Chapter X: Part 10

STEWED BEANS.--Soak a quart of white beans in water over night. In the morning drain, turn hot water over them an inch deep or more, cover, and place on the range where they will only just simmer, adding boiling water if needed. When nearly tender, add salt to taste, a tablespoonful of sugar if desired, and half a cup of good sweet cream. Cook slowly an hour or more longer, but let them be full of juice when taken up, never cooked down dry and mealy.

MASHED BEANS.--Soak over night in cold water, a quart of nice white beans. When ready to cook, drain, put into boiling water, and boil till perfectly tender, and the water nearly evaporated. Take up, rub through a colander to remove the skins, season with salt and a half cup of cream, put in a shallow pudding dish, smooth the top with a spoon, and brown in the oven.

STEWED LIMA BEANS.--Put the beans into boiling water, and cook till tender, but not till they fall to pieces. Fresh beans should cook an hour or more, and dry ones require from two to three hours unless previously soaked. They are much better to simmer slowly than to boil hard. They should be cooked nearly dry. Season with salt, and a cup of thin cream, to each pint of beans. Simmer for a few minutes after the cream is turned in. Should it happen that the beans become tender before the water is sufficiently evaporated, do not drain off the water, but add a little thicker cream, and thicken the whole with a little flour. A little flour stirred in with the cream, even when the water is nearly evaporated may be preferred by some.

SUCCOTASH.--Boil one part Lima beans and two parts sweet corn separately until both are nearly tender. Put them together, and simmer gently till done. Season with salt and sweet cream. Fresh corn and beans may be combined in the same proportions, but as the beans will be likely to require the most time for cooking, they should be put to boil first, and the corn added when the beans are about half done, unless it is exceptionally hard, in which case it must be added sooner.

PULP SUCCOTASH.--Score the kernels of some fresh green corn with a sharp knife blade, then with the back of a knife scrape out all the pulp, leaving the hulls on the cob. Boil the pulp in milk ten or fifteen minutes, or until well done. Cook some fresh shelled beans until tender, and rub them through a colander. Put together an equal quantity of the beans thus prepared and the cooked corn pulp, season with salt and sweet cream, boil together for a few minutes, and serve. Kornlet and dried Lima beans may be made into succotash in a similar manner.

_LENTILS._

DESCRIPTION.--Several varieties of the lentil are cultivated for food, but all are nearly alike in composition and nutritive value. They have long been esteemed as an article of diet. That they were in ordinary use among the Hebrews is shown by the frequent mention of them in Scripture. It is thought that the red pottage of Esau was made from the red variety of this legume.

The ancient Egyptians believed that a diet of lentils would tend to make their children good tempered, cheerful, and wise, and for this reason constituted it their principal food. A gravy made of lentils is largely used with their rice by the natives of India, at the present day.

The meal which lentils yield is of great richness, and generally contains more casein than either beans or peas. The skin, however, is tough and indigestible, and being much smaller than peas, when served without rejecting the skins, they appear to be almost wholly of tough, fibrous material; hence they are of little value except for soups, _purees_, toasts, and other such dishes as require the rejection of the skin. Lentils have a stronger flavor than any of the other legumes, and their taste is not so generally liked until one has become accustomed to it.

Lentils are prepared and cooked in the same manner as dried peas, though they require somewhat less time for cooking.

The large dark variety is better soaked for a time previous to cooking, or parboiled for a half hour and then put into new water, to make them less strong in flavor and less dark in color.

_RECIPES._

LENTIL PUREE.--Cook the lentils and rub through a colander as for peas _puree_. Season, and serve in the same manner.

LENTILS MASHED WITH BEANS.--Lentils may be cooked and prepared in the same manner as directed for mashed peas, but they are less strong in flavor if about one third to one half cooked white beans are used with them.

LENTIL GRAVY WITH RICE.--Rub a cupful of cooked lentils through a colander to remove the skins, add one cup of rich milk, part cream if it can be afforded, and salt if desired. Heat to boiling, and thicken with a teaspoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold milk. Serve hot on nicely steamed or boiled rice, or with well cooked macaroni.

TABLE TOPICS.

The men who kept alive the flame of learning and piety in the Middle
Ages were mainly vegetarians.--_Sir William Axon._

According to Xenophon, Cyrus, king of Persia, was brought up on a
diet of water, bread, and cresses, till his fifteenth year, when
honey and raisins were added; and the family names of Fabii and
Lentuli were derived from their customary diet.

Thomson, in his poem, "The Seasons," written one hundred and sixty
years ago, pays the following tribute to a diet composed of seeds
and vegetable
products:--#/

"With such a liberal hand has Nature flung
These seeds abroad, blown them about in winds-- ...
But who their virtues can declare? who pierce,
With vision pure, into those secret stores
Of health and life and joy--the food of man,
While yet he lived in innocence and told
A length of golden years, unfleshed in blood?
A stranger to the savage arts of life--
Death, rapine, carnage, surfeit, and disease--
The _lord_, and not the _tyrant_ of the world."

