The Allinson Vegetarian Cookery Book/Vegetables

I have not given recipes for the cooking of plain greens, as they are prepared very much alike everywhere in England. There are a number of recipes in this book giving savoury ways of preparing them, and I will now make a few remarks on the cooking of plain vegetables. The English way of boiling them is not at all a good one, as most of the soluble vegetable salts, which are so important to our system, are lost through it. Green vegetables are generally boiled in a great deal of salt water; this is drained off when they are tender, and the vegetables then served. A much better way for all vegetables is to cook them in a very small quantity of water, and adding a small piece of butter (1 oz. to 2 lb. of greens) and a little salt. When the greens are tender, any water which is not absorbed should be thickened with a little Allinson fine wheatmeal and eaten with the vegetables. A great number of them, such as Cabbages, Savoys, Brussel sprouts, Scotch kail, turnip-tops, &c., &c., can be prepared this way.

In the case of vegetables like asparagus, cauliflower, sea kale, parsnips, artichokes, carrots or celery, which cannot always be stewed in a little water, this should be saved as stock for soups or sauces. Most of these vegetables are very nice with a white sauce; carrots are particularly pleasant with parsley sauce.

Spinach is a vegetable which English cooks rarely prepare nicely; the Continental way of preparing it is as follows: The spinach is cooked without water, with a little salt; when quite tender it is strained, turned on to a board, and chopped very finely; then it is returned to the saucepan with a piece of butter, a little nutmeg, or a few very finely chopped eschalots and some of the juice previously strained. When the spinach is cooking a little Allinson fine wheatmeal, smoothed in 1 or 2 tablespoonfuls of milk, is added to bind the spinach with the juice; cook it a few minutes longer, and serve it with slices of hard-boiled egg on the top. Potatoes also require a good deal of care. When peeled, potatoes are plainly boiled, they should be placed over the fire after the water has been strained; the potatoes should be lightly shaken to allow the moisture to steam out. This makes them mealy and more palatable. Potatoes which have been baked in their skins should be pricked when tender, or the skins be cracked in some way, otherwise they very soon become sodden. A very palatable way of serving potatoes, is to peel them and bake them in a tin with a little oil or butter, or vege-butter; they should be turned occasionally, in order that they should brown evenly. This is not a very hygienic way of preparing potatoes. From a health point of view they are best baked in their skins, or steamed with or without the skins. A good many vegetables may be steamed with advantage; for instance, cabbage, sprouts, turnips, parsnips, swedes, Scotch kail, &c. Any way of preparing greens is better than boiling them in a large saucepanful of water and throwing this away. I may just mention that Scotch kail, after being boiled in a little water, should be treated exactly as spinach, and is most delicious in that way; an onion cooked with it greatly improves the flavour.

2 lbs. of artichokes, 1 oz. of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 3/4 pint of milk, 1 egg, juice of 1/2 a lemon, pepper and salt to taste. Peel the artichokes, and boil them in water until tender; cut them into slices 1/2 an inch thick and place them on a dish. Make a sauce of the milk and meal with seasoning; when the sauce has thickened, remove it from the fire, beat up the egg with the lemon juice and add both to the sauce, pour it over the artichokes, and serve.

2 lbs. of artichokes, 3/4 pint of milk, 1 tablespoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1 egg, juice of 1/2 a lemon, 2 oz. of grated Parmesan or any other cooking cheese. Proceed as in the recipe for "Celery à la Parmesan," add the cheese to the sauce, and serve the same with sauce as above.

Scrape the white parts of the stalks quite clean, and put them into cold water as they are done. Tie them up into bundles, and cut them all the same length. Now put them into a saucepan, cover with boiling water, add a little salt, and boil gently and steadily for 20 to 30 minutes. Take them out of the water as soon as they are tender, and dish on to rounds of toast with the points to the middle. Serve with them rich melted butter in a tureen.

Remove the outer coarse leaves, cut the cabbage in four pieces lengthways, and well wash the pieces in salt water. The salt is added because it kills any insects which may be present. Wash the cabbage as often as is necessary in pure water after this to clean it and remove the salt, and then shred it up fine. Set it over the fire with 1/2 pint of water, 1 oz. of butter, a dash of pepper, and a very little salt. Let it cook very gently for 2 hours; when it is quite tender, the liquid can be thickened with a little fine wheatmeal; smooth this with a little milk, or water if milk is not handy; boil it up, and serve.

Scrub and wash as many carrots as are required. Cook them in a little water or steam them until quite tender, then slice them and place them in a saucepan. Make a white sauce as directed in the recipe for "Onions and white sauce," and stir into it a handful of finely-chopped parsley. Pour the sauce over the carrots, and let them simmer for ten minutes. Serve very hot with baked potatoes.

Trim the cauliflower, cutting away only the bad and bruised leaves and the coarse part of the stalk. Put it into salt water to force out any insects in the cauliflower. After soaking, wash it well in fresh water and boil quickly until tender, and serve with white sauce.

