Vegetables of all kinds should be thoroughly picked over, throwing out
all decayed or unripe parts, then well washed in several waters. Most
vegetables, when peeled, are better when laid in cold water a short
time before cooking. When partly cooked a little salt should be thrown
into the water in which they are boiled, and they should cook steadily
after they are put on, not allowed to stop boiling or simmering until
they are thoroughly done. Every sort of culinary vegetable is much
better when freshly gathered and cooked as soon as possible, and, when
done, thoroughly drained, and served immediately while hot.
Onions, cabbage, carrots and turnips should be cooked in a great deal
of water, boiled only long enough to sufficiently cook them, and
immediately drained. Longer boiling makes them insipid in taste, and
with too little water they turn a dark color.
Potatoes rank first in importance in the vegetable line, and
consequently should be properly served. It requires some little
intelligence to cook even so simple and common a dish as boiled
potatoes. In the first place, all defective or green ones should be
cast out; a bad one will flavor a whole dish. If they are not uniform
in size, they should be made so by cutting after they are peeled. The
best part of a potato, or the most nutritious, is next to the skin,
therefore they should be pared very thinly, if at all; then, if old,
the cores should be cut out, thrown into cold water salted a little,
and boiled until soft enough for a fork to pierce through easily;
drain immediately, and replace the kettle on the fire with the cover
partly removed, until they are completely dried. New potatoes should
be put into boiling water, and when partly done salted a little. They
should be prepared just in time for cooking by scraping off the thin
outside skin. They require about twenty minutes to boil.