Most assuredly I do believe that body and mind are much influenced
by the kind of food habitually depended upon. I can never stray
among the village people of our windy capes without now and then
coming upon a human being who looks as if he had been split, salted,
and dried, like the salt fish which has built up his arid organism.
If the body is modified by the food which nourishes it, the mind and
character very certainly will be modified by it also. We know enough
of their close connection with each other to be sure of what without
any statistical observation to prove it.--_Oliver Wendell Holmes._

The thoughts and feelings which the food we partake of provokes, are
not remarked in common life, but they, nevertheless, have their
significance. A man who daily sees cows and calves slaughtered, or
who kills them himself, hogs "stuck," hens "plucked," etc., cannot
possibly retain any true feeling for the sufferings of his own
species....Doubtless, the majority of flesh-eaters do not reflect
upon the manner in which this food comes to them, but this
thoughtlessness, far from being a virtue, is the parent of many
vices....How very different are the thoughts and sentiments produced
by the non-flesh diet!--_Gustav Von Struve._

That the popular idea that beef is necessary for strength is not a
correct one, is well illustrated by Xenophon's description of the
outfit of a Spartan soldier, whose dietary consisted of the very
plainest and simplest vegetable fare. The complete accoutrements of
the Spartan soldier, in what we would call heavy marching order,
weighed seventy-five pounds, exclusive of the camp, mining, and
bridge-building tools and the rations of bread and dried fruit which
were issued in weekly installments, and increased the burden of the
infantry soldier to ninety, ninety-five, or even to a full hundred
pounds. This load was often carried at the rate of four miles an
hour for twelve hours _per diem_, day after day, and only when in
the burning deserts of southern Syria did the commander of the
Grecian auxiliaries think prudent to shorten the usual length of the
day's march.

DIET OF TRAINERS.--The following are a few of the restrictions and
rules laid down by experienced trainers:--

Little salt. No course vegetables. No pork or veal. Two meals a day;
breakfast at eight and dinner at two. No fat meat is allowed, no
butter or cheese, pies or pastry.

VEGETABLES

Vegetables used for culinary purposes comprise roots and tubers, as potatoes, turnips, etc.; shoots and stems, as asparagus and sea-kale; leaves and inflorescence, as spinach and cabbage; immature seeds, grains, and seed receptacles, as green peas, corn, and string-beans; and a few of the fruity products, as the tomato and the squash. Of these the tubers rank the highest in nutritive value.

Vegetables are by no means the most nutritious diet, as water enters largely into their composition; but food to supply perfectly the needs of the vital economy, must contain water and indigestible as well as nutritive elements. Thus they are dietetically of great value, since they furnish a large quantity of organic fluids. Vegetables are rich in mineral elements, and are also of service in giving bulk to food. An exclusive diet of vegetables, however, would give too great bulk, and at the same time fail to supply the proper amount of food elements. To furnish the requisite amount of nitrogenous material for one day, if potatoes alone were depended upon as food, a person would need to consume about nine pounds; of turnips, sixteen pounds; of parsnips, eighteen pounds; of cabbage, twenty-two pounds. Hence it is wise to use them in combination with other articles of diet--grains, whole-wheat bread, etc.--that supplement the qualities lacking in the vegetables.

TO SELECT VEGETABLES.--All roots and tubers should be plump, free from decay, bruises, and disease, and with fresh, unshriveled skins. They are good from the time of maturing until they begin to germinate. Sprouted vegetables are unfit for food. Potato sprouts contain a poison allied to belladonna. All vegetables beginning to decay are unfit for food.

Green vegetables to be wholesome should be freshly gathered, crisp, and juicy; those which have lain long in the market are very questionable food. In Paris, a law forbids a market-man to offer for sale any green vegetable kept more than one day. The use of stale vegetables is known to have been the cause of serious illness.

KEEPING VEGETABLES.--If necessary to keep green vegetables for any length of time, do not put them in water, as that will dissolve and destroy some of their juices; but lay them in a cool, dark place,--on a stone floor is best,--and do not remove their outer leaves until needed. They should be cooked the day they are gathered, if possible. The best way to freshen those with the stems when withered is to cut off a bit of the stem or stem-end, and set only the cut part in water. The vegetables will then absorb enough water to replace what has been lost by evaporation.

Peas and beans should not be shelled until wanted. If, however, they are not used as soon as shelled, cover them with pods and put in a cool place.

Winter vegetables can be best kept wholesome by storing in a cool, dry place of even temperature, and where neither warmth, moisture, nor light is present to induce decay or germination. They should be well sorted, the bruised or decayed, rejected, and the rest put into clean bins or boxes; and should be dry and clean when stored. Vegetables soon absorb bad flavors if left near anything odorous or decomposing, and are thus rendered unwholesome. They should be looked over often, and decayed ones removed. Vegetables, to be kept fit for food, should on no account be stored in a cellar with barrels of fermenting pickle brine, soft soap, heaps of decomposing rubbish, and other similar things frequently found in the dark, damp vegetable cellars of modern houses.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Most vegetables need thorough washing before cooking. Roots and tubers should be well cleaned before paring. A vegetable brush or a small whisk broom is especially serviceable for this purpose. If necessary to wash shelled beans and peas, it can best be accomplished by putting them in a colander and dipping in and out of large pans of water until clean. Spinach, lettuce, and other leaves may be cleaned the same way.

Vegetables admit of much variety in preparation for the table, and are commonly held to require the least culinary skill of any article of diet. This is a mistake. Though the usual processes employed to make vegetables palatable are simple, yet many cooks, from carelessness or lack of knowledge of their nature and composition, convert some of the most nutritious vegetables into dishes almost worthless as food or almost impossible of digestion. It requires no little care and skill to cook vegetables so that they will neither be underdone nor overdone, and so that they will retain their natural flavors.

A general rule, applicable to all vegetables to be boiled or stewed, is to cook them in as little water as may be without burning. The salts and nutrient juices are largely lost in the water; and if this needs to be drained off, much of the nutriment is apt to be wasted. Many cooks throw away the true richness, while they serve the "husks" only. Condiments and seasonings may cover insipid taste, but they cannot restore lost elements. Vegetables contain so much water in their composition that it is not necessary to add large quantities for cooking, as in the case of the grains and legumes, which have lost nearly all their moisture in the ripening process. Some vegetables are much better cooked without the addition of water.

