Science in the Kitchen Part 28

BOILED GREEN CORN.--Remove the husks and every thread of the silk fiber. Place in a kettle, the larger ears at the bottom, with sufficient boiling water nearly to cover. Cover with the clean inner husks, and cook from twenty to thirty minutes, according to the age of the corn; too much cooking hardens it and detracts from its flavor. Try a kernel, and when the milk has thickened, and a raw taste is no longer apparent, it is sufficiently cooked. Green corn is said to be sweeter, boiled with the inner husks on. For cooking in this way, strip off all outer husks, and remove the silk, tying the inner husk around the ear with a bit of thread, and boil. Remove from the kettle, place in a heated dish, cover with a napkin and serve at once on the cob. Some recommend scoring or splitting the corn by drawing a sharp knife through each row lengthwise.

This is a wise precaution against insufficient mastication.

STEWED CORN PULP.--Take six ears of green corn or enough to make a pint of raw pulp; with a sharp knife cut a thin shaving from each row of kernels or score each kernel, and with the back of the knife sc.r.a.pe out the pulp, taking care to leave the hulls on the cob. Heat a cup and a half of rich milk--part cream if it can be afforded--to boiling, add the corn, cook twenty or thirty minutes; season with salt and a teaspoonful of sugar if desired.

CORN CAKES.--To a pint of corn pulp add two well-beaten eggs and two tablespoonfuls of flour; season with salt if desired, and brown on a griddle. Canned corn finely chopped can be used, but two tablespoonfuls of milk should be added, as the corn is less moist.

CORN PUDDING.--One quart of corn pulp prepared as for stewing, one quart of milk, three eggs, and a little salt. Mix the corn with a pint of the milk, and heat it to boiling. Break the eggs into the remainder of the milk, and add it to the corn, turn all into an oiled pudding dish, and bake slowly until the custard is well set.

ROASTED GREEN CORN.--Remove the husks and silk, and place the corn before an open grate or in a wire broiler over hot coals until the kernels burst open, or bury in hot ashes without removing the husks.

Score the grains, and serve from the cob.

STEWED GREEN CORN.--Cut the corn from the cob and with the back of the knife sc.r.a.pe off all the pulp, being careful to leave the hull on the cob. Put into a stewpan with half as much water as corn, cover closely and stew gently until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently to prevent the corn from sticking to the pan; add cream or milk to make the requisite amount of juice, and season with salt if desired. A teaspoonful of white sugar may be added if desired.

Cold boiled corn cut from the cob and stewed a few minutes in a little milk, makes a very palatable dish.

SUMMER SUCCOTASH.--This maybe made by cooking equal quant.i.ties of sh.e.l.led beans and corn cut from the cob, separately until tender, and then mixing them; or the beans may be cooked until nearly soft, an equal quant.i.ty of shaved corn added, and the whole cooked fifteen or twenty minutes or longer. Season with cream, and salt if desired.

DRIED CORN.--The sweet varieties of corn taken when young and tender and properly dried, furnish an excellent material for nearly all purposes to which green corn is put. Take green corn, just right for eating, have it free from silk; cut the fleshy portion from the cob with a sharp knife, then with the back of the knife gently press the remaining pulp from the cob. Spread thinly on plates and put into an oven hot enough to scald, not scorch it. Watch closely for a half hour or more, turning and stirring frequently with a fork. When thus thoroughly scalded, the corn may be left without further attention if placed in a moderate oven, save an occasional stirring to prevent its sticking to the plate, until the drying is complete, which ought to be in about forty-eight hours; however, if one can spend the time to watch closely and stir very frequently, the drying may be completed in a single afternoon in a rather hot oven. Be careful that it does not scorch.

When needed for use, soak over night and cook in accordance with recipes for Stewed Corn, Succotash, etc., pages 265, 234, only remembering to allow a longer time.

