Evening star., 1936-07-15
Using Too Much Water
And Prolonged Heat
Destroys Food Values
Care Should Be Taken to See That Juices
Are Served as a Sauce and Not
Thrown Away.

Baking retains more of the food
value and flavor than other methods
of cooking, and is used especially for
potatoes, squash, cucumbers. tomatoes
and onions. These vegetables con-
tain enough water to form steam and
keep the vegetable moist. and the skin
holds in this steam. For these and
other vegetables, however, a baking
dish with a close-fitting lid serves
much the same purpose as the skin.
In this case the cover should be re-
moved at the end Of the cooking pc
riod to let the last of the steam evap-
crate and allow the vegetable to brown
a little. moderate oven is best for
baking most vegetables, either in the
skin or in baking dish.
go FAR as retaining food value is
concerned steaming is next best
to baking. and is a good way to
cook carrots, squash. beets, parsnips,
sweet potatoes, wax beans and many
others-but not green, leafy vege-
tables, as rule. Nor should any fresh
vegetable be cooked in pressure cook
er, because this method destroys vita
min values and causes undesirable
changes in color, flavor and texture.
Planning is one Of the best ways
to cook cabbage, kale and various
other greens. The vegetable is cut in
small pieces and cooked in a fat,
covered pan on top Of the stove, with
a little fat in the pan to prevent stick
ing. The water that cooks out of the
vegetables in this case evaporates, so
there is little or no liquid to be served.
If the panning is carefully done, it is
possible to add some milk without
having the cooked vegetable too moist
and the finished product will then
contain all the food value and favor
of the vegetable as well as Of the
milk.
" EEPING the color in vegetables
is one of the problems the cook
has to deal with, especially in green
vegetables and in certain red ones.
That Is why the Bureau of Home
Economics advises cooking green veg
etables with the lid of. The reason
for the change in the color is the acid
in the vegetable which is released by
the cooking and the lid holds the
acid vapor close to the vegetable.
With the lid off. some of the acids
evaporate and go of in the air, so
that cooking for a short time does
not cause much change in color.
Neutralizing the acid by putting soda
in the cooking water is another meth
cd of keeping the green color, but
soda destroys vitamin values in the
vegetable and is not recommended
by the Bureau of Home Economics.
The red color in beets and red
cabbage (but not tomatoes) is the
kind that turns blue in the presence
of an alkali-such as soda or cook
ing water that is hard. Acid keeps
the red color in these vegetables, so
vinegar is added to the cooking wa
ter to keep red cabbage and red onions
red. Beets contain enough acid TO
keep them red, but they may lose
color by 'bleeding'-that is. the dis
solving Of the coloring matter in the
cooking water. They should be cook
ed with the skins unbroken and with
at least little stubs of the tops left on.
Young beets are often cooked and
served with 2 or 8 inches Of the tops
left on.
WHITE vegetables stay white II
w cooked in soft or fairly soft
water. But in very hard water or
with too long cooking they turn yel-
low from alkali in the water. Cooks
have seen this happen with white
onions. caulifioWer or the white parts
of cabbage. Usually the yellow color
is not Objectionable, but If the water
is very hard a little cream Of tartar
or vinegar may be added to preserve
the whiteness.
THE really fast-color' vegetables
are the yellow ones. Carrots, sweet po-
tatoes and yellow squash keep their
color however cooked. So do such red
vegetables as tomatoes, red peppers
and pimientos, which are in fact col
ored by pigments belonging to the
same class as those found in carrots
called carotinoids."