Vegetables to be cooked by boiling should be put into boiling water; and since water loses its goodness by boiling, vegetables should be put in as soon as the boiling begins. The process of cooking should be continuous, and in general gentle heat is best. Remember that when water is boiling, the temperature is not increased by violent bubbling. Keep the cooking utensil closely covered. If water is added, let it also be boiling hot.

Vegetables not of uniform size should be so assorted that those of the same size may be cooked together, or large ones may be divided. Green vegetables retain their color best if cook rapidly. Soda is sometimes added to the water in which the vegetables are cooked, for the purpose of preserving their colors, but this practice is very harmful.

Vegetables should be cooked until they are perfectly tender but not overdone. Many cooks spoil their vegetables by cooking them too long, while quite as many more serve them in an underdone state to preserve their form. Either plan makes them less palatable, and likely to be indigestible.

Steaming or baking is preferable for most vegetables, because their finer flavors are more easily retained, and their food value suffers less diminution. Particularly is this true of tubers.

The time required for cooking depends much upon the age and freshness of the vegetables, as well as the method of cooking employed. Wilted vegetables require a longer time for cooking than fresh ones.

TIME REQUIRED FOR COOKING.--The following is the approximate length of time required for cooking some of the more commonly used vegetables:--

Potatoes, baked, 30 to 45 minutes.

Potatoes, steamed, 20 to 40 minutes.

Potatoes, boiled (in jackets), 20 to 25 minutes after the water is fairly boiling.

Potatoes, pared, about 20 minutes if of medium size; if very large, they will require from 25 to 45 minutes.

Green corn, young, from 15 to 20 minutes.

Peas, 25 to 30 minutes.

Asparagus, 15 to 20 minutes, young; 30 to 50 if old.

Tomatoes, 1 to 2 hours.

String beans and shelled beans, 45 to 60 minutes or longer.

Beets, boiled, 1 hour if young; old, 3 to 5 hours.

Beets, baked, 3 to 6 hours. Carrots, 1 to 2 hours.

Parsnips, 45 minutes, young; old, 1 to 2 hours.

Turnips, young, 45 minutes; old, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Winter squash, 1 hour. Cabbage, young, 1 hour; old, 2 to 3 hours.

Vegetable oysters, 1 to 2 hours.

Celery, 20 to 30 minutes.

Spinach, 20 to 60 minutes or more.

Cauliflower, 20 to 40 minutes.

Summer squash, 20 to 60 minutes.

If vegetables after being cooked cannot be served at once, dish them up as soon as done, and place the dishes in a _bain marie_ or in pans of hot water, where they will keep of even temperature, but not boil. Vegetables are never so good after standing, but they spoil less kept in this way than any other. The water in the pans should be of equal depth with the food in the dishes. Stewed vegetables and others prepared with a sauce, may, when cold, be reheated in a similar manner.

If salt is to be used to season, one third of a teaspoonful for each pint of cooked vegetables is an ample quantity.

THE IRISH POTATO.

DESCRIPTION.--The potato, a plant of the order _Solanaceae_, is supposed to be indigenous to South America. Probably it was introduced into Europe by the Spaniards early in the sixteenth century, but cultivated only as a curiosity. To Sir Walter Raleigh, however, is usually given the credit of its introduction as a food, he having imported it from Virginia to Ireland in 1586, where its valuable nutritive qualities were first appreciated. The potato has so long constituted the staple article of diet in Ireland, that it has come to be commonly, though incorrectly, known as the Irish potato.

The edible portion of the plant is the tuber, a thick, fleshy mass or enlarged portion of an underground stem, having upon its surface a number of little buds, or "eyes," each capable of independent growth. The tuber is made up of little cells filled with starch granules, surrounded and permeated with a watery fluid containing a small percentage of the albuminous or nitrogenous elements. In cooking, heat coagulates the albumen within and between the cells, while the starch granules absorb the watery portion, swell, and distend the cells. The cohesion between these is also destroyed, and they easily separate. When these changes are complete, the potato becomes a loose, farinaceous mass, or "mealy." When, however, the liquid portion is not wholly absorbed, and the cells are but imperfectly separated, the potato appears waxen, watery, or soggy. In a mealy state the potato is easily digested; but when waxy or water-soaked, it is exceedingly trying to the digestive powers.

It is obvious, then, that the great _desideratum_ in cooking the potato, is to promote the expansion and separation of its cells; in other words, to render it mealy. Young potatoes are always waxy, and consequently less wholesome than ripe ones. Potatoes which have been frozen and allowed to thaw quickly are much sweeter and more watery, because in thawing the starch changes into sugar. Frozen potatoes should be thawed in cold water and cooked at once, or kept frozen until ready for use.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Always pare potatoes very thin. Much of the most nutritious part of the tuber lies next its outer covering; so care should be taken to waste as little as possible. Potatoes cooked with the skins on are undoubtedly better than those pared. The chief mineral element contained in the potato is potash, an important constituent of the blood. Potash salts are freely soluble in water, and when the skin is removed, there is nothing to prevent these salts from escaping into the water in which the potato is boiled. If the potato is cooked in its "jacket," the skin, which does not in general burst open until the potato is nearly done, serves to keep this valuable element largely inside the potato while cooking. For the same reason it is better not to pare potatoes and put them in water to soak over night, as many cooks are in the habit of doing, to have them in readiness for cooking for breakfast.

Potatoes to be pared should be first washed and dried. It is a good plan to wash quite a quantity at one time, to be used as needed. After paring, drop at once into cold water and rinse them thoroughly. It is a careless habit to allow pared potatoes to fall among the skins, as in this way they become stained, and appear black and discolored after cooking. Scrubbing with a vegetable brush is by far the best means for cleaning potatoes to be cooked with the skins on.