_RECIPES FOR PEAS._

STEWED PEAS.--If from the garden, pick and sh.e.l.l the peas with clean hands; if from the market, wash the pods before sh.e.l.ling, so that the peas will not require was.h.i.+ng, as they are much better without. When sh.e.l.led, put into a colander and sift out the fine particles and undeveloped blossoms. If not of equal growth, sort the peas and put the older ones to cook ten minutes before the others. Use a porcelain kettle, with one half pint of boiling water for each quart of peas, if young and tender; older ones, which require longer stewing, need more.

Cover closely, and simmer gently till tender. The time required for young peas is from twenty-five to thirty minutes; older ones require forty to fifty minutes. Serve without draining, season with salt and enough sweet cream to make them as juicy as desired. If preferred, the juice may be thickened with a little flour.

The peas may be purposely stewed in a larger quant.i.ty of water, and served in their own juices thickened with a little flour and seasoned with salt.

_RECIPES FOR BEANS._

LIMA BEANS.--Lima beans are not good until they are full grown and have turned white. Sh.e.l.l, wash, cover with boiling water, and cook about one hour or until tender. Let the water nearly evaporate, and add milk or cream thickened with a little flour. Season with salt to taste, boil up once, and serve.

Sh.e.l.lED BEANS.--Sh.e.l.l, wash, drop into boiling water sufficient to cover, and cook until tender. Let the water boil nearly away, and serve without draining. Season with thin cream, and salt if desired.

STRING BEANS.--Wash well in cold water. Remove the strong fiber, or strings, as they are called, by paring both edges with a sharp knife; few cooks do this thoroughly. Break off stems and points, carefully rejecting any imperfect or diseased pods. Lay a handful evenly on a board and cut them all at once into inch lengths. Put in a porcelain kettle, cover with boiling water, and cook from one to three hours, according to age and variety, testing frequently, as they should be removed from the kettle just as soon as done. When very young and tender, only water sufficient to keep them from burning will be needed.

When done, add a half cup of thin cream, and salt to taste. If the quant.i.ty of juice is considerable, thicken with a little flour.

THE ONION.

The onion belongs to a cla.s.s of foods containing an acrid oil of a strongly irritating character, on which account it cannot be considered a wholesome food when eaten raw, as it so generally is. The essential oil is, however, quite volatile, so that when cooked, after being first parboiled in two or three waters, its irritating properties are largely removed. The varieties grown in warm climates are much milder and sweeter than those grown in colder countries. The onion is valuable for flavoring purposes. It may also be boiled and served whole with a cream sauce, or cut in quarters and prepared as directed for Scalloped Turnips, page 242.

CANNING VEGETABLES.

Most housekeepers experience more difficulty in canning and keeping vegetables than fruit. This is frequently owing to lack of care to secure perfect cans, covers, and rubbers, and to cook the vegetables thoroughly. Whatever is to be canned must be cooked sufficiently to be eaten, and must be boiling at the time it is put into the cans. Care as to the cleanliness of the cans and their sterilization is also important, and after the canning process is completed, all vegetables put up in gla.s.s should be kept in a cool, dark place. The general directions given for canning fruits should be followed in canning vegetables.

_RECIPES._

CANNED CORN.--Select corn just ripe enough for table use, and prepare as directed for stewed corn. It will require from twelve to fifteen ears to fill sufficiently each quart can. To insure success, the cans should be so full that when the corn is shrunken by the cooking, the can will still be well filled. Pack the corn in the cans, working it down closely by means of the small end of a potato masher, so the milk will cover the corn and completely fill the can; heap a little more corn loosely on the top, and screw the covers on sufficiently tight to prevent water from getting into the can. Place the cans in a boiler, on the bottom of which has been placed some straw or a rack; also take care not to let the cans come in contact with each other, by wrapping each in a cloth or by placing a chip between them. A double layer of cans may be placed in the boiler, one on top of the other, if desirable, provided there is some intervening substance. Fill the boiler with cold water so as completely to cover the cans; place over the fire, bring gradually to a boil, and keep boiling steadily for four hours. Remove the boiler from the fire, and allow the cans to cool gradually, tightening the covers frequently as they cool.

