The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-09
1xpert Tells Of Values From
 Vegetables
N MRS. cNRIsTJNE FREDERICK

sy MRS. CHRISTINE FREDERICK ,SsIn our previous talk we discussed the |spokinx of meats. Naturally, we fol- l. ies to vegetables, which is the second k r class of foods used at every meal. | 1s this first principles" we will omit |i ue cereals, and center the subjest on ie two main classes of vegetables as ' sed in the menu, viz: CD starchy
 Vegetables; CD watery or green vege-
 ables
 E Most vegetables contain some starch, Int q great many are largely starch, K lch as potatoes, carrots, parsnips, peas, K 6ahs, etc. The first step is to have D ie water rapidly boiling before the D lkaned vegetables are added. This in-
 ares that the starch cells will be burst |i ben. and properly cooked. If we pre- flare starchy vegetables in water which E not brought to the boiling point we tsnd that they will be soggy or under H looked. The second point is to have { he water well salted, for starch, being i lo flavorless and that in itself requires s considerable salt to make the food tasty. {; he teaspoonful of salt to each quart ] II water is a good proportion and the { alt should be added before the food is fopped in.
 The third and most important step IS to properly drain and dry the starch sfter 1t is cooked. It is not sufficient 10 cook vegetable in hot, salted water
 nd then pour the water off, but the 5! !fegetable must be set over steam or in
 hot place to have the starch dry and
 lnealy. In the case of potatoes, after < he water is drained the whole pot
 hould be set back over low flame,
 he potatoes slightly shaken over the
 ise to dry them out and partly burst
 he skins.
 \ If a vegetable is strong favored, like cabbage, turnips, larger quan- ility of water may be used or even two Ilvaters to remove the coarse and acrid flavor. One excellent plan is to
 blanch" such coarse vegetables by
 Hopping them into boiling water and holding them there about three min sEltes; then removing to fresh water,
 lust enough to cover and simmering Ellowly.
 # If a vegetable has quantity of fiber llr cellulose (cabbage( celery, string ,eans, tarnips), it will be found that { his woody fiber becomes hard if the
 cooking is carried on too long or at too
 who actually prepare vegetables at n frying point. It is not necessary to nave the flame high and flaring when
 cooking any ibrous vegetable, but rath-
 1T simmer the product and remove at
 once from the fire when cooked. The
 great mistake of the old-fashioned
 housewife was to cook cabbage several
 hours until almost red and like a hard stone, so much so that many of us till dislike cabbage because we connect lit with that poor and wrong prepara- lion.
 Different Texture
 When we come to the second or
 watery group of vegetables we have an entirely different texture and consist ency. Most green and watery vege-
 tables (spinach, asparagus, tomatoes)
 have almost no starch but consist of a
 delicate. fiber holding mineral salts in
 solution. These vegetables can be
 cooked in their own juices and need no water at all added to them. Or at
 least so little water may be used as,
 when the vegetable is cooked. to be
 merely liquid or gravy. Nothing is more wasteful than to cook delicate spinach or fresh asparagus in a quan- stity of water and then pour that water
 down the Sink. By doing this we are simply dissolving out the salts and throwing them away when they should sbe utilized as important body foods.
 pne may cook any green vegetable over 5a slow fire with the addition of a single ,rup of water to start the steam, and sler it finish cooking in it's own juice. 10 We have thus far talked of boiling only since that is the most common method of vegetable preparation. But there is much more to be said in favor lpf either steaming all starchy and Ewatery vegetables or of baking certain others. There is no doubt that vege- tables prepared in an open pot in a large quantity of water lose both flavor and mineral salts, while if steamed no water is wasted and almost i'll the salts are retained. The person who wishes the most nutriment from vegetable
 foods will steam them and not boil them. The difference and increase in flavor is remarkable in steamed fods over those open-boiled.
 Baked Vegetables
 t Baking is satisfactory for many Vegetables. Fof example, tomatoes. |squash, carrots, and even cabbage gain greatly in flavor if baked under dry heat in a casserole. In some cases, if especially fibrous, the vegetable should be treated to a scalding "blanch" as ,sppken of above; then, with a cup of water or less, cooked slowly in the Kitchen, while the vegetable retains its rdaximum flavor and food value.
 Vegetables rich in starch are often Improved by ading sugar instead of salt to the water, notably green peas and carrots. Baking soda should not De added when cooking fresh vegetables because, while it softens the water and hence hastens the cooking time, it spells the green appearance by fading the food, and most dangerous, baking soda partly if not altogether destroys the value of the vitamines in vegetables which are their chief value in the diet No matter what further sauce or treatment the vegetable is to have, sue. fGessful first principles" must be fol
 lowed. The amount of water, the tenn
 perature of water. the seasoning, all
 depend on the kind and texture of the
 vegetable itself. Remember, as a gen.
 eral rule, to use no more water than can be utilized or eaten, and that steam
 ing is by far preferable to open-pot
 boiling for any vegetable whether
 starchy or watery.
 I AI