The
Vegetables
Introduction
(Click on the Links Below)
In General: How
to Prepare & Cook Fresh Vegetables
Cardinal Rules for Planning, Seasoning
& Serving the Perfect Vegetable Meal
Methods for Cooking Vegetables
These Combinations
Complement Each Other
From Artichoke
to Zucchini
A Vegetable-by-Vegetable Guide
to Choosing, Preparing, Cooking, & Seasoning
30 Vegetables
(Click on the links below for each vegetable)
THE VEGETABLES
Introduction
Now that we have at least a passing acquaintance with herbs and spices as a
whole--How does Beulah apply seasoning know-how to in-season vegetables? Or
perhaps more to the point--Why bother, when freshly picked and properly prepared
vegetables can be so good in and by themselves? The simplest answer is, "Why not
make something that is good better?" But there are at least two other valid
reasons. One is for the sake of creative adventure. Since eating is essential to
life, the cook who can transform ordinary ingredients into extraordinary fare
receives the very kind of encouragement the creative impulse seems to need. It
comes as appreciation . . . that recognition of worth without which the human
soul seems to wither . . . but by which it is renewed . . . and every time a
meal, lovingly prepared, is being obviously enjoyed by someone else.
Another reason for widening our vegetable horizons has to do with the
appetite's tendency to become bored with what is set before it . . . day after
day after day. Imaginative and versatile seasoning makes it possible to serve
the same vegetables often, even daily throughout the time they are in season,
and without ever evoking a "squash again?" response. Furthermore and as everyone
knows, the fragrant aroma of herbs and spices rising from a simmering pot can
put taste buds in a positively ecstatic state of expectation. Didn't Esau sell
his birthright because he was convinced he would die unless he got a bowl of
Jacob's "savory pottage?"--a concoction believed to have consisted of
heartily-seasoned red lentils and Pot Herbs.
As for choosing (whenever possible) to buy fresh, in-season vegetables
instead of canned or frozen ones, the reason is for both nutrition and economy:
The peak of a vegetable's season--when it has come quickly and fully to
maturity-is also when its flavor and nutritional value are optimal. And
additionally, because of supply and demand, it is a help in stretching food
dollars the furthest.
A final consideration is how to prepare and cook fresh vegetables so as to
minimize the loss of flavor, color and life-force nourishment. In Beulah's files
I came across a faded, dittoed copy of her rules for just this. Dated March 11,
1940 it was sent on request to her KMBC [Kansas City area] radio listeners.
Word-for-word it is reprinted on the next page. "Amazing!" we may think.
"Enlightenment on vegetables . . . way back then?" Until we recall that was a
time when "packaged food" meant a loaf of store-bought bread, and "frozen food"
was ice cream. In Beulah's career, 1940 followed a time she had served as Food
Conservation Supervisor for the state of Missouri. It was also right after the
years she had written the syndicated column, "Making the Most of Your Garden."
No wonder in her files of thousands upon thousands of recipes the most bulging
are those marked for vegetables--a distillation of which follows.
HOW TO PREPARE AND COOK FRESH VEGETABLES
1. Wash vegetables immediately before cooking. Don't let them soak.
2. Don't use too much water in cooking vegetables, if you want to preserve
those important minerals and vitamins. Use only enough water to prevent burning.
3. For most vegetables, start in boiling water. Old Irish potatoes, and
sweet potatoes are the exceptions.
4. A good time to salt vegetables is when they are half cooked.
5. Some vegetables are better steamed . . . asparagus tips . . . and
broccoli, too. The stalks require longer cooking than the heads. If the stalks
of broccoli are large, split them. Brussels sprouts may be split, too, at the
stem end, to hasten cooking.
6. Cabbage is usually shredded to hasten cooking . . . cauliflower is broken
into flowerets . . . onions quartered.
7. Whatever method you use in cooking vegetables . . . DO NOT ADD
SODA! It kills the vitamin content and makes the vegetables mushy.
8. If you must drain off some of the liquid from your cooked
vegetables, save it for stock and soups. (Vitamins B, C, and E are soluble in
water, so to get the most good out of them, you must consume the liquor, too.)
9. For spinach . . . first wash carefully. Discard wilted leaves and roots.
Then the spinach is cooked in its own juices, covered. It should cook in 10 to
12 minutes.
10. For that coveted reputation as a good cook, season your vegetables in
interesting fashion. Experiment with the herbs . . . grated horseradish . . . or
onion . . . spices. . . . You'll find delicious combinations yourself if you
will.
METHODS FOR COOKING VEGETABLES
According to Beulah, the greatest crime against a vegetable is to over cook
it. And the word for the perfectly cooked non-starch vegetable, whatever the
cooking method, is al dente--crisp to the bite!
STEAMING: A steamer is one of the least nutrient-destroying methods for
cooking vegetables. If you don't have one, or a trivet made especially for
steaming vegetables, a colander placed inside a wide, deep pan with a
tight-fitting lid will do. In cooking several vegetables in the same pot, add
those that take the longest first, faster cooking ones last. Or cut
longer-cooking ones in smaller pieces. Put water in the bottom of the pan below
the level of the vegetable-containing part of the utensil. Bring to a rapid
boil. Add vegetables, cover, and cook no longer than necessary.
MINIMUM WATER METHOD: This takes careful watching but is fast, efficient,
and nutrient preserving. The payoff is perfect "al dente" vegetables every time.
Use a heavy pan with a tight-fitting lid. Pre-heat the pan by bringing a small
amount of water to the boil. An Herb Bouquet or sprig of fresh herb can be added
at this step. When water is boiling put in the vegetables, cover, and return to
the boil. Cook a few minutes on high, then lower heat to prevent steam from
escaping. If necessary add a little more boiling water to prevent burning. When
nearly done, if any liquid remains remove lid to allow it to evaporate.
BAKING: When beginning with raw vegetables, baking time and nutrient loss can be
reduced not only by pre-heating the oven but also the baking dish, which should
have a tight cover to retain steam.
SAUTÉING: Very little oil or butter need be used for sautéing, as
little as a teaspoon per serving in a well-seasoned iron skillet--just enough to
lightly coat the vegetables-shredded, diced or sliced for quick cooking. For
extra flavor add a few drops sesame oil. Half butter and half olive oil is
another flavor-enhancing combination. When preparing several vegetables in one
pan, add those requiring longer cooking first. For example, carrots first, then
celery, then onions. Or grate carrots, dice celery and slice onions.
STIR-FRY: A stir-fry pan is different from an ordinary frying pan in that it
has a lid, and, if it is an oriental "wok," it is shaped to form a well in the
center, with sloping sides. Finely cut vegetables are quickly stirred in a small
amount of hot oil, then covered and steamed until thoroughly hot but still
crisp. Quicker cooking vegetables or parts of the same vegetable are added last.
As an example, chopped chard stems are cooked first, then the greens added and
heated only until they wilt.
BROILING: Spear pieces of vegetables on skewers; brush with a little oil to
seal in the juices. Olive or sesame oil will enhance the overall flavor, even
more so if garlic or other herbs are added.
CARDINAL RULES FOR PLANNING, SEASONING
AND SERVING THE PERFECT VEGETABLE MEAL
ONE--Avoid using the same seasoning, or combination of seasonings twice in
the same meal.
