The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) Part 40

Bake about half or three-quarters of an hour.

STEWED CORN.

Take a dozen ears of green sweet corn, very tender and juicy; cut off the kernels, cutting with a large sharp knife from the top of the cob down; then sc.r.a.pe the cob. Put the corn in a saucepan over the fire with just enough water to make it cook without burning; boil about twenty minutes, then add a teacupful of milk or cream, a tablespoonful of cold b.u.t.ter, and season with pepper and salt. Boil ten minutes longer and dish up hot in a vegetable dish. The corn would be much sweeter if the sc.r.a.ped cobs were boiled first in the water that the corn is cooked in.

Many like corn cooked in this manner, putting half corn and half tomatoes; either way is very good.

FRIED CORN.

Cut the corn off the cob, taking care not to bring off any of the husk with it and to have the grains as separate as possible. Fry in a little b.u.t.ter--just enough to keep it from sticking to the pan; stir very often. When nicely browned, add salt and pepper and a little rich cream. Do not set it near the stove after the cream is added, as it will be apt to turn. This makes a nice dinner or breakfast dish.

ROASTED GREEN CORN.

Strip off all the husk from green corn and roast it on a gridiron over a bright fire of coals, turning it as one side is done. Or, if a wood fire is used, make a place clean in front of the fire, lay the corn down, turn it when one side is done; serve with salt and b.u.t.ter.

SUCCOTASH.

Take a pint of fresh sh.e.l.led Lima beans, or any large fresh beans, put them in a pot with cold water, rather more than will cover them.

Sc.r.a.pe the kernels from twelve ears of young sweet corn; put the cobs in with the beans, boiling from half to three-quarters of an hour. Now take out the cobs and put in the sc.r.a.ped corn; boil again fifteen minutes, then season with salt and pepper to taste, a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of an egg and half a cup of cream. Serve hot.

FRIED EGG-PLANT.

Take fresh, purple egg-plants of a middling size; cut them in slices a quarter of an inch thick, and soak them for half an hour in cold water, with a teaspoonful of salt in it. Have ready some cracker or bread crumbs and one beaten egg; drain off the water from the slices, lay them on a napkin, dip them in the crumbs and then in the egg, put another coat of crumbs on them and fry them in b.u.t.ter to a light brown. The frying pan must be hot before the slices are put in--they will fry in ten minutes.

You may pare them before you put them into the frying pan, or you may pull off the skins when you take them up. You must not remove them from the water until you are ready to cook them, as the air will turn them black.

STUFFED EGG-PLANT.

Cut the egg-plant in two; sc.r.a.pe out all the inside and put it in a saucepan with a little minced ham; cover with water and boil until soft; drain off the water; add two tablespoonfuls of grated crumbs, a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, half a minced onion, salt and pepper; stuff each half of the hull with the mixture; add a small lump of b.u.t.ter to each and bake fifteen minutes. Minced veal or chicken in the place of ham, is equally as good and many prefer it.

STRING BEANS.

Break off the end that grew to the vine, drawing off at the same time the string upon the edge; repeat the same process from the other end; cut them with a sharp knife into pieces half an inch long, and boil them in _just enough_ water to _cover_ them. They usually require one hour's boiling; but this depends upon their age and freshness. After they have boiled until tender and the water _boiled nearly out_, add pepper and salt, a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and a half a cup of cream; if you have not the cream add more b.u.t.ter.

Many prefer to drain them before adding the seasoning; in that case they lose the real goodness of the vegetable.

LIMA AND KIDNEY BEANS.

These beans should be put into boiling water, a little more than enough to cover them, and boiled till tender--from half an hour to two hours; serve with b.u.t.ter and salt upon them.

These beans are in season from the last of July to the last of September. There are several other varieties of beans used as summer vegetables, which are cooked as above.

For Baked Beans, see PORK AND BEANS.

CELERY.

This is stewed the same as green corn, by boiling, adding cream, b.u.t.ter, salt and pepper.

STEWED SALSIFY OR OYSTER-PLANT.

Wash the roots and sc.r.a.pe off their skins, throwing them, as you do so, into cold water, for exposure to the air causes them to immediately turn dark. Then cut crosswise into little thin slices; throw into fresh water, enough to cover; add a little salt and stew in a covered vessel until tender, or about one hour. Pour off a little of the water, add a small lump of b.u.t.ter, a little pepper, and a gill of sweet cream and a teaspoonful of flour stirred to a paste. Boil up and serve hot.

Salsify may be simply boiled and melted b.u.t.ter turned over them.

FRIED SALSIFY.

Stew the salsify as usual till very tender; then with the back of a spoon or a potato jammer mash it very fine. Beat up an egg, add a teacupful of milk, a little flour, b.u.t.ter and seasoning of pepper and salt. Make into little cakes, and fry a light brown in boiling lard.

BEETS BOILED.

Select small-sized, smooth roots. They should be carefully washed, but not cut before boiling, as the juice will escape and the sweetness of the vegetable be impaired, leaving it white and hard. Put them into boiling water, and boil them until tender, which requires often from one to two hours. Do not probe them, but press them with the finger to ascertain if they are sufficiently done. When satisfied of this, take them up, and put them into a pan of cold water, and slip off the outside. Cut them into thin slices, and while hot season with b.u.t.ter, salt, a little pepper and very sharp vinegar.

BAKED BEETS.

Beets retain their sugary, delicate flavor to perfection if they are baked instead of boiled. Turn them frequently while in the oven, using a knife, as the fork allows the juice to run out. When done remove the skin, and serve with b.u.t.ter, salt and pepper on the slices.

STEWED BEETS.

Boil them first and then sc.r.a.pe and slice them. Put them into a stewpan with a piece of b.u.t.ter rolled in flour, some boiled onion and parsley chopped fine, and a little vinegar, salt and pepper. Set the pan on the fire, and let the beets stew for a quarter of an hour.

OKRA.

This grows in the shape of pods, and is of a gelatinous character, much used for soup, and is also pickled; it may be boiled as follows: Put the young and tender pods of long white okra in salted boiling water in granite, porcelain or a tin-lined saucepan--as contact with Iron will discolor it; boil fifteen minutes; remove the stems, and serve with b.u.t.ter, pepper, salt and vinegar if preferred.

ASPARAGUS.

Sc.r.a.pe the stems of the asparagus lightly, but very clean; throw them into cold water and when they are all sc.r.a.ped and very clean, tie them in bunches of equal size; cut the large ends evenly, that the stems may be all of the same length, and put the asparagus into plenty of boiling water, well salted. While it is boiling, cut several slices of bread half an inch thick, pare off the crust and toast it a delicate brown on both sides. When the stalks of the asparagus are tender (it will usually cook in twenty to forty minutes) lift it out directly, or it will lose both its color and flavor and will also be liable to break; dip the toast quickly into the liquor in which it was boiled and dish the vegetable upon it, the heads all lying one way. Pour over white sauce, or melted b.u.t.ter.

ASPARAGUS WITH EGGS.

Boil a bunch of asparagus twenty minutes; cut off the tender tops and lay them in a deep-pie plate, b.u.t.tering, salting and peppering well.

Beat up four eggs, the yolks and whites separately to a stiff froth; add two tablespoonfuls of milk or cream, a tablespoonful of warm b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt to taste. Pour evenly over the asparagus mixture. Bake eight minutes or until the eggs are set. Very good.