiled in a saucepan by themselves, and have plenty of water: if meat is boiled with them in the same pot, the one will spoil the look and taste of the other.

1097. Cleaning.

To have vegetables delicately clean, put on your pot, make it boil, put a little salt in, and skim it perfectly clean before you put in the greens, &c., which should not be put in till the water boils briskly: the quicker they boil the greener they will be.

1098. When Done.

When the vegetables sink, they are generally done enough, if the water has been kept constantly boiling. Take them up immediately, or they will lose their colour and goodness, Drain the water from them thoroughly before you send them to table. This branch of cookery requires the most vigilant attention.

[KEEP YOUR KEYS AND BE AT EASE.]

1099. Over-Cooked.

If vegetables are a minute or two too long over the fire, they lose all their beauty and flavour.

1100. Undercooked.

If not thoroughly boiled tender, they are very indigestible, and much more troublesome during their residence in the stomach than underdone meats.

1101. Take Care your Vegetables are Fresh.

To preserve or give colour in cookery many good dishes are spoiled; but the rational epicure, who makes nourishment the main end of eating, will be content to sacrifice the shadow to enjoy the substance. As the fishmonger often suffers for the sins of the cook, so the cook often gets undeservedly blamed instead of the greengrocer.

1102. To Cleanse Vegetables of Insects.

Make a strong brine of one pound and a half of salt to one gallon of water; into this, place the vegetables with the stalk ends uppermost, for two or three hours: this will destroy all the insects which cl.u.s.ter in the leaves, and they will fall out and sink to the bottom of the water.

1103. Potatoes.

Most people esteem potatoes beyond any other vegetable, yet few persons know how to cook them. The following will be found to be excellent methods of cooking this delicious esculent.

1104. To Boil Potatoes.

Put them into a saucepan with scarcely sufficient water to cover them.

Directly the skins begin to break, lift them from the fire, and as rapidly as possible pour off _every drop_ of the water. Then place a coa.r.s.e (we need not say clean) towel over them, and return them to the fire again until they are thoroughly done, and quite dry. A little salt, to flavour, should be added to the water before boiling.

1105. To Peel Potatoes.

The above recipe is for boiling potatoes in their jackets, as the phrase goes. When potatoes are to be peeled prior to cooking, the tubers should first be well washed and put in a bowl of clean water.

As each potato is taken out of this receptacle and peeled, it should be thrown into another bowl of cold water, close at hand to receive them. This prevents undue discolouration of the potatoes.

1106. To Steam Potatoes.

Some kinds of potatoes are better steamed than boiled. Whether dressed with the skins on or off a careful eye must be kept on them, and when they are nearly done the steamer should be removed, the water in the saucepan thrown off, and the steamer then replaced, in order to allow the process of cooking to be completed. Some people shake the steamer when potatoes are somewhat close and heavy, under the idea that it renders them floury, and in many cases the shaking has this effect.

1107. Potatoes Fried with Fish.

Take cold fish and cold potatoes. Pick all the bones from the former, and mash the fish and the potatoes together; form into rolls, and fry with lard until the outsides are brown and crisp. For this purpose, the drier kinds of fish, such as cod, hake, &c., are preferable; turbot, soles, eels, &c., are not so good. This is an economical and excellent relish.

1108. Potatoes Mashed with Onions.

Prepare some boiled onions, by putting them through a sieve, and mix them with potatoes. Regulate the portions according to taste.

1109. Potato Cheesecakes.

One pound of mashed potatoes, quarter of a pound of currants, quarter of a pound of sugar and b.u.t.ter, and four eggs, to be well mixed together; bake them in patty-pans, having first lined them with puff paste.

1110. Potato Colcanon.

Boil potatoes and greens (or spinach) separately; mash the potatoes; squeeze the greens dry; chop them quite fine, and mix them with the potatoes with a little b.u.t.ter, pepper, and salt. Put into a mould, b.u.t.tering it well first: let it stand in a hot oven for ten minutes.

[A CHAIR UNSOUND SOON FINDS THE GROUND.]