TWO--Plan a meal for eye appeal as well as for taste. Select 3 or 4 vegetables
with contrasting colors and flavors.
THREE--Vary the textures as well, serving some creamed, some buttered, others
baked, or stir-fried--crisp to the bite--and garnished with seeds or nuts.
FOUR--Serve hot food on or in heated dishes and cold food on or in chilled
dishes.
THESE COMBINATIONS COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER
IN SPRING--Young carrots with green onion tops; peas and mushrooms in
a creamed sauce; new potatoes with Fine Herbs.
IN SUMMER--Green-bean/red-pepper Vinaigrette; steamed corn-on-the-cob;
dilled patty pan squash.
IN FALL--Apple-stuffed acorn squash; broccoli with Mock Hollandaise;
beets baked in Orange Sauce
IN WINTER--Crusty sweet potatoes; spiced red cabbage;
Brussels sprouts with Pimiento Sauce.
The ARTICHOKE, a meaty vegetable, is at its best in the spring. Make
sure its armored petals are bright looking and compact.
To Prepare: Cut off stems level at the base so they will stand. Snip
off thorny tips. Run cool water over and into the leaves to remove any sand.
To Cook: Stand chokes in a steamer or trivet and cook above water
until tender: 20 to 30 minutes for small, tender ones; 30 minutes to an hour for
larger, older ones. To bake [particularly small ones], place in a covered
casserole with the dressing below, and cook 40 to 60 minutes at 375°, basting
several times.
To Season: Chokes can be seasoned in part by cooking in a steam bath
to which an Herb Bouquet has been added, also wine vinegar
or lemon juice [both to flavor and prevent discoloration]. A slice of
onion and a clove of garlic might also be added to the water. When
partially tender, and the tightly closed petals have began to relax, pour over
and between the leaves the following:
Lemon/Olive Oil Dressing: ½ c. hot water; 2 T. olive oil;
2 T. lemon juice; and ½ t. salt; tarragon, rosemary or a
Fine
Herbs combination [1 t. dried or 1 T. fresh. Serve artichokes hot with
small cups of Herbed Lemon Butter Sauce for dipping the petals.
Serve Cold: Dip petals in a tart mayonnaise or
Cooked Salad
Dressing. For Marinated Artichokes, see
Chilled Vegetable Marinade, add oregano
and garlic to the recipe.
The JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE, a tuber of the Sunflower family, tastes
similar to the new potato, but is more easily grown than potatoes. If possible
to grow your own "sun chokes," an added incentive for doing so is their texture
similarity to water chestnuts for that necessary "crunch" in oriental stir-fry
dishes.
To Prepare: To use as a raw vegetable: scrub, peel and grate or
slice. Sprinkle with a little lemon juice to prevent discoloration. For
cooked Jerusalem artichokes you need only scrub the skins.
To Cook: Steam whole 10 to 15 minutes. Or bake, or cook in a minimum
amount of water method [Methods]. Peel after cooking, then slice, dice or serve
whole.
To Season: Add a sprig of rosemary or one of the
Hearty
Herb combinations to the steamer or saucepan water. Serve with an
Herbed Butter or in a
creamed or other sauce. Good for
scalloped and
au gratin main dishes, too. See "Artichokes, Jerusalem" in the
Index.
To Serve Cold: Use in place of potatoes in Potato
Salad. Also
good Marinated raw [See
Chilled
Vegetable Marinade].
ASPARAGUS, along with daffodils, is one of the first signs of spring.
Choose firm, crisp stalks--slender ones for steaming, fat ones for stir-frying.
To Prepare: Snap off ends and, with the tips up, wash under cool
running water. For an easy and attractive way to serve steamed whole spears,
trim ends to even lengths [saving the trimmings for the soup pot]. Then tie
spears with string. When done simply transfer the bunch into a bowl and remove
string. To prepare for quick stir-frying, slice diagonally:
To Cook: Steam with stalks down for about 10 minutes, or stir-fry
oriental style for 5 minutes or less [Methods].
To Season: The delicate but distinct flavor of asparagus can be
simply but elegantly dressed in an Herb Butter, or a mellowing
sauce such as Beulah's easy-to-make Mock Hollandaise, or one of
the Spring Sauces. For other ideas on using asparagus see
main dishes .
To Serve Cold follow the
Raw Vegetable Marinade recipe.
The BEAN is as universal as the human race, with short, fat, long,
thin, round, flat, velvety-green, waxy-yellow, string and string-less family
branches and members. Besides the familiar "green bean," others good fresh are
shelled lima and fava beans--at their best spring and summer. If a bean pod
snaps when broken, then you know it is fresh.
To Prepare: For string-less, ordinary-length green beans snip off the
ends and cook whole. Or cut in oblong pieces, or diagonally, or, for fast
cooking Julienne. Broad, flat Romanos can be cut into approximate squares.
To Cook: A sure way to retain the color of beans is to cook uncovered
in enough water to barely cover, and just until tender. If necessary, add a
little more boiling water. If any liquid remains, pour it off and save for soup.
If a bean is picked before maturity it will cook in 5 minutes. Older ones may
take up to 20 minutes. If steamed, do so quickly and remove the cover as soon as
they are tender. Otherwise their color will turn drab. Cook
fresh limas and favas in a minimum amount of water, or steam. Allow up to 30 minutes.
To Season: For steamed beans,
Herb Butter will be the
easiest way to season them. For the Minimum Water method, an
Herb Bouquet may be added to the boiling water. Place a pat of butter in the pan
of cooked beans and shake to coat each one. Sprinkle with tarragon, basil,
or a Fine Herbs
combination . For Hungarian style, serve in sour
cream, sprinkled with nutmeg and paprika. Try the
Simple
Spring Sauce with baby limas.
To Serve Cold: Season the
Raw Vegetable Marinade with dill seeds
and black pepper.
BEETS--in season from spring through fall except where too hot--are
good for both their roots and their tops. So choose ones with fresh appearing
tops.
To Prepare: For whole steamed beets simple cut off the tops and give
them a good scrubbing. If you want to cook beets in a hurry, then shred them. As
for the tops: wash, shake off excess water, then cut off stems and chop in small
pieces. The leaves can be left whole or chopped.
To Cook: Steam whole beets until just tender, about 30 minutes.
Stir-fry shredded ones in a little butter, stirring quickly to coat and
seal in the juices, then cover and steam for a few minutes. For tops, cook
chopped stems until tender--stir-fry or in minimum water--add leaves, stir,
cover and cook only until wilted.
To Season: Slice, dice or shoestring whole steamed beets, then dress
in melted butter, a sprinkling of sugar, a few shakes of
vinegar, and a little fresh or dried tarragon, mint, or flick
or two of ground cloves. Two nice sauces for beets are the
Vinaigrette
and the Orange Sauce . Season quickly
sautéed shredded beets with
Fine Herbs. To season beet tops, add a pat of butter, a
sprinkling of nutmeg, and a squeeze of lemon.
FRESH PICKLED BEETS--Steam beets until tender, peel and slice. Make a
dressing of equal parts of olive oil, vinegar and red wine. Add
fresh or dried Fine Herbs, garlic, salt and pepper,
and a dash or two of spice--nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, or ginger. Pour
this over the beets and chill. Another time, in place of the other seasonings,
add a teaspoon of horseradish to the oil/vinegar/wine mixture.
