The main thing to remember in cooking vegetables is to bring them to table as near their normal selves, and with as much of their natural goodness as possible. Cook them in a steamer if you can; they will retain more flavour.
Wash all green vegetables thoroughly and soak them in cold water with a teaspoon of salt for not more than half an hour. Then shred them finely. If you are going to “boil” them, go easy with the water. Put them into a saucepan with not more than a teacupful of boiling water and a pinch of salt. If you can, add a fleck of margarine or cooking fat on top, though in these rationed days you may not be able to spare it.
Replace the lid and boil steadily for 10–15 minutes, shaking the pan to keep the vegetables clear. Drain the vegetables well and serve them hot. Any stock that remains should be strained off and used for gravy or soup.
Use the outside leaves of green vegetables. Shred them and put them into soup, or add them shredded to a hot-pot.
For root vegetables—carrots, turnips, swedes, etc.—the most important thing to remember is to scrape or peel them lightly, taking as little off the edible parts as possible. Steam them if you can, boil them in a very little salted water if you can’t. They are good, too, baked round the joint or in a very little water in a dish in the oven. The only exception to this rule is beetroot (see p. 15).
ARTICHOKES (Jerusalem)
These are good winter vegetables, rarely used as much as they might be.
If the artichokes are dipped in very hot water prior to peeling, the skin scrapes off very easily, and with little waste. Place them immediately into cold water to which a little vinegar has been added, to save them from discolouring.
They can then be steamed, or boiled in a little salted water. For a more nourishing dish, cook them in sufficient boiling milk and water, in equal quantities, to just cover, add a pinch of salt and cook steadily for 15–20 minutes with the lid on the saucepan. Remove the vegetables and thicken the stock as described on page 115. Then replace the artichokes in the sauce, heat up and serve.
ARTICHOKE SOUP
1 pint vegetable boilings or water.
1/2 pint milk.
1 oz. cooking fat or margarine.
11/2 lb. artichokes.
A little chopped spring onion.
Seasoning of pepper and salt.
Peel and slice the artichokes as above and chop the onion. Toss the vegetables in the melted fat, lid on the pan, until the fat is absorbed and the flavours are well drawn. Pour on the water or vegetable liquor, add a pinch of salt, replace the lid and allow to simmer for half an hour, or until the vegetables are tender.
Pass them through a sieve, or beat to a puree with a wooden spoon. Blend 1
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dessertspoons of flour to a smooth cream with a little cold milk, then add some of the hot stock to it. Return all to the saucepan, stirring, bring to the boil, and simmer for at least 10 minutes. Add the remainder of the milk, reheat, season, and serve the hot soup with home-made rusks of wheatmeal bread (see p. 111, BREAD AND BAKING).
ARTICHOKES AND POTATOES IN CAPER SAUCE
1 lb. mixed cooked artichokes and potatoes.
1/2 pint white sauce to which about 2 teaspoons chopped capers or pickled nasturtium seeds and 1 teaspoon vinegar have been added.
Browned breadcrumbs.
A few shavings of cooking fat.
Dice the cooked artichokes and potatoes into neat cubes, placing them in a fireproof dish. Prepare the sauce, using part artichoke stock and part milk (see p. 115).
Pour the hot well-seasoned sauce over the vegetables, sprinkle with browned crumbs, dot here and there with cooking fat, and heat through in a moderately hot oven, or under a well-heated grill, until crisp-crusted and golden. Serve hot.
ARTICHOKE CHIPS
Another appetising way to cook this vegetable is to cut across the artichoke to make thinnish slices. These can be fried, like potato chips, in a little fat, then drained, salted, and seasoned with pepper, and perhaps a sprinkling of finely “powdered” cheese, if it can be spared. (The dry, next-to-the-rind pieces of hard cheese grate down excellently for this.)
ARTICHOKE CRISPS
Peel the artichokes and slice very thinly. Soak in wellsalted water for about half an hour. Dry on a wire cake tray in a very slow oven until quite crisp (about 3 hours). Store in air-tight tins. These crisps are as delicious as potato crisps and have a pleasant flavour.
ASPARAGUS
Unless home-grown, asparagus is a luxury vegetable.
If buying asparagus, see that the stalks are fresh, the heads crisp and the cut ends of the stalk clear-coloured. If they are to be kept fresh for a few hours, place the stems in a jug of cold water.
To Cook.—Scrape the stem lightly with a knife, then wash in cold water. Trim the stalks to one length, and tie into conveniently-sized bundles.
Cook gently in boiling salted water, or steam in a small amount of water, with the heads emerging, until the green part of the stem is quite tender. Drain on a fish slice, and lay the bundles on slices of toast. Snip the strings and dress the tips with as much melted fat—margarine for preference—as can be spared.
BROAD BEANS
As a pod vegetable, broad beans are valuable food. They contain vitamins A, C, and B 1, and good vegetable protein. Freshly picked, when young, they are really delicious.
Steamed, or boiled in a little salted water, they soon become tender, but be sure to leave on the outer skins of the seeds. Many people make the mistake of peeling away this covering skin, which deprives the dish of much flavour and food value.
Serve cooked broad beans with a little melted fat and a sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley. When a little older, they taste good in a parsley sauce, or with piquant flavouring.
Young broad beans are also good eaten raw in a salad.
BROAD BEANS (make two meals)
When young, broad beans can be used in two ways. The pods are very tender and delicious when sliced like runner beans, simmered in salted water and dressed in exactly the same way. They are also good served in parsley sauce.
Shell the beans in the usual way and cook for the first meal. Cut the pods into strips or diagonal slices, and cook them too. When cold, the sliced pods are good dressed in mayonnaise or French dressing in salad.
BROAD BEANS (cooked in their pods)
1 lb. very young beans.
1 oz. margarine or bacon dripping.
1 oz. flour.
1 dessertspoon of finely chopped parsley.
1 gill bean liquor.
