Chapter 17

It has been demonstrated that foods rich in fat-soluble A, especially milk, eggs, and leafy vegetables, are most essential in diet. According to McCollum, dry leaves contain 3 to 5 times as much total ash as do seeds; the former are also especially rich in the important elements calcium, sodium, and chlorine, in which the seed is poorest. Hence leafy vegetables not only abound in the growth-promoting vitamine but in certain essential minerals. Cereals, root vegetables, and meat need to be supplemented with milk and leafy vegetables. Because milk, eggs, and leafy vegetables are so valuable and essential in diet, these foods have been termed _protective foods_. Fresh milk contains fat-soluble A and a small quantity of water-soluble B and water-soluble C. Its value as a food has been previously discussed. Doubtless the leafy vegetables are not as generally and as constantly used as they should be. Root vegetables and cereals seem to be a much more popular form of vegetable food. The pupil should realize the importance of these foods and when possible explain their use in her home. Learning to prepare leafy vegetables so as to retain their nutriment and to make them appetizing would doubtless do much in promoting their use.

FOODS CONTAINING WATER-SOLUBLE B.--Water-soluble B is more widely distributed in foods than is fat-soluble A. It occurs for the most part, however, in vegetable foods. Plants containing this vitamine include seeds, root, stem, and leafy vegetables. Whole grains, legumes, spinach, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions, turnips, beets, and tomatoes and all other commonly used vegetables contain water-soluble B. It is thought that the germ of whole grains, rather than the bran, furnishes water-soluble B. Compressed yeast contains some of this vitamine, but none of the other two.

FOODS CONTAINING WATER-SOLUBLE C include both animal and vegetable foods, but fresh fruits and green vegetables contain the largest quantity. Orange juice, lettuce, cabbage, and spinach are valuable sources of this vitamine. Milk and meat contain only a very small quantity of water- soluble C.

SAVING THE NUTRIMENT AND FLAVOR.--It was mentioned in _Suggestions for Cooking Fresh Vegetables_ that a saving of ash in vegetables meant a saving of both nutriment and flavor. If vegetables of delicate flavor are to be made tasty, it is especially necessary to lose none of the ash constituents. Note that in the methods of cooking the vegetables of delicate flavor in this lesson that either the vegetables are cooked in such a way that no moisture needs to be drained from them, or the vegetable stock drained from them is used in making sauce for the vegetable. By these methods both nutriment and flavor are retained.

SPINACH

1 pound or 1/2 peck spinach 1/2 tablespoonful salt 1/8 teaspoonful pepper 2 tablespoonfuls butter

If the spinach is at all wilted, place it in cold water until it becomes fresh and crisp. Cut off the roots, break the leaves apart, and drop them in a pan of water. Wash well, and then lift them into a second pan of water; wash again, and continue until no sand appears in the bottom of the pan. Lift from the water, drain, and place in a granite utensil, and add the seasoning. Steam until tender (usually about 30 minutes). Add the butter, cut the leaves with a knife and fork. Turn into a hot dish and serve at once.

Spinach is most pleasing if served with a few drops of vinegar or a combination of oil and vinegar. If desired, the pepper may be omitted and 1 tablespoonful of sugar added. Spinach may also be garnished with slices of hard-cooked eggs, using 2 eggs to 1/2 peck of spinach.

Spinach may be cooked directly over the flame, as follows: wash the spinach as directed above. Then drain, and place in a saucepan or casserole. Do not add water unless the spinach is old. Add the seasoning, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, pressing down and turning over the spinach several times during the cooking. Cut with a knife and fork in the saucepan or casserole. Add the butter, and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve at once.

SCALLOPED SPINACH WITH CHEESE

1 pound spinach 1 cupful thick White Sauce 1/2 cupful cheese, cut in pieces 2 to 3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced 2 cupfuls buttered bread crumbs

Wash the spinach and cook it by either of the methods given above. Season it with 1/2 tablespoonful of salt.

Drain the moisture from the cooked spinach. Use this liquid combined with milk for the liquid of the White Sauce. Season the sauce with 1/2 teaspoonful of salt and add the cheese to it. Stir the mixture until the cheese is blended with the sauce.

Divide the spinach, sauce, and eggs into 2 portions and the bread crumbs into 3 portions, as directed for Scalloped Corn. Place a layer of crumbs in a baking-dish, add a layer of spinach, sauce, and eggs. Add another layer of each material and finally the third layer of crumbs. Bake in a moderate oven until the materials are heated and the crumbs browned. Serve hot.

DRIED CELERY LEAVES [Footnote 58: The stems of celery from which the leaves are cut, should be utilized. They may be used in a salad or cooked and served with White Sauce as Creamed Celery. If the vegetable is cooked, it should be steamed or cooked in a small quantity of boiling water. In case the latter method is followed, the celery stock should be combined with milk and used in the preparation of the White Sauce.]