BROCCOLI is a cool season--fall, winter, spring--vegetable to enjoy
before and after the plentiful vegetables of summer. Choose compact, vibrantly
dark-green heads with fresh looking leaves.
To Prepare: Separate the main stem into separate floweret-topped
spears. Or cut off tops, divide into flowers, and slice or dice the stems.
To Cook: Steam quickly, 7 or 8 minutes, or stir-fry until just barely
tender.
To Season: Dress broccoli with an
Herb Butter and
garnish with sieved or chopped eggs. Or cover with one of the
creamed sauces and sprinkle with paprika.
To Serve Cold: Good raw in a tossed salad,
Marinated, or in
the Molded Piquant.
BRUSSELS SPROUTS are first cousin to broccoli and also a fall and
winter vegetable. For the most delicately flavored of these miniature cabbages,
choose the small, green ones.
To Prepare: Wash, trim off the bottoms, and, to hasten the cooking,
cut an "x" into each base.
To Cook: Steam until barely tender, for about 12 minutes. To retain a
good color, remove lid several times during cooking and as soon as done.
To Season: A creamed sauce to which chopped Pimiento is added
both tastes and looks good over Brussels sprouts. Try them
Vinaigrette; or combined with cooked carrot slices in a
Lemon Butter Sauce; or simply buttered and garnished with Parsley or
Fine Herbs. Include Brussels sprouts with cabbage wedges, broccoli and cauliflower on
mid-winter vegetable platters; or Cheese Sauce topped
Medleys; or in heart-warming
Curries.
CABBAGE comes in different shapes and colors--green or red, pointed,
round, solid headed or curly leafed. The red and the curly are the stronger,
more pungent. In the home garden, cabbage can be harvested until late fall. At
the produce market it usually is available, and reasonably, all year.
To Prepare: Cut in wedges for steaming, or shred for
sautéing or for
salads.
To Cook: Steam wedges for 10 minutes. Sauté or stir-fry shredded
cabbage in a little butter or oil for 1 minute, reduce heat and cover for 3 or 4
minutes.
To Season: Use caraway seeds,
Herb Bouquets or
Hearty Herbs. Dress with
Herb Butters, or cover with
creamed sauces. For
Cabbage Au Gratin.
Stuffed leaves are another possibility: Use outside large leaves--steaming
these until pliable, about 7 to 8 minutes. Wrap stuffing in leaves and follow
Steps 2 through 4. Cover with the Creole Sauce or the
Spanish Sauce and bake until
hot and bubbly. See Scalloped
Cabbage and season with Sweet Carrot family seeds-cumin, dill,
fennel or a trinity of
Hearty Herbs.
BEULAH'S HOT-SPICED RED CABBAGE: Shred cabbage and combine with 1
finely chopped tart apple; a dash of cayenne; 1 t. sugar; 1
T. butter. Bury a whole onion stuck with 6 cloves in the
middle, and cook according to the Minimum Water Method [p.12] and only until
barely tender and still crunchy.
CABBAGE STIR-FRY: Shred cabbage; thinly slice celery and
onion; chop a green pepper or grate a carrot. Heat a wok or
skillet, add 1 or 2 T. butter and a few drops of sesame oil. Add
vegetables in this order: pepper or carrot, celery, onion and cabbage. Cook,
stirring constantly and until thoroughly hot. Then turn off the heat, cover the
pan, and steam for a few minutes. Choose a garnish-chopped parsley,
snipped dill weed, slivered nuts, or some other [p.10]
COLE SLAW WITH SOUR CREAM DRESSING-Combine and beat until thickened: ½ c.
sour cream; 2 T. vinegar; ½ t. salt; 1 T. sugar; ½ t.
celery seed; and, for that old-fashioned flavor, a dash of nutmeg.
Shred chilled cabbage and mix with dressing.
The
Molded Piquant is another unusually seasoned cabbage
salad.
The CARROT, as can be surmised from the herb family bearing its name,
started as a seasoning herb, and, through common use, gained status as a
vegetable. This unusually compatible vegetable is complemented by nearly every
imaginable seasoning, but is especially partial to the Mints. Its tops,
ordinarily discarded, can be used in place of parsley (its first cousin.) The
sweetest and most delicately flavored carrots are the young spring ones. When
picking out carrots the rest of the year, choose firm and slender ones that are
free of cracks.
To Prepare: For young ones, scrub but don't scrape. Older, larger
ones can be scraped, then grated, sliced into circles or on the diagonal [as
shown for asparagus], or cut lengthwise into fourths, or eighths, or further
still into match-stick shapes.
To Cook: The younger a carrot the quicker it will cook. Or, the more
thinly cut the less time it will take. Cook young, small, whole carrots in a
covered saucepan with just barely enough water to cover. When nearly tender the
skin will come off easily, leaving it bare-skinned beautiful. Later in the
season and throughout the winter, carrots can be sliced and steamed for about 8
to 10 minutes, or shredded and sautéed, singly or in combination with other
vegetables. Quartered carrots can be placed in a baking plan with a
little water and seasonings; covered and baked 30 minutes or until tender.
To Season: Dress young carrots in an
Herb Butter or one
of the sauces. Carrots make
Beautiful Soup. When
possible, include fresh ginger in carrot soup seasonings. Carrots are
good with or in Curries and
Creole. Use in
Timbals shredded and seasoned with ginger. Baked, quartered carrots [see
above], can be sprinkled with a little sugar and spices-a dash of clove, a shake
of mace--and dotted with butter.
GLAZED CARROTS: Slice 3 or 4 carrots into ¼ inch rounds. Cook in
minimum water [p.12] until tender. Add 2 T. each butter and sugar.
Stir and shake pan until carrots glisten and just begin to brown.
PATCHWORK SALAD--To 1 pt. lemon gelatin add: ¼ c. sliced radishes;
¼ c. pickle relish; 1 c. grated carrot; ½ c. finely diced
celery; 1 t. minced mint leaves.
Add carrots also to
Cole Slaw. See also
"something sweet".
In choosing CAULIFLOWER, another of the cool season cabbages, look
for compact white heads bordered with fresh, green outer leaves. At the produce
market, pass by any that appear loose or bruised.
To Prepare: Cauliflower can be cooked whole. In this
case, simply wash and leave on its border of leaves. Or separate the head into
medium-sized florets. Chopped, it can be added to an
oriental stir fry.
To Cook: Allow 20 to 30 minutes to steam cauliflower whole; 10
minutes for florets; 5 minutes to stir-fry small bits. Again, the word is
al
dente.
To Season: When steaming cauliflower, add a teaspoonful of caraway
seeds, oregano, or savory to the water. This will savor not only the
vegetable but the whole house. Some vegetables need a well-seasoned sauce to
bring their
flavor up, but cauliflower--one of the self-seasoning Pot Herbs--actually enjoys
a mellowing sauce--the
Mock Hollandaise or
Cheese Sauce.
Call on cauliflower for a decorative touch to an otherwise plain-looking meal by
sprinkling cooked florets with paprika or by dipping them first in melted
butter, then into minced parsley.