When boiled in their skins, the waste, according to Letheby, is about three per cent, while without them it is not less than fourteen per cent, or more than two ounces in every pound. Potatoes boiled without skins should be cooked very gently.

Steaming, roasting, and baking are much better methods for cooking potatoes than boiling, for reasons already given. Very old potatoes are best stewed or mashed. When withered or wilted, they are freshened by standing in cold water for an hour or so before cooking. If diseased or badly sprouted, potatoes are wholly unfit for food.

_RECIPES._

BOILED POTATOES (IN JACKETS).--Choose potatoes of uniform size, free from specks. Wash and scrub them well with a coarse cloth or brush; dig out all eyes and rinse in cold water; cook in just enough water to prevent burning, till easily pierced with a fork, not till they have burst the skin and fallen in pieces. Drain thoroughly, take out the potatoes, and place them in the oven for five minutes, or place the kettle back on the range; remove the skins, and cover with a cloth to absorb all moisture, and let them steam three or four minutes. By either method they will be dry and mealy. In removing the skins, draw them off without cutting the potatoes.

BOILED POTATOES (WITHOUT SKINS).--Pare very thin, and wash clean. If not of an equal size, cut the larger potatoes in two. Cook in only sufficient water to prevent burning until a fork will easily pierce their center; drain thoroughly, place the kettle back on the range, cover with a cloth to absorb the moisture, and let them dry four or five minutes. Shake the kettle several times while they are drying, to make them floury.

STEAMED POTATOES.--Potatoes may be steamed either with or without the skin. Only mature potatoes can be steamed. Prepare as for boiling; place in a steamer, over boiling water, and steam until tender. If water is needed to replenish, let it always be boiling hot, and not allow the potatoes to stop steaming, or they will be watery. When done, uncover, remove the potatoes to the oven, and let them dry a few minutes. If peeled before steaming, shake the steamer occasionally, to make them floury.

ROASTED POTATOES.--Potatoes are much more rich and mealy roasted than cooked in any other way. Wash them very carefully, dry with a cloth, and wrap in tissue paper; bury in ashes not too hot, then cover with coals and roast until tender. The coals will need renewing occasionally, unless the roasting is done very close to the main fire.

BAKED POTATOES.--Choose large, smooth potatoes as near the same size as possible; wash and scrub with a brush until perfectly clean; dry with a cloth, and bake in a moderately hot oven until a fork will easily pierce them, or until they yield to pressure between the fingers. They are better turned about occasionally. In a slow oven the skins become hardened and thickened, and much of the most nutritious portion is wasted. When done, press each one till it bursts slightly, as that will allow the steam to escape, and prevent the potatoes from becoming soggy. They should be served at once, in a folded napkin placed in a hot dish. Cold baked potatoes may be warmed over by rebaking, if of good quality and not overdone the first time.

STUFFED POTATO.--Prepare and bake large potatoes of equal size, as directed in the preceding recipe. When done, cut them evenly three fourths of an inch from the end, and scrape out the inside, taking care not to break the skins. Season the potato with salt and a little thick sweet cream, being careful not to have it too moist, and beat thoroughly with a fork until light; refill the skins with the seasoned potato, fit the broken portions together, and reheat in the oven. When hot throughout, wrap the potatoes in squares of white tissue paper fringed at both ends. Twist the ends of the paper lightly together above the fringe, and stand the potatoes in a vegetable dish with the cut end uppermost. When served, the potatoes are held in the hand, one end of the paper untwisted, the top of the potato removed, and the contents eaten with a fork or spoon.

STUFFED POTATOES NO. 2.--Prepare large, smooth potatoes, bake until tender, and cut them in halves; scrape out the inside carefully, so as not to break the skins; mash smoothly, mix thoroughly with one third freshly prepared cottage cheese; season with nice sweet cream, and salt if desired. Fill the shells with the mixture, place cut side uppermost, in a pudding dish, and brown in the oven.

MASHED POTATOES.--Peel and slice potatoes enough to make two quarts; put into boiling water and cook until perfectly tender, but not much broken; drain, add salt to taste; turn into a hot earthen dish, and set in the oven for a few moments to dry. Break up the potatoes with a silver fork; add nearly a cup of cream, and beat hard at least five minutes till light and creamy; serve at once, or they will become heavy. If preferred, the potatoes may be rubbed through a hot sieve into a hot plate, or mashed with a potato beetle, but they are less light and flaky when mashed with a beetle. If cream for seasoning is not obtainable, a well-beaten egg makes a very good substitute. Use in the proportion of one egg to about five potatoes. For mashed potatoes, if all utensils and ingredients are first heated, the result will be much better.

NEW POTATOES.--When potatoes are young and freshly gathered, the skins are easiest removed by taking each one in a coarse cloth and rubbing it; a little coarse salt used in the cloth will be found serviceable for this purpose. If almost ripe, scrape with a blunt knife, wash very clean, and rinse in cold water. Boiling is the best method of cooking; new potatoes are not good steamed. Use only sufficient water to cover, and boil till tender. Drain thoroughly, cover closely with a clean cloth, and dry before serving.

CRACKED POTATOES.--Prepare and boil new potatoes as in the preceding recipe, and when ready to serve, crack each by pressing lightly upon it with the back of a spoon, lay them in a hot dish, salt to taste, and pour over them a cup of hot thin cream or rich milk.