Wash celery leaves and remove the stems. Place the leaves on a platter or granite pan, cover with cheese-cloth, and set aside to dry. When perfectly dry, crumble the leaves and place them in a covered jar. Use for flavoring soups and stews.

QUESTIONS

In what kind of soil does spinach grow?

What is the advantage of using two pans in washing spinach?

What is the advantage of cooking in steam green vegetables of delicate flavor?

If green vegetables are cooked in water, what is the advantage in using a small, rather than a large quantity of water?

What is the price of spinach per pound or peck? How many persons does one pound or peck serve?

What is the price of celery per bunch?

What vitamines are present in spinach and celery leaves and stems?

LESSON LXXX

VITAMINES--VEGETABLES OF STRONG FLAVOR

THE EFFECT OF COOKING AND DRYING VITAMINE-RICH FOODS.--Since vitamines are so essential in food, the effect of cooking and drying upon the vitamine content of a food needs to be considered. There has been some difference of opinion regarding this matter. Indeed, the question of whether or not vitamines of all vitamine-rich foods are destroyed by cooking and drying has not been determined. It is thought, however, that fat-soluble A may be destroyed in part by cooking at boiling temperature and that prolonged cooking may almost entirely destroy it.

Water-soluble B is thought to be little affected by ordinary home cooking processes. But when foods containing it are heated above boiling temperature, as in commercial canning and cooking in the pressure cooker, the vitamine is believed to be partially or completely destroyed. It is thought the water-soluble B vitamine present in foods is destroyed by cooking them in water to which baking soda or any alkali is added.

Water-soluble C is decidedly affected by heat. Vegetables cooked for even twenty minutes at boiling temperature lose much of their usefulness in preventing scurvy. It is thought, however, that very young carrots cooked for a short time, and canned tomatoes, contain water-soluble C. Drying also destroys to a great extent the anti-scorbutic effect of foods containing water-soluble C. Most dried vegetables and fruits have been found valueless in checking scurvy.

Since there is no question about the vitamine content of uncooked vegetables, the use of salads containing lettuce and raw vegetables such as cabbage and carrots should find favor. Spinach is a valuable food not only because it

contains vitamines, but because it is rich in iron. Young beet tops so often discarded contain too much valuable material to be wasted.

NUTRIMENT _VERSUS_ FLAVOR.--If vegetables of strong flavor are cooked carefully in a large quantity of boiling water (at least 4 quarts), a mild flavor results, but much of the ash is lost. If vegetables are steamed there is little loss of ash but the strong flavor is retained. In the cooking of cabbage, for example, investigation has shown that almost four times as much ash may be lost by boiling as by steaming.

In the cooking of such vegetables as cabbage and onions the question arises: Is it better to steam them and thus lose little nutriment but preserve the strong flavor; or to boil them in much water and thus lose much nutriment but secure delicate flavor? If strong cabbage flavor is not distasteful, steam it or cook it in a small quantity of water by all means. If delicate cabbage flavor is much more pleasing, cook it in much water. Onions have such a strong flavor that most housekeepers prefer to sacrifice nutriment for flavor.

CREAMED CABBAGE (Cooked in Much Water)

A head of cabbage should be cut into quarters and placed in cold water. If it is wilted, it should remain in the water until freshened. Cook the cabbage uncovered from 15 to 25 minutes in a large quantity of boiling water (1 teaspoonful of salt to I quart of water). The time depends upon the age of the cabbage. Drain well. With the knife and fork cut the cabbage in the saucepan. (Do not discard the core of young cabbage since it contains valuable nutrients.) Mix with White Sauce, using two parts of cabbage to one of White Sauce. Heat and serve (see _Creamed and Scalloped Vegetables_).

_Scalloped Cabbage_ may be prepared by placing creamed cabbage in a baking-dish, covering with Buttered Crumbs and baking until the crumbs are brown.

Instead of using White Sauce with the cabbage, butter (or substitute), pepper, and more salt (if required) may be added. Use 1 tablespoonful of butter (or substitute) to each pint of cabbage.

CABBAGE (COOKED IN LITTLE WATER)

Clean cabbage, then cut or chop both the leaves and core. Cook in a _small quantity_ of boiling water from 15 to 25 minutes. The small quantity of stock which remains after cooking should be served with the vegetable to which butter (or substitute) and seasonings are added.

The stock may also be drained from the cabbage and used in making White Sauce in which the vegetable is served.

CREAMED CABBAGE (STEAMED)

Cut and clean cabbage as directed above. Place in a granite utensil and steam until tender (usually about 45 minutes). Cut the leaves and add White Sauce as directed above.