Pimiento Sauce is
another very pretty way to dress-up "flowering cabbage." Cauliflower is a good
main vegetable for a Curry, or in a casserole covered with
Creole Sauce; topped with buttered bread crumbs; then baked at
350° for 30 minutes. See main-dish ways to serve
cauliflower.
To Serve Cold: Alternate cauliflower and broccoli florets
decoratively around the border of a relish plate. In the center place a bowl of
Fine-Herbed
seasoned cream cheese. For
Chilled Cauliflower Marinade,
steam florets until barely tender, then follow the recipe using a little
garlic instead of onion, and fennel in addition to thyme.
CELERIAC--also called Celery Root--is ugly looking but
distinguished tasting. And, for the home gardener, easier to grow than stalked
celery. It is a cool season crop, most likely to be found for sale in the fall
and winter. Beulah advises using it for its "strong support" in soup and in
stock used for sauces.
To Prepare and Cook: Give a good scrubbing to the whole root, then
parboil in water to cover until the skin can be easily peeled. Cut the
partially-cooked root in 3 or 4 pieces; return to water and add sliced onion,
garlic, parsley, salt, pepper. When tender, remove the celeriac, sprinkle
with a little lemon juice [to keep it white] and chill. Strain the now
well-seasoned cooking water and save as stock for soups or sauces.
To Use Celeriac: For hot dishes, dice cooked celeriac and heat to
serving temperature in one of the
seasoned sauces. Finely chopped
or mashed, it will heighten the flavor of a
Soufflé, or add
interest to an Au Gratin, or an
A La King. Use diced
in a creamed soup which you might like to season with only tarragon
and a garnishing of freshly minced parsley or snipped chives.
To Served Chilled: Follow the
Vegetable Marinade recipe.
CELERY, like carrot, began as an herb valued mostly for its leaves
and seeds. The stalks were thrown in the pot for "good measure." Available all
year, the peak season and best-buy time for celery is spring. Avoid limp or
split stalks that telltale old age in a bunch of celery.
To Prepare: Wash and save the large, outside stalks to use as a
Stuffed Vegetable. Trim the middle stalks for stuffing with
herbed
cream cheese. Chop the branching parts and the hearts for sautéing with
other vegetables, in stir-fry dishes, or the
Molded Piquant. The usually discarded root base, use this for either
soup stock or
Celery Salt.
To Season: Some of the other vegetable flavors with which celery
blends are: cabbage, carrots, green pepper, mushrooms, and onions.
Vegetables enhanced by the flavor of celery are: beans, beets, chard,
eggplant, okra, peas, potatoes, spinach and tomatoes. In Celery
Au
Gratin, add Jerusalem artichokes or diced celeraic for
crunch, and pimiento for color.
To Serve Raw: Mix the
Hearty Herbs with cream cheese
and stuff raw stalks..
CORN--For the home gardener, the mid-summer serving of just-picked
corn is a ritual: Put on the vegetable steamer; pick the corn; shuck it; then
drop into the pot for a 5 minute steaming--just long enough to get it
butter-melting hot. Now that's corn!
CORN OYSTERS--This is Beulah's all-time most popular recipe for corn. It is
made from pulp "milked" from corn ears. This is done by first cutting through
the centers of each vertical row of kernels, then, with the back of
the knife, scraping out the pulp. It takes 3 or 4 ears of corn to make 1 cup
pulp.
For each person allow ½ c. corn pulp; 1 egg; ¼ t. salt.
Separate egg whites from yolks, beating whites until stiff. Mix yolks with pulp
and salt. Fold in whites and fry like pancakes. For breakfast, top with maple
syrup, or orange syrup made by heating until dissolved the contents
of 1 small can frozen concentrated orange juice mixed with an equal
amount of sugar. For supper, serve with butter,
Herb Butter,
Mushroom or
Brown Sauce.
Other Ways to Season Corn: Combine cut corn with chopped red
and green peppers and Cheese Sauce in a
Soufflé or
Fondue; or season a Corn
Timbal with diced green
chile peppers or chopped pimiento olives. For Creamed Corn Soup
recipe and seasoning suggestions
click here. And don't forget to use a little
sugar to put the just-picked-freshness back into corn.
BAKED SUCCOTASH--Combine in a buttered baking dish: 1 c. each cooked corn
and limas [cooking fresh limas]; 1 finely chopped, sweet
red bell pepper; a pinch of sugar; ½ t. cumin seed; and 1 c.
Cheese Sauce. Top with buttered crumbs and bake in a 375°
oven until hot--about 20 minutes.
To Serve Chilled: Combine corn with chopped red and green pepper.
Marinate, using, instead of thyme, celery seed and/or
turmeric, and 1 t. sugar.
CUCUMBERS are plentiful all summer and into early fall. But as soon
as it frosts, watch the price of "cukes" jump.
To Prepare: The most important thing to remember in preparing
cucumbers is to taste them for bitterness before adding other ingredients. To
prepare for cooking, peel, seed and cut in strips or chunks.
To Cook: Steam a very few minutes--until just tender, or cook in a
minimum amount of boiling water--only 2 or 3 minutes.
To Season: Serve barely tender cucumbers, in strips, chunks or
mashed, with an Herb Butter. They're also nice in a creamed sauce, particularly the
Pimiento Sauce and served
a la King. For
stuffing cucumbers: hollow out; mix pulp with buttered
bread crumbs; stuff and bake for about 20 minutes. All the herbs and spices
associated with pickling cucumbers can be used for seasoning hot or cold
cucumber dishes: dill, fennel, garlic, onions, mustard, horseradish, water
cress, peppers, and all the
spices
.
CUCUMBER-POTATO BISQUE: Follow the recipe for
Beautiful Soup,
using 2 large cubed baking potatoes instead of the zucchini . For
seasonings choose marjoram, parsley, and onion or chives.
Cook until potatoes are tender. Cool and purée. When ready to serve, add 1 c.
creamed sauce and heat just below simmering. Peel, remove seeds and grate 1
large cucumber. Add this to the hot purée along with 1 T. chopped, fresh
dill weed (or crushed dill seeds); 1 T. lemon juice; 1 t.
each of sugar and grated lemon peel. Serve garnished with minced
mint or basil leaves.
CHILLED CUCUMBER BISQUE: After puréeing [above], fold in yogurt (in
place of the creamed sauce) along with the dill and other seasonings. Chill and
serve garnished as above.
FRESH PICKLES: Arrange sliced cucumbers in a bowl in layers, salting
each layer. Let stand for several hours. Rinse the salt out and squeeze slices,
bruising them as you do. For a medium-sized bowl, dilute 2 T. wine vinegar
with a little water. Add a few drops sesame oil. Stir into the
cucumbers and chill.
The EGGPLANT is at its most plentiful best by mid summer. The
important thing in picking or choosing an eggplant is to get one that is shiny
black but still firm.
To Prepare: Eggplant can be prepared with or without its peel, and
either diced or sliced for sautéing or baking. It also can be scooped out and
stuffed, or cubed and added to sauces. To prepare for
Oven-Fried Steaks.
