The Wolf Point herald., 1921-06-30

brleQ Corn heepS IN 1000 Iona non
Begi
prepared by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture.)
Even though they do not spoil, many
dried vegetables which were delicious
and attractive in every way during
the first few weeks or months of stor-
age, do not keep their color, flavor
and cooking qualities Indefinitely, but
deteriorate gradually after a long pc
riod of storage. Even vegetables
which are blanched before drying will
deteriorate in much the same way,
though more slowly. and blanching In
salted water az per cent solutiOn)
before drying constitutes a slight i'm
provement over the common custom
of drying without such treatment
Household stocks of dried vegeta-
bles should not be held over from one
year to the next for the reason they
lose In quality. Indeed, II is the part
of wisdom to use them early in the
winter season, reserving canned goods
for the late winter or early spring
ue experimental hlltltll III Tic Olii-
ted States Department of Agriculture
has carried on a number of expert
ments with dried vegetables, and the
work is being continued A progress
report is in order and some of the
results arrived at to date follow:
Dried corn is one of the vegetables
which keeps in good condition for a
long time, If good at the beginning
The peculiar flavor developed in dried
green string beans is popular in many
parts of the country. Dried soup mix
lures deserve wide use, for the com
bination of such strong-juiced vege-
tables as onions, carrots, cabbage and
turnips will retain considerable flavor
for long time, even though the in
dividual vegetables which compose 1t
may have deteriorated somewhat in
flavor when compared with the freshly
dried vegetable
Preparing Dried Vegetable.
Dried vegetables may be soaked
from one to three hours in warm or
cold water, and then cooked from 10
to 80 minutes Cor longer if necessary.
Or they may bs Fat ut once, without
any eessing, into b~iling water and
then cooked slowly over the simmer
ing flame for 20 to 40 minutes. or long
er, if necessary. The length of time
for which they must be cooked de-
pends largely upon the condition of
the fresh vegetable before it was
h
bage, even though cut into small pieces
before drying, must be cooked longer
than small carrots or green cabbage.
The water added for soaking or
cooking should be little more than
what the vegetables will take up. To
soak them in large amount of wa
ter which Is thrown away. then cook
them in q fresh supply of water which
also is thrown away. is TO take the |
most thorough method which could be |
devised for extracting and discarding
most of their nutritive constituents as
well as most of their flavor
Three cupfuls of water to one cupful
of vegetable is as good a general rule
as can be given, but spinach and |
greens take half of that being light |
for their volume. Long cooking de- |
mands larger amount Of water, be-
cause ii boils away; but vegetables |
should not be cooked longer than is
absolutely necessary, except in the |
making of puree.
Particularly when the dried vege-
tables are put into boiling water with
out soaking it is best to salt them
toward the end of the cooking proc
ess rather than at the beginning
One cupful (measured dry) Of most
kinds of dried vegetables viii serve
Svo persons heartily, or three per
sons with moderate portions
Dried vegetables may be used in
the same way as fresh ones, while
they are still in prime condition When
they begin TO fall off in flavor they
should be iudiciously combined with
other materials and have f1avoring
materials added to them. Dried sweet
potatoes or carrots which have become
rather fiat when served with butter
and salt only are more appetizing
when glazed To do this, bake them
(after cooking tender by boiling) with
a sauce of sugar or molasses or sirup,
and fat. Dried spinach which has
become a little fiat will be liked If II
is served with an egg and vinegar