The Skilful Cook Part 68

If cooked without their skins, pare them thinly and treat them in the same manner, pouring off the water when they are very nearly tender, and finish cooking them in their own steam.

If the potatoes are good and are cooked according to these directions, they will be perfectly dry and flowery.

To Steam Potatoes.

Put the potatoes into the steamer, and sprinkle them with salt.

Keep the water in the saucepan underneath quickly boiling the whole time the potatoes are cooking.

If the potatoes are cooked in their skins,[*] peel them when very nearly tender, and put them back in the steamer to finish cooking.

Steaming is one of the simplest and best ways of cooking potatoes. If the potatoes are good and the water is kept briskly boiling, this method cannot fail to be successful.

[*] This should only be done when untainted by disease.

To Cook New Potatoes.

Put the potatoes into boiling water with some salt, and boil gently for twenty minutes or more, according to their age.

When very nearly tender pour off the water, cover them with a cloth, and set the saucepan by the side of the fire, and finish cooking in their own steam.

Baked Potatoes.

Choose nice potatoes, not too large, and scrub them perfectly clean.

Bake them in a moderate oven for about an hour.

Brussels Sprouts.

Trim them nicely and put them in boiling water, adding salt in the proportion of a tablespoonful to every two quarts of water.

Put in a little sugar, or, if the water is hard, a little piece of soda the size of a pea.

Boil them quickly, with the lid off the saucepan, from ten to twenty minutes, according to the size and age of the sprouts.

When tender, drain them quite dry in a colander.

Dry the saucepan and put them back with a little b.u.t.ter, pepper, and salt.

Shake them over the fire for a minute or so, and then serve on a hot dish.

To Boil a Cauliflower.

Soak it in salt and water to draw out any insects, and trim off the outside leaves.

Put it, with the flower downwards, into a saucepan of boiling water with salt in it, and cook from twenty to thirty minutes, according to its age.

Drain it on a sieve or colander.

If liked, it may be served with white or French sauce poured over it (_see_ Sauces.)

Green Peas.

Put them into plenty of boiling water, with a little sugar and a sprig or two of mint.

Boil gently with the lid off the saucepan for twenty minutes or more, according to their size and age.

Drain them in a colander.

Then put them into a saucepan with a little piece of b.u.t.ter, a teaspoonful of castor sugar, pepper and salt, and shake them over the fire for a minute or two.

French Beans.

Remove the strings and cut the beans into slices.

Put them into plenty of boiling water, with salt in the proportion of one tablespoonful to every two quarts of water, a little sugar, or, if the water is hard, a small piece of soda about the size of a pea.

Boil quickly for fifteen minutes or longer, according to their age.

Drain in a colander.

Then put them into a saucepan with a small piece of b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt, and shake them over the fire for a minute or two.

Spinach.

Pull off the stalks and wash the spinach well in several waters to remove all grit.

Put it into a saucepan without any water but that which adheres to the leaves, and sprinkle a little salt over it.

Cook with the lid off the saucepan until quite tender, stirring it occasionally.

Drain it in a colander, and wring it dry in a cloth.

Then chop it, or rub it through a wire sieve. The latter method is preferable.

To dress it, mix it in a saucepan over the fire with a little b.u.t.ter, pepper, and salt; a little cream may be used also, care being taken not to make the spinach too moist to serve.

Press it into shape, as a mound or pyramid, in a vegetable dish, and garnish with fried _croutons_ of bread.

Asparagus.