To Season: A very simple way to serve eggplant is supported by one or
more of the Pot Herbs, and together sautéed in olive oil,
then seasoned with fresh or dried basil or tarragon. One of the
more opinionated herbs, such as garlic can also be added. Eggplant,
because it is undistinguished in flavor, makes a good backdrop for combining
with other vegetables and for experimenting with seasonings. Try it in
Curry,
Creole, or
Spanish Sauces. And the
Ratatouille is most certainly a dish "in honor of the eggplant."
MUSHROOMS are at their best late fall through early spring. To tell
if a mushroom is fresh, turn it over and inspect the underside of the cap. It
should be hugging close to the stem. If there is a gap showing its dark,
acordian-pleated inside, then it has begun to shrivel and you don't want it. If
all you see is the light-colored outer flesh, then what you have is a nice fresh
mushroom.
To Prepare: Using your fingertips or a soft brush, wash each cap to
remove any loose compost. Remove a thin slice from the bottom of the stem. Use
raw or cooked, whole or sliced.
To Cook: Mushrooms cook quickly: 10 minutes steamed whole; less than
5 minutes sliced and sautéed.
To Season: In the 1950's, when Beulah's Chicago television show was
sponsored by Fairy Ring Mushrooms, she developed a number of mushroom entrées,
among them the following meatless Jambalaya:
MUSHROOM JAMBALAYA--Chop and 1 lb. of mushrooms; then an
onion, 2 stalks celery, and a green pepper. To this is added
2/3 c. raw rice, 1½ c. fresh, peeled tomatoes and 1½ c. stock.
Season with paprika, diced pimiento, minced parsley, 1 t.
sugar, a little pepper and basil. Cook slowly on top of the
stove for 40 minutes or in a 350° over for an hour.
EASY PIQUANT MUSHROOM SAUTE--Marinate 1 lb. mushrooms [small whole or
sliced large] in Basic French Dressing: 1 T. vinegar to 4 T.
oil; add ¼ t. salt, a pinch of pepper and dry mustard.
Stir well. To this basic French, add 1 T. catsup for piquant-ness. After
removing mushrooms from the marinade, sauté in 1 or 2 T. butter.
SAVORY MUSHROOMS--Sauté mushrooms in a little oil to which minced
parsley, garlic, salt and pepper are added. When mushrooms are
tender, add chopped fresh tomatoes and cook only until hot. Serve on
toast or rice.
Other Ways of Serving Mushrooms: Combine with peas and season
with rosemary and a pinch of sugar. Try a Celeraic and
Mushroom Au Gratin seasoned with chopped parsley and chives; or
a la King or in a
Soufflé.
To Serve Cold: See the
Marinade.
OKRA is at its seasonal peak along with tomatoes and green
peppers--just in time for making creoles and gumbos. In buying okra the
important thing to remember is that small is tender and shriveled is old.
To Prepare: Wash and remove stems from the pods. Two-inch pods can be
left whole, larger ones sliced crosswise or chopped.
To Cook: Steam small pods whole for about 10 minutes or until tender.
Or stew sliced or chopped pods along with tomatoes, green peppers, onions
and/or carrots.
To Season: When combining with tomatoes, add a little sugar
and an Herb Bouquet. Serve young, small, tender pods with
Herbed
Butter. Add
okra to the Creole Sauce and, because this vegetable is a natural
thickening agent, omit the creamed sauce. To stuff okra, steam four-inch pods
until almost tender. Then incise each pot lengthwise on one side and stuff with
bread crumbs seasoned with
fine herbs. Place in a baking dish with
diced raw tomato. Cover with buttered bread crumbs and bake until
brown.
The ONION family is the largest and most widely used of the
self-seasoning Pot Herbs. There is an onion for all seasons and tastes: The
mildest is the chive; among the most pungent the globe-shaped yellow and red
onions; the dark purple-red "torpedo" is good for baking whole in a mellowing
sauce; and the jumbo-sized and round, white Spanish onions are perfect for
stuffing. Use scallions in salads and in oriental stir-fry meals; leeks in
soups; and shallots for sauces. Small "pearls" are for pickling, boiling and
creaming. As for garlic--good for you and good also, they say, for keeping evil
spirits away. But for culinary purposes, Beulah insists this lily should be used
so subtly as to be difficult to detect.
To Prepare: How do you keep dry-eyed while peeling an
onion? First of all, since the volatile juices are inhibited by cold, chilling
at least helps to prevent tears. Water also keeps the eye-irritant in onion in
check. But chopping onions under water is not an easy thing to do. A trick that
greatly reduces and for some eliminates the problem is first to remove a
cone-shaped section from the root base of the onion--the area containing the
strongest concentration of "onion power." But don't discard this part: save it
for the stock pot or for making
Onion Salt.
To Cook: Bake whole or stuffed onions in a low oven [325°] for about
an hour. When sautéing onions, consider them done when they become translucent.
To Season: Since onions are "self-seasoning" it is more a matter of
complementing flavors. Onions with tomatoes, and peppers--mild and
hot--are a hard-to-beat flavor combination. Or for a pepper-spicy effect season
with cumin. Onions are enhanced by a little wine vinegar or
lemon, or even the minty lemon balm, or lemony sorrel leaves.
Beulah has several ways of stuffing and baking onions:
APPLE-STUFFED BAKED ONION: Slice off the base and top of 4 onions.
Remove the center portion of onions and stuff with 1 apple, chopped and
mixed with 1 T. chopped onion and 1 t. of sugar. Place in an
uncovered baking dish with a little water. Bake 350° for 1 hour.
CHARD STUFFED ONIONS: Steam large onions for 15 minutes. Remove centers and
stuff with chopped chard in a nutmeg-seasoned
creamed sauce. Place in a baking dish; cover with additional creamed sauce; bake 25
to 30 minutes at 350°. When peas are in season use in place of chard and
season with one of the Mints. Or use sautéed mushrooms, seasoned
with Fine Herbs. Top with buttered bread crumbs.
PARSNIPS are a fall and winter vegetable, best described as somewhere
between a carrot and potato. For parsnips that are tender, fragrant, delicately
spicy and nutty-flavored, choose small, young-looking ones.
To Prepare: Give them a good scrubbing and steam in their skins
whole. Peel, slice into rounds or cut lengthwise into quarters or smaller.
To Cook: Steam or cook in
minimum water--whole or in
pieces--for 10 to 30 minutes [depending on the size and age of the parsnips.]
Then peel and slice, quarter, or dice. Cooked or partially-cooked parsnips can
be baked at 350° until hot and tender.
To Season: Parsnips add a little nip to
soufflé,
timbals and
other main dishes. Bring out their natural spiciness with fresh or
powdered ginger. Enhance parsnips further by baking in an
Orange Sauce.
PARSNIP PATTIES: For each cup mashed parsnips mix in 2 t. lemon
juice, 1 T. (or less) butter, 1 slightly beaten egg; 1 T.
cream or evaporated canned milk; ½ t. salt, a dash of
cayenne or black pepper and 1 T. fresh or 1 t. dried
Hearty Herbs--a combination such as sage and parsley with a smidgen of
horseradish added. Garnish with chopped or slivered almonds.
PEAS are best from pods that are well filled but not overly bulging,
and that are brittle when broken open. Snow or Chinese peapods are the
edible-pod type used in oriental cooking and one of the spring garden's early
offerings. Later in the season come the snap and black-eyed peas. The latter are
unusually tasty when seasoned as below.