CREAMED POTATOES.--Take rather small, new potatoes and wash well; rub off all the skins; cut in halves, or if quite large, quarter them. Put a pint of divided potatoes into a broad-bottomed, shallow saucepan; pour over them a cup of thin sweet cream, add salt if desired; heat just to the boiling point, then allow them to simmer gently till perfectly tender, tossing them occasionally in the stewpan to prevent their burning on the bottom. Serve hot.

SCALLOPED POTATOES.--Pare the potatoes and slice thin; put them in layers in an earthen pudding dish, dredge each layer lightly with flour, and salt, and pour over all enough good, rich milk to cover well. Cover, and bake rather slowly till tender, removing the cover just long enough before the potatoes are done, to brown nicely. If preferred, a little less milk may be used, and a cup of thin cream added when the potatoes are nearly done.

STEWED POTATO.--Pare the potatoes and slice rather thin. Put into boiling water, and cook until nearly tender, but not broken. Have some rich milk boiling in the inner dish of a double boiler, add to it a little salt, then stir in for each pint of milk a heaping teaspoonful of corn starch or rice flour, rubbed smooth in a little cold milk. Stir until it thickens. Drain the potatoes, turn them into the hot sauce, put the dish in the outer boiler, and cook for a half hour or longer. Cold boiled potatoes may be sliced and used in the same way. Cold baked potatoes sliced and stewed thus for an hour or more, make a particularly appetizing dish.

POTATOES STEWED WITH CELERY.--Pare and slice the potatoes, and put them into a stewpan with two or three tablespoonfuls of minced celery. Use only the white part of the celery and mince it finely. Cover the whole with milk sufficient to cook and prevent burning, and stew until tender. Season with cream and salt.

POTATO SNOWBALLS.--Cut largo potatoes into quarters; if small, leave them undivided; boil in just enough water to cover. When tender, drain and dry in the usual way. Take up two or three pieces at a time in a strong, clean cloth, and press them compactly together in the shape of balls. Serve in a folded napkin on a hot dish.

POTATO CAKES.--Make nicely seasoned, cold mashed potato into small round cakes about one half an inch thick. Put them on a baking tin, brush them over with sweet cream, and bake in a hot oven till golden brown.

POTATO CAKES WITH EGG.--Bake nice potatoes till perfectly tender; peel, mash thoroughly, and to each pint allow the yolks of two eggs which have been boiled until mealy, then rubbed perfectly smooth through a fine wire sieve, and one half cup of rich milk. Add salt to taste, mix all well together, form the potato into small cakes, place them on oiled tins, and brown ten or fifteen minutes in the oven.

POTATO PUFF.--Mix a pint of mashed potato (cold is just as good if free from lumps) with a half cup of cream and the well-beaten yolk of an egg; salt to taste and beat till smooth; lastly, stir in the white of the egg beaten to a stiff froth. Pile up in a rocky form on a bright tin dish, and bake in a quick oven until heated throughout and lightly browned. Serve at once.

BROWNED POTATOES.--Slice cold potatoes evenly, place them on an oiled tin, and brown in a very quick oven; or slice lengthwise and lay on a wire broiler or bread-toaster, and brown over hot coals. Sprinkle with a little salt if desired, and serve hot with sweet cream as dressing.

ORNAMENTAL POTATOES.--No vegetable can be made palatable in so many ways as the potato, and few can be arranged in such pretty shapes. Mashed potatoes made moist with cream, can easily be made into cones, pyramids, or mounds. Cold mashed potatoes may be cut into many fancy shapes with a cookie-cutter, wet with a little cold water, and browned in the oven.

Mounds of potatoes are very pretty smoothed and strewn with well-cooked vermicelli broken into small bits, and then lightly browned in the oven.

Scoring the top of a dish of mashed potato deeply in triangles, stars, and crosses, with the back of a carving knife, and then browning lightly, gives a very pretty effect.

BROILED POTATO.--Mashed potatoes, if packed firmly while warm into a sheet-iron bread tin which has been dipped in cold water, may be cut into slices when cold, brushed with cream, and browned on a broiler over hot coals.

WARMED-OVER POTATOES.--Cut cold boiled potatoes into very thin slices; heat a little cream to boiling in a saucepan; add the potato, season lightly with salt if desired, and cook until the cream is absorbed, stirring occasionally so as to prevent scorching or breaking the slices.

VEGETABLE HASH.--With one quart finely sliced potato, chop one carrot, one red beet, one white turnip, all boiled, also one or two stalks of celery. Put all together in a stewpan, cover closely, and set in the oven; when hot, pour over them a cup of boiling cream, stir well together, and serve hot.

THE SWEET POTATO.

DESCRIPTION.--The sweet potato is a native of the Malayan Archipelago, where it formerly grew wild; thence it was taken to Spain, and from Spain to England and other parts of the globe. It was largely used in Europe as a delicacy on the tables of the rich before the introduction of the common potato, which has now taken its place and likewise its name. The sweet potato is the article referred as potato by Shakespeare and other English writers, previous to the middle of the seventeenth century.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--What has been said in reference to the common potato, is generally applicable to the sweet potato; it may be prepared and cooked in nearly all the ways of the Irish potato.

In selecting sweet potatoes, choose firm, plump roots, free from any sprouts; if sprouted they will have a poor flavor, and are likely to be watery.

The sweet potato is best cooked with the skin on; but all discolored portions and the dry portion at each end, together with all branchlets, should be carefully removed, and the potato well washed, and if to be baked or roasted, well dried with a cloth before placing in the oven.

The average time required for boiling is about fifty minutes; baking, one hour; steaming, about one hour; roasting, one and one half hours.

_RECIPES._

BAKED SWEET POTATOES.--Select those of uniform size, wash clean, cutting out any imperfect spots, wipe dry, put into moderately hot oven, and bake about one hour, or until the largest will yield to gentle pressure between the fingers. Serve at once without peeling. Small potatoes are best steamed, since if baked, the skins will take up nearly the whole potato.