2 heads of celery, 1/2 pint of milk, 1 oz. of butter, 1 egg, 1 cupful of breadcrumbs, pepper and salt to taste. Cut up the celery into pieces, boil it in water for 10 minutes; drain it and put it into the stewpan with the milk, 1/2 oz. butter, pepper and salt. Simmer the celery gently until tender, put it aside to cool a little, and add the egg well beaten. Butter a shallow dish, strew it well with some of the breadcrumbs, and pour in the celery, sprinkle the rest of the breadcrumbs over the top, put the butter over it in little bits, and bake the celery until brown.

Prepare the celery as in previous recipe, leaving it in long pieces, and place it in a vegetable steamer, which consists of a large saucepan over which is fitted a perforated top. Add a little pepper and salt, and let the celery steam for 1-1/2 hours. For the sauce you need: 1 pint of milk, 1 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour, 1-1/2 oz. of grated cheese, pepper and salt to taste. Boil the milk with the butter, thicken it with the cornflour smoothed first with a spoonful of water, and last add the grated cheese and seasoning; let the sauce simmer, stirring it until the cheese is dissolved. Have ready some Allinson plain rusks on a flat dish, place the celery on it, pour the sauce over, and serve very hot.

2 or 3 heads of celery (according to quantity required), 2 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, 1/2 pint of milk, pepper and salt to taste. Remove the outer hard pieces from the celery, saving them for flavouring soups or sauces; wash well and cut up in pieces about 3 inches long. Set over the fire with 1/2 pint of water, the butter and seasoning. Let cook gently until the celery is quite tender, which will take about 1 hour; add the thickening and the milk. Let all gently simmer for a few minutes, and serve.

Remove the coarse part of the green stalks of the leeks. If the leeks are gritty cut them right through and wash them well, and if necessary use a brush to get out the sand. Tie the leeks in bunches and steam them until tender, which will take about 1-1/2 hours. Make a white sauce as for the cauliflower. Put the leeks on pieces of dry toast on a flat dish, pour the sauce over them, and serve.

1 lb. of mushrooms, 1 oz. of butter, 1/2 pint of water, 1/2 teaspoonful of herbs, 1/2 saltspoonful of nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste, juice of 1/2 a lemon, the yolk of 1 egg, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour. Peel and clean the mushrooms, and wash them in water with a dash of vinegar in it. Wipe them dry with a cloth; have the water and butter ready in a saucepan with the herbs, and seasoning. Stew the mushrooms in this for 10 to 15 minutes. Thicken with the cornflour, then stir in the yolk of egg with the lemon juice, and serve.

1 lb. of Spanish onions, 1-1/2 oz. of butter or oil, 3 eggs. Melt the butter in a frying-pan, slice the onions, and fry them for 10 or 15 minutes, beat the eggs, add them to the onions, season with pepper and salt, and fry the whole a light brown on both sides.

2 lbs. of onions, 2 oz. of butter, vege-butter, or oil, pepper and salt to taste. Peel and slice the onions, and fry them a nice brown in the butter. Then add enough water to make gravy, add pepper and salt, and stew the onions for 20 minutes. Eat with wholemeal toast. This is very savoury, and is much liked.

Peel as many onions as are required, making an incision crossways on the top, and put in a baking-dish with 1/2 oz. of butter on each large onion, or half that quantity on small ones; dust them over with pepper and salt, and bake them for 3 hours. Keep them covered for 2 hours, and let them brown after that. Baste the onions from time to time with the butter.

Scotch kail is best after there has been frost on it. Wash the kail, and cut away the coarse stalks, boil it for 1-1/2 to 2 hours in a small quantity of water, adding a chopped up onion. Drain it when soft and chop it fine like spinach. Into the saucepan in which the kail was cooked put a piece of butter; melt it, and stir into it 1 tablespoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, and brown it very slightly. Then add some of the drained-off kail wafer and stir it smooth with the browned flour. Return the chopped Scotch kail to the saucepan, add pepper and salt to taste; let it cook for a minute, and serve.

Wash the spinach thoroughly, and set it over the fire in a saucepan without any water, as enough water will boil out of the spinach to cook it. Heat it gently at first, stirring it a few times to prevent it burning, until enough water has boiled out of the spinach to prevent it from catching. Let the spinach cook 20 minutes, then strain it through a colander, pressing the water out with a wooden spoon or plate. Put a piece of butter in the saucepan in which the spinach was cooked; when melted, stir into it a spoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, and keep stirring the meal and butter for 1 minute over the fire. Return the spinach to the saucepan, mix it well with the butter and meal, and add as much of the strained-off water as is necessary to moisten it; add pepper and salt to taste, and a little lemon juice. Let the spinach heat well through before serving. Have ready 1 or 2 hard-boiled eggs cut in slices, and decorate the spinach with them. Use 1 oz. of butter, an even tablespoonful of the meal, and the juice of 1/2 a lemon to 4 lbs. of spinach.

Peel and wash the turnips, and steam them until tender. Mash them up in a saucepan over the fire, mixing with them 1 oz. of butter. Pile the mashed turnips on a flat dish, and pour a white sauce over them.