To Prepare: Shell peas right from the garden into the cooking
utensil, and right before using. Or store fresh peas in their pods until ready
to use. For edible-pod peas simply wash, pinch off the stem ends and cook.
To Cook: Peas take very little cooking, never so much as to destroy
their firmness nor their vivid green color. Steam for 5 minutes, then remove the
lid and the pan from the fire. Otherwise, the Minimum Water Method is a
vitamin-saving way to cook peas. Either fresh or snow peas can be cooked
according to the Stir Fry method. To cook fresh black-eyed peas: pour
boiling water over them to cover and cook until tender--30 to 40 minutes.
To Season: When cooking snap peas, add fresh or dried mint,
rosemary or basil to the cooking water and, unless just picked, add a
pinch of sugar. Dress cooked peas with
Fine Herbs and butter
or with an Herbed Butter. Serve peas
creamed or
in the Simple Spring Sauce, the
Herbed Lemon Butter Sauce, or, for
a change of pace, the Vinaigrette. Peas mix nicely with sautéed chopped onion and fresh mushrooms, or when combined with
water chestnut or Jerusalem artichoke slices. Sauté or stir-fry
snow peas in a little butter and a few drops sesame oil. Stir and
cook just until hot and hardly done at all. When cooking black-eyed peas, add an
Herb Bouquet to the water, then dress with olive oil, garlic
and a pair of Hearty Herbs.
To Serve Cold: Add garden peas or peapods to the
Molded Piquant.
PEPPERS--The sweet red and green bells are the mildest,
fresh-vegetable members of this very large herb family. The red ones are those
allowed to ripen. Chili peppers also range from mild to hot to fiery-hot, and
are the predominant flavor in many dishes of Mexican or Spanish influence. Use
bells freely; chilies more prudently.
To Prepare: To serve bell peppers as a raw vegetable, remove the stem
end and cut into strips. Save the center sections and seeds for adding to the
stock pot. To prepare for stir-fry dishes and as a seasoning Pot Herb, cut into
strips, into 1 inch squares, or chop, dice or mince.
To Cook: Sauté, stir-fry, or steam along with other vegetables.
Peppers need only be thoroughly hot to be considered done.
To Season: Combine with vegetables such as mushrooms, celery,
onions, and tomatoes. Season with a little garlic and combine
with barely tender zucchini slices, or green beans. Any one of the
Vegetable Main Dishes could include green pepper. So could the
Curry and
Creole Sauces . Green peppers are also an
important flavor ingredient in the
Spanish Sauces and
Mediterranean
Vegetable Pot and Ratatouille . See
Stuffed Peppers--rice with mushrooms, seasoned with
Hearty Herbs is a good stuffing for peppers. Another way of
stuffing peppers is with corn-off-the-cob, moistened with a little
seasoned cream or
creamed sauce . In either case, they can
be covered with Spanish Sauce . Add them also to Beulah's
"chopped
everything" oriental dish.
To Serve Cold: Cut in strips and serve with other raw vegetables on a
relish platter. Include chopped peppers in the
Molded Piquant.
The POTATO is a stick-to-your-ribs starchy vegetable. Combined with
milk or cheese it makes a complete protein--two reasons for its nutritional
importance to many peoples. For the home gardener, the potato can take the place
of more difficult to grow and harvest staples such as rice and wheat. Beulah's
mother--my Grandmother Annie--had a perpetual potato patch in her kitchen garden
on their ranch in Shafter (San Joaquin Valley), where potatoes were also a "cash
crop." When preparing potatoes and she would come to a sprouting eye, Annie
would carefully cut it out and go plant it. In this way she lengthened the time
potatoes--new and old--were in season for her. Many of Beulah's ways for serving
and seasoning potatoes date back to those Shafter years and her parents' respect
for the potato. Later, and for a number of years in both radio and television,
she was sponsored by the Idaho Potato Growers Association. Choosing which of her
several hundred potato recipes to include here was a difficult task.
As far as which potato is best, the Idaho russet, similar to the Shafter
white, is still as good an all purpose potato as you can buy. New potatoes are a
spring delicacy to look forward to. Also worth mentioning are the large, round,
red-skinned ones--their texture just right for potato salad. When buying
potatoes
shun those with cracks, splits or green skins. Store potatoes in a cool, dry,
dark place.
To Prepare: Give potatoes a good scrubbing for baking, steaming or
boiling them whole in their jackets. For baking, pierce potatoes in several
places with a fork to allow steam to escape. For cooking more quickly, peel,
slice, or form into fancy shapes using special cutters--into balls, cubes,
spears, Julienne, or lattice.
To Cook: The smaller the potatoes or pieces the less time they take
to cook. Steam or bake potatoes until tender when pierced with fork--40 to 60
minutes at 350°. For smaller pieces, steam or follow
Minimum Water Method
for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on size.
To Season:
Herb-Buttered new potatoes are exceptional.
Another way to serve new potatoes (or old ones cut in balls or other interesting
shapes) is in one of the
sauce variations
or the Cheese Sauce. Baked
potatoes can be dressed with butter, sour cream, or yogurt--choose
your calories--then sprinkled with fresh or dried tarragon, minced
parsley, and/or chives, preferably fresh. Salt and pepper
to taste. An eye-appealing addition to a vegetable platter is baked or mashed
potatoes with golden Cheese Sauce and a sprinkling of paprika.
Beulah's favorite potato recipe is the first given below. I had always
thought it named for Beulah's mother. But "no," she recently explained, she had
gotten the recipe from George Rector, [a famous chef in her heyday, and the
newspaper column bearing his name one she had "ghosted" in the forties.] Rector
had named this dish for the singer, Anna Held, to whom he had served it often.
POTATOES ANNA--Peel, slice and place potatoes in ice water while you prepare
a round, flat baking dish or skillet with a coating of melted butter, and
a covering of bread crumbs. Sprinkle with paprika. Next, carefully
arrange the potato slices in the pan, overlapping them as you do, adding a
little salt and drizzling with butter. Cover and bake for 30
minutes in a 350° oven. Remove the cover and continue baking until potatoes are
tender and the bottom, bread-crumb layer nicely browned. Turn out onto a platter
and garnish with chopped parsley or
Fine Herbs.
POTATOES PAPRIKA: Steam potatoes until half done. Peel, cut in half
lengthwise, and brush with melted butter. Roll in 1 c. crushed corn
flakes mixed with 1 t. paprika and ½ t. salt. Bake 45 minutes
until brown and crisp.
HERB-BOUQUET POTATO CASSEROLE blends vegetables, herbs and spices in a way
that can be seasonally varied: 4 potatoes, sliced; 4 carrots or
celery stalks, or 1 green pepper, chopped; ½ c. chopped onion,
chives or parsley; 1 T. fresh [1 t. dried] rosemary, savory or
other Mint; 1 bay leaf; 1½ c.
creamed sauce [can be
thinned a little,] and to which add 1 t. horseradish or mustard, a
dash of cayenne or pepper, a little grated or powdered ginger
or nutmeg. In a buttered baking dish with a cover, arrange in layers
slices of potato and other vegetables, adding to each layer a portion of the
seasoned sauce. Place the bay leaf on top. Cover and bake until potatoes are
tender.