If the corn in the can shrinks, do not open to refill. If cooked thoroughly, and due care is taken in other particulars, there need be no failure. Wrap closely in brown paper, and put away in a dark, cool, dry place.

CANNED CORN AND TOMATOES.--Use about one third corn and two thirds tomatoes, or in equal portions if preferred. Cook the tomatoes in a double boiler for an hour and a half or longer; and in another double boiler, when the tomatoes are nearly done, cook the corn in its own juices until thoroughly done. Turn them together, heat to boiling, and can at once.

CANNED PEAS.--Select peas which are fresh, young, and tender.

Sh.e.l.l, pack into perfect cans, shaking and filling as full as possible, add sufficient cold water to fill them to overflowing, screw on the covers, and cook and seal the same as directed for canning corn.

CANNED TOMATOES.--Tomatoes for canning should be freshly gathered, ripe, but not at all softened.

As they are best cooked in their own juices, peel, slice, put into a double boiler or a porcelain fruit-kettle set inside a dish filled with boiling water, and cook from one to two hours. Cooked in the ordinary way, great care will be required to keep the fruit from burning. When thoroughly cooked--simple scalding will not do--put into cans, and be sure that all air bubbles are expelled before sealing. Wrap in dark brown paper, and put in a cool, dry, dark place.

CANNED TOMATOES NO. 2.--Cut the fruit into thick slices, let it stand and drain until a large portion of the juice has drained off; then pack solid in new or perfect cans. Allow them to stand a little time, then again drain off the juice; fill up a second time with sliced tomatoes, and screw on the top of the cans without the rubbers. Pack into a wash boiler as directed for canning corn, and boil for two hours, then put on the rubbers and seal. When cold, tighten the covers and put away.

STRING BEANS.--Select young and tender beans, string them, and cut into pieces about one half inch in length. Pack the cans as full as possible, and fill with water until every crevice between the beans is full. Screw on the covers and can in the same manner as corn.

Sh.e.l.led beans may be canned in the same way.

CANNED PUMPKIN AND SQUASH.--These fruits when canned are quite as desirable for pies as the fresh material. The same general rules should be followed as in canning other vegetables and fruits.

TABLE TOPICS.

The word "vegetarian" is not derived from "vegetable," but from the Latin, _h.o.m.o vegetus_, meaning among the Romans a strong, robust, thoroughly healthy man.

AN INTELLECTUAL FEAST.--Professor Louis Aga.s.siz in his early manhood visited Germany to consult Oken, the transcendentalist in zoological cla.s.sification. "After I had delivered to him my letter of introduction," he once said to a friend, "Oken asked me to dine with him, and you may suppose with what joy I accepted the invitation.

The dinner consisted only of potatoes, boiled and roasted; but it was the best dinner I ever ate; for there was Oken. Never before were such potatoes grown on this planet; for the mind of the man seemed to enter into what we ate sociably together, and I devoured his intellect while munching his potatoes."

Dr. Abernethy's recipe for using cuc.u.mbers: "Peel the cuc.u.mber, slice it, pepper it, put vinegar to it, then throw it out the window."

A green son of the Emerald Isle was eating sweet corn from the cob for the first time. He handed the cob to the waiter, and asked, "Will you plaze put some more beans on my shtick?"

A French physician styles spinach, _le balai de l'estomac_ (broom of the stomach).

An ox is satisfied with the pasture of an acre or two; one wood suffices for several elephants. Man alone supports himself by the pillage of the whole earth and sea. What? Has Nature indeed given us so insatiable a stomach, while she has given us so insignificant bodies? No; it is not the hunger of our stomachs, but insatiable covetousness which costs so much.--_Seneca._

The oftener we go to the vegetable world for our food, the oftener we go to the first and therefore the cheapest source of supply. The tendencies of all advanced scholars in thrift should be to find out plans for feeding all the community, as far as possible, direct from the lap of earth; to impress science into our service so that she may prepare the choicest viands minus the necessity of making a lower animal the living laboratory for the sake of what is just a little higher than cannibal propensities.

_--Dr. B.W. Richardson._

A VOICE FROM THE CORN.