French-fried onions are coated before cooking. Peel large mild-flavored onions
and cut into 14-inch thick slices; separate rings. Soak the rings in milk for a. few
minutes, then drain thoroughly and dip in seasoned Monarch Pastry Flour. Heat
your deep fat to 380° F. and cook as French-fried potatoes (see above).

BOILING—Put the prepared vegetables into a saucepan and, with certain exceptions
(noted below), add boiling water to the depth of about one inch; sprinkle with salt,
allowing about 1 teaspoon for each 2 cups boiling water. Cover the saucepan closely
and cook the vegetables just long enough to make them tender. Save liquid drained
from vegetables for sauces, soups, gravy, etc.—-it is high in food value.

Some of the stronger vegetables, such as onions, turnips and members of the
cabbage family, may be cooked in a more generous amount of boiling water, but a
considerably greater loss of those valuable vitamins and minerals will result.

Cook leaf vegetables, such as spinach, Swiss chard, beet greens, etc., as above,
but don’t add water—sufficient water clings to the freshly-washed leaves; allow
about 14 teaspoon salt for each pound of vegetable.

Cover corn on the,cob with boiling water and add a tablespoonful or two of
granulated sugar; do not add salt. Cook the corn just long enough to make it edible—
long cooking tends to toughen it rather than to make it more tender.

Vegetables cooked, with their seasonings, in wet cooking parchment, have high

flavor-interest and well-conserved food values. If you plan to serve several vegetables

at the one meal, each prepared vegetable may be sprinkled with salt, dressed with
butter, etc., tied loosely in individual sheets of wet cooking parchment—and all
cooked at once in one large, covered saucepan in about 3 inches boiling water.

Before cooking such vegetables as cauliflower or broccoli, soak a little while,
head down, in salted water to draw out insects; don’t overdo the soaking, or vegetable
will. be water-logged and lose flavor.

STEAMING—This method is considered better than boiling for many of the milder

flavored vegetables, since it saves food values. Sprinkle the prepared vegetables.

with salt, and steam, closely covered, over rapidly-boiling water until just tender.
The seasoned vegetables may be tied in. wet cooking parchment before steaming.

PRESSURE-COOKING—Relatively new, this method produces vegetables of finest
‘“‘fresh”’ flavor and excellent color. It is necessary, however, to follow exactly the
instructions which were worked out for-your cooker by the manufacturer’s home
economists. You must really be on the alert for the moment when pressure reaches
the desired point—and then, keeping that pressure constant, cook the vegetables
the specified length of time, remembering that a minute too little or too much will
usually mean underdone or soft pulpy vegetables. (Have you a bell on your range
which you can set to ring at the required moment? Very helpful!)

FROZEN VEGETABLES should not be defrosted ‘unless for unusual purposes;
corn-on-cob and spinach are exceptions—defrost them before cooking. Drop the block
of frozen vegetable into a small amount of boiling salted water, and cook only for
the brief length of time advised on commercial package. If you do your own freezing,
remember that the blanching of the vegetables which was part of their preparation,
has partially cooked them; you can quickly establish for each of your products the
time which is best for it. Again don’t overcook!

121 LESSON 16

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