BAKED SWEET POTATO NO. 2.--Select potatoes of medium size, wash and trim but do not pare, and put on the upper grate of the oven. For a peek of potatoes, put in the lower part of the oven in a large shallow pan a half pint of hot water. The water may be turned directly upon the oven bottom if preferred. Bake slowly, turning once when half done. Serve in their skins, or peel, slice, and return to the oven until nicely browned.

BOILED SWEET POTATOES.--Choose potatoes of equal size; do not pare, but after cleaning them well and removing any imperfect spots, put into cold water and boll until they can be easily pierced with a fork; drain thoroughly, and lay them on the top grate in the oven to dry for five or ten minutes. Peel as soon as dry, and send at once to the table, in a hot dish covered with a folded napkin. Sweet potatoes are much better baked than boiled.

STEAMED SWEET POTATOES.--Wash the potatoes well, cut out any discolored portions, and steam over a kettle of boiling water until they can be easily pierced with a fork, not allowing the water in the pot to cease boiling for a moment. Steam only sufficient to cook them, else they will be watery.

BROWNED SWEET POTATOES.--Slice cold, cooked sweet potatoes evenly, place on slightly oiled tins in a hot oven, and brown.

MASHED SWEET POTATOES.--Either bake or steam nice sweet potatoes, and when tender, peel, mash them well, and season with cream and salt to taste. They may be served at once, or made into patties and browned in the oven.

POTATO HASH.--Take equal parts of cold Irish and sweet potatoes; chop fine and mix thoroughly; season with salt if desired, and add sufficient thin cream to moisten well. Turn into a stewpan, and heat gently until boiling, tossing continually, that all parts become heated alike, and serve at once.

ROASTED SWEET POTATOES.--Wash clean and wipe dry, potatoes of uniform size, wrap with tissue paper, cover with hot ashes, and then with coals from a hardwood fire; unless near the main fire, the coals will need renewing a few times. This will require a longer time than by any other method, but they are much nicer. The slow, continuous heat promotes their mealiness. When tender, brush the ashes off with a broom, and wipe with a dry cloth. Send to the table in their jackets.

TO DRY SWEET POTATOES.--Carefully clean and drop them into boiling water. Let them remain until the skins can be easily slipped off; then cut into slices and spread on racks to dry. To prepare for cooking, soak over night, and boil the next day.

TURNIPS.

DESCRIPTION.--The turnip belongs to the order _Cruciferæ_, signifying "cross flowers," so called because their four petals are arranged in the form of a cross. It is a native of Europe and the temperate portions of Asia, growing wild in borders of fields and waste places. The ancient Roman gastronomists considered the turnip, when prepared in the following manner, a dish fit for epicures: "After boiling, extract the water from them, and season with cummin, rue or benzoin, pounded in a mortar; afterward add honey, vinegar, gravy, and boiled grapes. Allow the whole to simmer, and serve."

Under cultivation, the turnip forms an agreeable culinary esculent; but on account of the large proportion of water entering into its composition, its nutritive value is exceedingly low. The Swedish, or Rutabaga, variety is rather more nutritive than the white, but its stronger flavor renders it less palatable. Unlike the potato, the turnip contains no starch, but instead, a gelatinous substance called pectose, which during the boiling process is changed into a vegetable jelly called pectine. The white lining just inside the skin is usually bitter; hence the tuber should be peeled sufficiently deep to remove it. When well cooked, turnips are quite easily digested.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Turnips are good for culinary purposes only from the time of their ripening till they begin to sprout. The process of germination changes their proximate elements, and renders them less fit for food. Select turnips which are plump and free from disease. A turnip that is wilted, or that appears spongy, pithy, or cork-like when cut, is not fit for food.

Prepare turnips for cooking by thoroughly washing and scraping, if young and tender, or by paring if more mature. If small, they may be cooked whole; if large, they should be cut across the grain into slices a half inch in thickness. If cooked whole, care must be taken to select those of uniform size; and if sliced, the slices must be of equal thickness.

_RECIPES._

BOILED TURNIPS.--Turnips, like other vegetables, should be boiled in as small an amount of water as possible. Great care must be taken, however, that the kettle does not get dry, as scorched turnip is spoiled. An excellent precaution, in order to keep them from scorching in case the water becomes low, is to place an inverted saucer or sauce-dish in the bottom of the kettle before putting in the turnips. Put into boiling water, cook rapidly until sufficiently tender to pierce easily with a fork; too much cooking discolors and renders them strong in flavor. Boiled turnips should be drained very thoroughly, and all water pressed out before preparing for the table. The age, size, and variety of the turnip will greatly vary the time necessary for its cooking. The safest rule is to allow plenty of time, and test with a fork. Young turnips will cook in about forty-five minutes; old turnips, sliced, require from one and a quarter to two hours. If whole or cut in halves, they require a proportionate length of time. White turnips require much, less cooking than yellow ones.

BAKED TURNIPS.--Select turnips of uniform size; wash and wipe, but do not pare; place on the top grate of a moderately hot oven; bake two or more hours or until perfectly tender; peel and serve at once, either mashed or with cream sauce. Turnips are much sweeter baked than when cooked in any other way.

CREAMED TURNIPS.--Pare, but do not cut, young sweet white turnips; boil till tender in a small quantity of water; drain and dry well. Cook a tablespoonful of flour in a pint of rich milk or part cream; arrange the turnips in a baking dish, pour the sauce over them, add salt if desired, sprinkle the top with grated bread crumbs, and brown in a quick oven.

