Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1872-06-26
The " Whyo in Vegetable Cookery.

The " Why" in Vegetable Cookery.
Why should seakaie never be boiled
in plain boiling water, but in milk and
water and salt; or, instead of milk, a
little bacon fat, butter, lard, or beef
drlpping2 Because kale requires to
be cooked in soft water and be kept a
good color. Soda would soften the
water, but turn the kale black. EQUAL
parts of milk and water may be used,
but then milk is expensive, while by
using little fat in the water the kale
is equally good, and is not greasy when
served.
Why schould celery, for sauce or for
stewing, be boiled in little milk, but
ter, and salt, and with sufficient water
to very little more than cover ,it?-Be-
cause it requires soft water to cook it
in, and the milk and water in which it
is cooked will. after the celery addressed,
serve for sauce, If it be thickeneds with
one OF two tablespoonfuls Of corn.f1our,
mixed with little milk, and adding it
to the celery and liquor it is in. It IS
then converted into a thick sauce, ard
served as such or if for stewed celery,
the latter can remain i'll the sauce till
wanted, then be placed in a dish, and
the sauce strained over it.
Why should carrots not be split for
boiling because the favoris entirely
lost by splitting them. They require
boiling in soft water; soda would
blacken them. Some fat, as dripping
or other fat, should be put in the water
when it is put on cold; when it boils
fast put i'll two ounces Of salt, and the
carrots whole or cut across, not split,
and boil them two hours after they have
boiled up. These directions are for
boiling carrots in winter rs1s-
Why should summer carrots not be
scraped2 ABecause- the delicate fla
-voring would be spoiled They should
be washed clean, be- put into boiling
water with little fat and salt, be
boiled from fifteen to twenty minutes
then be strained and thrown into cold
water. With clean cloth rub off the
outside skin, and throw each carrot as
it is done In hot water till the moment
of serving,
Why should parsnips not be split for
cooking them 2--For the same reason
as for carrots-splitting destroys the
davor. They should be boiled as di-
rected for carrots, but, only for twenty
minutes, half an hour, or an hour, ac
cording to size--the largest only an
hour, E .[....E -E-E
Why should soda be boiled with
green's, cabbages, broccoli, and t1unip
green's because the oil which all
these vegetables contain, more OF less,
the sodaextracts, and leaves the green's
sweet and wholesome; but the water is,
after. boiling the greens with soda,
most lunwholesOme, perhaps poisonous.
How wrong, then, it is to eat green's
not cooked with soda. 4 piece of soda
tilbert size is sutficientefor q very large
saucepan Of boiling water. Turnip
green's have scarcely any oil in them, but
are nevertheless much more wholesome
for eating when cooked with a little
soda From the seed of cabbage the
colza!oil Is manufactured
Why should vegetables be washed in
rather warm water first, then iii cold,
to cleanse them from sand and insects?
The hot water, which must be hotter
than tepid, causesithe insects and sand
to fall out at once. Insects do not al
ways dislike cold water and salt, but
the hot water kills them. 1t must be
understood that only small handful
of greens or one head Of cabbage at
time, must De washed, and then instant
" thrown into cold water, which crIsps
and thoroughly cleaEses. them. Spin
ach, leelks, celery, and seakale are thus
rendered very clean, and, moreover,
are very rapidly cleansed. It is worse
than useless to attempt to cleanse veg.
etables in salt and water. The hard
ness which salt creates in the water
prevents all cleansing properties. The
salt may kill the insects. Dit. does not
always do this), but they stick on hard
and fast; the hot water makes them
fall out at once, and the cold water
crisps and blanches them. ..
Why should Savoy cabbages, white
heart summer cabbages, and cabbages
that have been a long time growing,
be cut across the ribs of the leaves,
and not lengthwise? Because all cab
bages that have been long time com
ing to maturity, have extremely tough
tibres If these are cut lengthwise one
has to chop the flores with the teeth in
eating them, and, moreover, such cab
bages take a longer time to boil, and
are often served a tasteless, soverdone,
watery mass. r.-....
Ii such greens be cut across the
stems, III circles OF two inches in width,
be washed i'll warm water, then in cold,
and be boiled in boiling water and a
little soda for from fifteen to twenty
minutes, not moment longer, if so
long, the green's are sweet and exceed
ipgly tender and wholesome, purifying
the blood and promoting health. 4
dish of badly cooked green's is enough
to create a severe fit Of Indigestion in
those who eat them.
Why should the stems of hard white
cabbages be never cooked with the
other parts of the cabbage? Because
they take twice as long to cook as the
soft parts, SO that the latter is an I'M
wholesome paste before the stalks are
done, and if they are thrown away
either before OF after cooking them it
IS waste. The stems of cabbages that
are crisp should have the soft green
part cut from them to be cook
ed by itself: the stems when
stripped from the green be tied in
small bundles, cooked for from twenty
to twenty-five minutes in plenty of
boiling water, salt, and a little soda,
and be served with butter sauce over
them. Then a dish of seakale is not
more delicious. These cabbage stems
may be called chardoons," and will
crafty the palates of all who taste
them thus cooked. Young spring cab
bage, of course, does not need this
treatment.
Why should turnips be cut across
the fiber in rings OF less than half an
inch in thickness For three reasons:
First, the turnip need only be peeled
very thin, instead Of in the usual man.
ner, thickly and wastefully; secondly,
by so cutting them the fbers are cut
across, so that however old the turn1p
is, it is never stringy; thirdly, they re
quire only fourteen minutes to boil in
plenty of boiling water and salt, and
thus the delicate flavor of the turnip
is preserved, also they can be more