POTATO SALAD: Mix 4 c. cold, boiled, cubed potatoes with: 1 large
onion finely chopped; 1½ t. salt; ½ t. paprika; ¼ t. pepper.
Marinate in: ½ t. salt; 1 t. sugar; ¼ c. vinegar; ½ c.
salad oil. Chill thoroughly. Just before serving add: 3 hard-cooked eggs,
diced; 2 T. minced parsley, celery leaves, or green pepper; enough
mayonnaise or Salad Dressing to moisten well. Garnish with
strips of green peppers or sweet pickles. ½ c. chopped celery
or pickles can be added. And you might also want to rub the salad bowl
with a clove of garlic.
See "something sweet" from potatoes.
SALSIFY--also called Oyster Plant because it tastes faintly
like oyster--is an easy-to-grow fall and winter vegetable. Prepare and serve as
given for Celeraic. Serve in
Curries,
Creoles and other main dishes.
SPINACH--and other Greens, including beet greens, chard,
collard, dandelion, kale, mustard, New Zealand spinach, even radish
and turnip tops. At the first sign of hot weather spinach "bolts," but
heat-resistant and easy-to-grow chard and New Zealand spinach keep right on
producing. Collard also grows right through the summer, and in most areas garden
kale will winter over. So greens are vegetables that can be enjoyed fresh year
round. Beulah's first choice for cooked greens is chard, with beet greens as
second.
To Prepare: Follow the same procedure as preparing greens for a salad
and detailed in "Step 1". Also see #9
in vegetable cooking methods. Since the stems take
longer to cook than the leaves, chop and cook separately.
To Cook: The chemistry as well as the taste and texture of greens
changes when they are cooked too long or over too hot a fire. Cook them in a
steamer for no more than 12 minutes, or stir-fry and then cover, but for not
more than 5 minutes. Cook the stems first, chopped, and then the leaves, whole.
To Season: To cooked chard or spinach add a nutmeg-seasoned
creamed sauce [with milk in recipe reduced to allow for vegetable
liquor extracted from greens during cooking]. Or, to the accumulated cooking
juices add Butter/Flour Thickening Balls. Other sauces to use
with greens are the Herb Bouquet Sauce,
Horseradish "Cream" and
Hot
Mustard Sauce , also the
Black Butter Dressing and
Vegetable Vinaigrette .
Spinach, chard and other greens make good
Vegetable Main Dishes--soufflés,
fondues, scallops, timbals, au gratins and vegetable medleys. Season
these main dishes with rosemary or other
Mints, and, in addition to
nutmeg already mentioned, mace, and allspice.
RAW SPINACH SALAD: When Beulah interviewed George Mardikian on television
back in the fifties, he shared this recipe with her viewers and told how it had
made him and his San Francisco Omar Khayyam's restaurant famous: Stem, wash,
drain and dry spinach leaves [see
Steps 1 and 2]. Sprinkle
leaves with a little salad oil and lemon juice and chill. When
ready to serve,
arrange spinach on individual salad plates or in a salad bowl. Add chopped, hard
boiled eggs and garnish with one or two cooked or raw chilled vegetables-asparagus,
beets, tomatoes--whatever is in season. When spinach is not available use
chard. Serve with the following superbly seasoned dressing:
SALAD DRESSING: 1 egg; 1 t. sugar; ½ t. salt; ¼ t.
paprika; ¼ t. dry mustard; ½ t. Worcestershire sauce; ¼ clove
garlic, pressed [or powder]; ¼ c. catsup; ¼ c. vinegar; 1
c. salad oil; ¼ c. warm water. Place all but oil and water in a
blender. Cover and blend for 5 seconds. Remove cover with blender still
going-and very gradually--pour in the oil, then the water. Makes 1 pint.
SWEET POTATOES and YAMS are related to Irish potatoes only by
a similarity of texture and shape, and by being starchy--and therefore
hunger-satisfying. Sweet potatoes are lighter colored both in skin and flesh.
Yams are reddish on the outside and deep orange when cooked. When buying either
look for blemish-free, well-shaped ones. Avoid any that look wrinkled or
shriveled.
To Prepare: To cook whole, scrub and trim off both ends. For baking,
pierce in several places so steam can escape. They can also be peeled and cut in
pieces. When a recipe calls for grated sweet potatoes, do so just the minute
before adding to other ingredients. They discolor quickly.
To Cook: Steam or bake in their skins until tender when poked. The
time will depend on their size. But for medium-sized ones and a 350° oven, allow
about 40 minutes. Follow Minimum Water Method for cooking in pieces.
To Season: Butter baked yams or sweet potatoes and sprinkle with
spices-ginger, cloves, nutmeg, or cinnamon and a dash (but no
more) of cayenne. Serve sliced or mashed sweet potatoes with
Orange
Sauce, adding one of the just-mentioned spices. Combine with
apples, nuts, grated cocoanut and pineapple-varying these and
the spices whenever a meal calls for the warm color and sweet taste of these
similar tubers belonging to different families.
CRUSTY SWEET POTATO BALLS are for birthday parties and other special
occasions. Season mashed sweet potato with a little cinnamon and
nutmeg. Form into balls. Brush with butter and roll in crushed
corn flakes. Bake at 450° until brown and crisp.
See recipe for Sweet Potato Pie. For
Sweet Potato Pone use the same ingredients, add a ½ c. cocoanut, and
bake without a pie crust.
TOMATOES, are of three types: juicy "slicing" ones; solid,
pear-shaped "paste" ones; and the small, red and yellow "cherry" ones. To be
full-flavored, tomatoes need to be vine-ripened. Then they add not only color
but their unique piquant tartness to a salad or sauce.
To Prepare: For most uses, tomatoes need only be peeled. One method
to make this step easier is to hold a tomato on a fork over the open flame of a
gas burner, turning it until the skin is hot. It will then slip off easily.
Another way is to dip a tomato in boiling water for a few seconds. A less fuss
but little more difficult method is to rub the dull edge of a paring knife all
over the skin. This gently bruises and loosens the skin so it peels easily away.
For some dishes you will want more of the tomato's pulp and less of the juice
and seeds. After peeling and removing the core end, use your hands to squeeze
the excess juice out, saving it for soup.
To Cook: Sliced or even halved tomatoes will cook in a steamer in 5
minutes. When including tomatoes to some dishes such as ones you stir-fry, add
at the very last moment, and just long enough to warm them. Green tomatoes can
be pan or oven fried. The small cherry ones can be broiled on skewers.
To Season: As perfectly mated as the fresh Sweet Carrots are with
summer squashes, so the fresh Mints are with tomatoes: basil, sweet marjoram,
oregano, summer savory and spearmint, too. Begin with the Mints, then
complement and enhance the flavor union with parsley, chervil, and
other Sweet Carrots. And don't forget to add that pinch of sugar to
tomatoes dishes.