CHOPPED TURNIPS.--Chop well-boiled white turnips very fine, add salt to taste and sufficient lemon juice to moisten. Turn into a saucepan and heat till hot, gently lifting and stirring constantly. Cold boiled turnip may be used advantageously in this way.

MASHED TURNIPS.--Wash the turnips, pare, and drop into boiling water. Cook until perfectly tender; turn into a colander and press out the water with a plate or large spoon; mash until free from lumps, season with a little sweet cream, and salt if desired. If the turnips are especially watery, one or two hot, mealy potatoes mashed with them will be an improvement.

SCALLOPED TURNIPS.--Prepare and boil whole white turnips until nearly tender; cut into thin slices, lay in an earthen pudding dish, pour over them a white sauce sufficient to cover, made by cooking a tablespoonful of flour in a pint of milk, part cream if preferred, until thickened. Season with salt, sprinkle the top lightly with grated bread crumbs, and bake in a quick oven until a rich brown. Place the baking dish on a clean plate, and serve. Rich milk or cream may be used instead of white sauce, if preferred.

STEAMED TURNIPS.--Select turnips of uniform size, wash, pare, and steam rapidly till they can be easily pierced with a fork; mash, or serve with lemon juice or cream sauce, as desired.

STEWED TURNIPS.--Prepare and slice some young, fresh white turnips, boil or steam about twenty minutes, drain thoroughly, turn into a saucepan with a cup of new milk for each quart of turnips; simmer gently until tender, season with salt if desired, and serve.

TURNIPS IN JUICE.--Wash young white turnips, peel, and boil whole in sufficient water to keep them from burning. Cover closely and cook gently until tender, by which time the water in the kettle should be reduced to the consistency of syrup. Serve at once.

TURNIPS WITH CREAM SAUCE.--Wash and pare the turnips, cut them into half-inch dice, and cook in boiling water until tender. Meanwhile prepare a cream sauce as directed for Scalloped Turnips, using thin cream in place of milk. Drain the turnips, pour the cream sauce over them, let them boil up once, and serve.

PARSNIPS.

DESCRIPTION.--The common garden parsnip is derived by cultivation from the wild parsnip, indigenous to many parts of Europe and the north of Asia, and cultivated since Roman times. It is not only used for culinary purposes, but a wine is made from it. In the north of Ireland a table beer is brewed from its fermented product and hops.

The percentage of nutritive elements contained in the parsnip is very small; so small, indeed, that one pound of parsnips affords hardly one fifth of an ounce of nitrogenous or muscle-forming material. The time required for its digestion, varies from two and one half to three and one half hours.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Wash and trim off any rough portions: scrape well with a knife to remove the skins, and drop at once into cold water to prevent discoloration. If the parsnips are smooth-skinned, fresh, and too small to need dividing, they need only be washed thoroughly before cooking, as the skins can be easily removed by rubbing with a clean towel. Reject those that are wilted, pithy, coarse, or stringy. Large parsnips should be divided, for if cooked whole, the outside is likely to become soft before the center is tender. They may be either split lengthwise or sliced. Parsnips may be boiled, baked, or steamed; but like all other vegetables containing a large percentage of water, are preferable steamed or baked.

The time required for cooking young parsnips, is about forty-five minutes; when old, they require from one to two hours.

_RECIPES._

BAKED PARSNIPS.--Wash, thoroughly, but do not scrape the roots; bake the same as potatoes. When tender, remove the skins, slice, and serve with cream or an egg sauce prepared as directed for Parsnips with Egg Sauce. They are also very nice mashed and seasoned with cream. Baked and steamed parsnips are far sweeter than boiled ones.

BAKED PARSNIPS NO. 2.--Wash, scrape, and divide; drop into boiling water, a little more than sufficient to cook them, and boil gently till thoroughly tender. There should remain about one half pint of the liquor when the parsnips are done. Arrange on an earthen plate or shallow pudding dish, not more than one layer deep; cover with the juice, and bake, basting frequently until the juice is all absorbed, and the parsnips delicately browned. Serve at once.

BOILED PARSNIPS.--Clean, scrape, drop into a small quantity of boiling water, and cook until they can be easily pierced, with a fork. Drain thoroughly, cut the parsnips in slices, and mash or serve with a white sauce, to which a little lemon juice may be added if desired.

BROWNED PARSNIPS.--Slice cold parsnips into rather thick pieces, and brown as directed for browned potatoes.

CREAMED PARSNIPS.--Bake or steam the parsnips until tender; slice, add salt if desired, and a cup of thin sweet cream. Let them stew slowly until nearly dry, or if preferred, just boil up once and serve.

MASHED PARSNIPS.--Wash and scrape, dropping at once into cold water to prevent discoloration. Slice thinly and steam, or bake whole until perfectly tender. When done, mash until free from lumps, removing all hard or stringy portions; add salt to taste and a few spoonfuls of thick sweet cream, and serve.

PARSNIPS WITH CREAM SAUCE.--Bake as previously directed. When tender, slice, cut into cubes, and pour over them a cream sauce prepared as for Turnips with Cream Sauce. Boil up together once, and serve.

PARSNIPS WITH EGG SAUCE.--Scrape, wash, and slice thinly, enough parsnips to make three pints; steam, bake, or boil them until very tender. If boiled, turn into a colander and drain well. Have ready an egg sauce, for preparing which heat a pint of rich milk or very thin cream to boiling, stir into it a level tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth with a little milk. Let this boil a few minutes, stirring constantly until the flour is well cooked and the sauce thickened; then add slowly the well-beaten yolk of one egg, stirring rapidly so that it shall be well mingled with the whole; add salt to taste; let it boil up once, pour over the parsnips, and serve. The sauce should be of the consistency of thick cream.

PARSNIPS WITH POTATOES.--Wash, scrape, and slice enough parsnips to make two and a half quarts. Pare and slice enough potatoes to make one pint. Cook together in a small quantity of water. When tender, mash smoothly, add salt, the yolks of two eggs well beaten, and a cup of rich milk. Beat well together, put into an earthen or china dish, and brown lightly in the oven.

STEWED PARSNIPS.--Prepare and boil for a half hour; drain, cover with rich milk, add salt if desired, and stew gently till tender.

STEWED PARSNIPS WITH CELERY.--Prepare and steam or boil some nice ones until about half done. If boiled, drain thoroughly; add salt if desired, and a tablespoonful of minced celery. Turn rich boiling milk over them, cover, and stew fifteen or twenty minutes, or till perfectly tender.

CARROTS.

DESCRIPTION.--The garden carrot is a cultivated variety of a plant belonging to the _Umbettiferæ_, and grows wild in many portions of Europe. The root has long been used for food. By the ancient Greeks and Romans it was much esteemed as a salad. The carrot is said to have been introduced into England by Flemish refugees during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. Its feathery leaves were used by the ladies as an adornment for their headdresses, in place of plumes. Carrots contain sugar enough for making a syrup from them; they also yield by fermentation and distillation a spirituous liquor. In Germany they are sometimes cut into small pieces, and roasted as a substitute for coffee.

Starch does not enter into the composition of carrots, but a small portion of pectose is found instead. Carrots contain more water than parsnips, and both much cellulose and little nutritive material. Carrots when well cooked form a wholesome food, but one not adapted to weak stomachs, as they are rather hard to digest and tend to flatulence.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--The suggestions given for the preparation of parsnips are also applicable to carrots; and they may be boiled, steamed, or browned in the same manner. From one to two hours time will be required, according to age, size, variety, and method of cooking.

_RECIPES._

BOILED CARROTS.--Clean, scrape, drop into boiling water, and cook till tender; drain thoroughly, slice, and serve with a cream sauce. Varieties with strong flavor are better parboiled for fifteen or twenty minutes, and put into fresh boiling water to finish.

CARROTS WITH EGG SAUCE.--Wash and scrape well; slice and throw into boiling water, or else steam. When tender, drain thoroughly, and pour over them a sauce prepared the same as for parsnips (page 244), with the addition of a tablespoonful of sugar. Let them boil up once, and serve.

STEWED CARROTS.--Prepare young and tender carrots, drop into boiling water, and cook for fifteen or twenty minutes. Drain, slice, and put into a stewpan with rich milk or cream nearly to cover; simmer gently until tender; season with salt and a little chopped parsley.

BEETS.

DESCRIPTION.--The beet is a native of the coasts of the Mediterranean, and is said to owe its botanical name, _beta_, to a fancied resemblance to the Greek letter B. Two varieties are in common use as food, the white and the red beet; while a sub-variety, the sugar beet, is largely cultivated in France, in connection with the beet-sugar industry in that country. The same industry has recently been introduced into this country. It is grown extensively in Germany and Russia, for the same pose, and is also used there in the manufacture of alcohol.

The beet root is characterized by its unusual amount of sugar. It is considered more nutritive than any other esculent tuber except the potato, but the time required for its digestion exceeds that of most vegetables, being three and three fourths hours.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Beets, like other tubers, should be fresh, unshriveled, and healthy. Wash carefully, scrubbing with a soft brush to remove all particles of dirt; but avoid scraping, cutting, or breaking, lest the sweet juices escape. In handling for storage, be careful not to bruise or break the skins; and in purchasing from the market, select only such as are perfect.

Beets may be boiled, baked, or steamed. In boiling, if the skin is cut or broken, the juice will escape in the water, and the flavor will be injured; for this reason, beets should not be punctured with a fork to find if done. When tender, the thickest part will yield readily to pressure of the fingers. Beets should be boiled in just as little water as possible, and they will be much better if it has all evaporated by the time they are cooked.

Young beets will boil in one hour, while old beets require from three to five hours; if tough, wilted, and stringy, they cannot be boiled tender. Baked beets require from three to six hours.

_RECIPES._

BAKED BEETS.--Beets are far better baked than boiled, though it takes a longer time to cook properly. French cooks bake them slowly six hours in a covered dish, the bottom of which is lined with well-moistened rye straw; however, they may be baked on the oven grate, like potatoes. Wipe dry after washing, and bake slowly. They are very nice served with a sauce made of equal quantities of lemon juice and whipped cream, with a little salt.

BAKED BEETS NO. 2.--Wash young and tender beets, and place in an earthen baking dish with a very little water; as it evaporates, add more, which must be of boiling temperature. Set into a moderate oven, and according to size of the beets, bake slowly from two to three hours. When tender, remove the skins and dress with lemon juice or cream sauce.

BEETS AND POTATOES.--Boil newly matured potatoes and young beets separately till tender; then peel and slice. Put thorn in alternate layers in a vegetable dish, with salt to taste, and enough sweet cream nearly to cover. Brown in the oven, and serve at once.

BEET HASH.--Chop quite finely an equal quantity of cold boiled or baked beets and boiled or baked potatoes. Put into a shallow saucepan, add salt and sufficient hot cream to moisten. Toss frequently, and cook until well heated throughout. Serve hot.

BEET GREENS.--Take young, tender beets, clean thoroughly without separating the tops and roots. Examine the leaves carefully, and pick off inferior ones. Put into boiling water, and cook for nearly an hour. Drain, press out all water, and chop quite fine. Serve with a dressing of lemon juice or cream, as preferred.