BAKED TOMATOES AND CORN--A summer dish for when tomatoes, corn and green
pepper are all ripe: 6 peeled and sliced tomatoes; corn cut from 3 ears;
1 chopped green pepper; a seasoning mixture of ½ t. salt, ½ t.
sugar, ½ t. pepper, 1 T. fresh savory or other Mint. Alternate
layers of tomatoes, corn and peppers, sprinkling each with the seasonings. Top
with buttered bread crumbs mixed with chopped parsley. Bake
uncovered 350° for 25 minutes.
SCALLOPED TOMATOES--For 4 to 6 tomatoes use 1 c. buttered bread
crumbs; 1 c. creamed sauce; 2 T. brown sugar; 2 to 4 T.
fresh Fine Herbs such as chives/basil/parsley. Another time,
lean towards the spices, using instead of Fine Herbs, ground or fresh
coriander [cilantro], one of the other Mints, and little minced
onion. Layer half the buttered crumbs in a large shallow baking dish. Add 1"
thick slices of tomatoes, or ones cut in half lengthwise. Sprinkle with the
brown sugar and seasonings. Add sauce and remaining crumbs. Bake 30 minutes at
350° or until bubbly and browned.
Tomatoes are seasoned in other ways in a number of ethnic dishes and sauces.
See Creole Sauce;
Spanish Sauce and
Mediterranean
Vegetable Pot ; California Zucchini and
Ratatouille.
To Serve Cold: In a covered dish, alternate layers of sliced
tomatoes and sliced sweet red onions. Chill for several hours to
blend flavors.
TURNIPS, RUTABAGAS and KOHLRABI are all fall and winter
vegetables related in their turnip-like flavor. The edible part of the kohlrabi
is its large above-ground bulb. The rutabaga is sometimes referred to as a "big
yellow turnip," but is actually orange when cooked, whereas the flesh of the
turnip is white. See Spinach for preparing turnip tops.
To Prepare: Scrub and cut off stem ends and root tips to steam whole.
Or peel and slice or dice to cook or serve raw. Kohlrabi and turnips can be
added to stir-fry meals. When preparing kohlrabi ahead of time squirt with a
little lemon to prevent discoloration.
To Cook: For steaming whole, cooking time will depend on size. To
steam sliced or to cook in minimum water allow about 8 minutes: tender to the
fork for serving mashed; less done for saucing. In cooking kohlrabi, add a
little lemon to the water to keep the flesh white.
To Season: These turnip vegetables are enhanced by
Hearty Herbs. When steaming or cooking in a sauce pan, toss in a spoonful of the seeds
of Sweet Carrot herbs--caraway, coriander or cumin, or add crushed
or powdered herb seeds after cooking. Butter and garnish with a lot of
parsley. See preparing turnips au gratin and
scalloped.
Vary the seasonings using rosemary or tarragon. Another time add
zip with a little garlic, horseradish or mustard. For rutabagas
see Oven-fried Vegetable Steaks. They will bake more quickly if
partially steamed first.
To Serve Cold: White-fleshed turnips [when these roots are young] and
kohlrabi are good sliced and eaten raw as a relish or in salads.
WINTER SQUASH--harvested in the fall--are hard-shelled and store well
for use throughout winter. Among the favorites are the butternut, sweet
and nutty in flavor with reddish-orange flesh, and the acorn, which has a
smooth texture and is an orange-yellow inside. The banana squash grows to
huge sizes--10 pounds and more--and is usually sold in sections. A recently
available winter squash is called spaghetti. After cooking, it can be
raked apart with a fork into strands and sauced the same as you would pasta.
To Prepare: Small winter squash can be left whole and pierced to
allow steam to escape when cooking. For the larger ones cut them open and remove
the seeds before cooking.
To Cook: Steam or bake small-sized squash whole. Or peel, cube and
then steam or cook in a minimum amount of water until tender. In either
case, the time will depend on the size of the squash or the pieces.
To Season: Something to remember when contemplating seasoning winter
squashes is that they lend themselves to spices and other warming
seasonings to cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, and a
dash--only a dash--of cayenne along with the spices and other sweets--molasses,
maple syrup, apples and orange rind--all flavors we associate with fall and
winter.
HONEY-GLAZED SQUASH--Steam first, then brush or drizzle on honey and
melted butter, sprinkle with a spice or two, and bake until
glistening.
STUFFED ACORN SQUASH--Stuff both halves of an acorn squash with
apple slices. Sprinkle with honey or brown sugar and a shake
of cinnamon. Tie halves together with string to make the squash whole
again. Bake covered for 1 hour.
ZUCCHINI and other SUMMER SQUASH are at their best when picked
under 8 inches long, or, with the scalloped (Patty Pan) varieties, when these
are 2 to 3 inches across. All are very perishable and should be used as fresh as
possible.
To Prepare: Picked young, there is no need to peel summer squash.
Simply wash and slice, dice, or cut lengthwise in half, fourths, or even
smaller.
To Cook: Sliced squash will steam tender in 5 minutes. Cut more
thinly or diced, it will sauté or stir fry in even less time. The
Minimum Water
Method can also be followed, or the instructions for Broiling. Summer
squash are also good baked in Vegetable Main Dish casseroles and
Stuffed.
To Season: When zucchini and other summer squashes are at their
flavor and production peak the annual herbs are also in full leaf. Nature, it
would seem, provides the feathery, fresh leaves of dill weed, anise and
fennel, as well as the pungent coriander [cilantro]--all Sweet
Carrot annuals--and just in time for summer-squash season. So for the summer
squashes, if you don't grow your own annual herbs, then buy them in their
dried-leaf form. The annual fresh Mints as well, such as basil and
summer savory, are also complementary to squash, by themselves or in
combination with Sweet Carrot herbs. Beulah slices and cooks Patty Pan
squash in a covered saucepan in the barest amount of water for only about 3
minutes. She then mashes it with a fork, stirs in a pat of butter and
chopped, fresh or dried dill weed. That's all, yet she declares this is
her absolute favorite of all vegetable dishes.
ETHEL'S PIE--Ethel was Beulah's piano teacher's young daughter who came with
her mother to Beulah's house for the lessons. Ethel and her mother were always
invited by my grandmother Annie to stay for dinner. Little Ethel, who didn't
like vegetables, loved this pie . . . but never found out it was made from
squash. (That was Annie's secret!)
This recipe is also a way to use those larger zucchini, crookneck or
scalloped squash--ones that in the home garden have a way of hiding until
past their ideal size. In this case, you will want to peel and seed them; cut
them in pieces and steam for a few minutes--until they will mash with a fork.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, a little fresh or dried
herb--one or more of the Sweet Carrots and Mints mentioned above--or caraway,
parsley, chervil, thyme, or marjoram. To each cup of seasoned
squash add 1 beaten egg and 4 rolled soda crackers. Put in a
greased casserole. Top with grated cheese and bake 20 to 30 minutes in a
350° oven.
See California Zucchini and the
Ratatouille recipes;
Chop Chai; and the
Beautiful Soup. Any
of these can be made with any of the summer squashes, even large ones.
Also see the
Vegetable Main Dishes good for
squash. Since summer squashes have a high moisture content, when using them in
casseroles you will want to add either cracker crumbs (as in the above Ethel's
Pie) or dry bread crumbs to the other ingredients.
To Serve Cold: Include raw zucchini sticks on relish platters.
Prepare raw or barely-cooked, small-size zucchini slices in the
Marinade.
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