ONIONS (COOKED IN MUCH WATER)

1 pound onions 1/2 cupful milk 1 to 2 tablespoonfuls butter 1/2 teaspoonful salt Pepper

Peel and wash the onions; then cook uncovered in a large quantity of boiling salted water; change the water at the end of 5 minutes and again in 10 minutes; cook until tender. Drain; add milk and seasonings and cook until the milk is hot.

NOTE.--It is advisable to save the water drained from onions, boil it down, and use it in soups, stews, or hash for flavor.

Onions may also be served with White Sauce, or they may be scalloped, _i.e._ cut into quarters, placed in a baking-dish, covered

with White Sauce and Buttered Crumbs, and then browned in the oven.

The stain and odor may be kept from the hands if onions are held under water when peeled.

If onions are cooked uncovered in a _large quantity of gently boiling water in a well-ventilated kitchen_, not much odor is noticed. The fireless cooker, however, provides satisfactory means of cooking onions without the disagreeable odor (see Lesson XXII). Place the onions in a large quantity of water and boil for 5 minutes. Then cook in the fireless cooker from 2 to 8 hours, according to the size and the age of the onions, and the type of cooker.

QUESTIONS

Compare the three methods of cooking cabbage given in this lesson. State the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Why should the core or thick stem of cabbage be used as food?

What is the price per pound of cabbage? What is the weight of one cabbage of average size? Give suggestions for selecting a cabbage.

Why should onions be peeled under water?

What is the purpose of changing the water twice in cooking onions?

Why is it advisable to save the water drained from onions and use it in soups and other foods?

What is the price per pound of onions? How many persons will one pound of onions serve?

LESSON LXXXI

SALADS (A)

PREPARATION OF A SALAD.--A well-prepared salad is a good food. It is necessary, however, to prepare it so that it may be pleasing in appearance as well as in taste. The green vegetables used for salads should be crisp, cold, and dry when served. If several food materials are used, the flavors should blend. Have the salad dressing well seasoned, and its ingredients well proportioned. Add the dressing to a salad just before serving.

LETTUCE FOR SALAD

Either leaf or head lettuce forms a part of almost all salads. It is often used as a bed for a salad, or as a border. For the latter purpose, leaf lettuce should be used and cut into strips with the scissors. Keep lettuce in a cold place; separate the leaves, and place them in cold water until crisp and fresh. Wash and look over carefully to see that no insects cling to them. Shake the water from the leaves or place them in a cloth bag or a wire basket. Then place the bag or basket in the refrigerator to drain. The leaves may also be dried with a towel.

Lettuce served with French Dressing makes a plain but pleasing salad. When lettuce is used as a bed or border for a salad, it should be eaten and not left to be turned into the garbage can.

FRENCH DRESSING

Clove of garlic _or_ Slice of onion 1 teaspoonful salt 6 tablespoonfuls salad oil half teaspoonful paprika 2 tablespoonfuls vinegar or lemon juice

Rub a bowl with the clove of garlic or slice of onion. Add the remainder of the ingredients, and stir until well blended. More vinegar or lemon juice may be used, if desired. Chopped parsley or mint may be added.

Some find it convenient to put the materials for French Dressing in a bottle or jar and mix the ingredients by shaking the bottle.

For Fruit Salads, the addition of 1 tablespoonful of sugar and 1 teaspoonful of lemon juice to the French Dressing recipe above makes a pleasing flavor. Celery salt is thought by some to improve the flavor. From a quarter to a half teaspoonful may be added.

COLESLAW

3 cupfuls shredded cabbage 1/2 teaspoonful salt 1/2 teaspoonful mustard Cayenne 1 teaspoonful sugar 1 egg or 2 egg yolks 1/2 cupful milk 2 teaspoonfuls butter or substitute 1/4 cupful vinegar

Heat the milk in a double boiler. Beat the eggs, add the dry ingredients. Then add the milk to them. Return the mixture to the double boiler and cook as a custard (see _Soft Custard_). Remove from the hot water, add the fat and vinegar, and _at once_ strain over the cabbage. Set aside to cool. Serve cold.

CARROT AND CABBAGE SALAD

1 medium-sized carrot 2 cupfuls cabbage 1/2 cupful roasted peanuts French or Cream Salad Dressing

Clean and scrape the carrot. Wash the cabbage. Put the carrot (uncooked), cabbage, and peanuts through the food chopper. Mix with French or Cream Salad Dressing. Add more seasoning if necessary. Serve at once.

QUESTIONS

Explain why it is necessary to dry the salad materials before adding the salad dressing.

Give at least three different vegetable mixtures that would be palatable and pleasing if served with French Dressing.

How is cabbage cleaned? How should it be cut for salad?

When is the dressing usually added to salads? When is the dressing added to the Coleslaw? Give the reason for this exception.

What is the purpose of the egg in this salad dressing? What could be substituted for the egg? Give the method of preparation if this substitution were made.

What is the price per pound of leaf lettuce? Of head lettuce per pound or per head? What is the average number of leaves in a pound?

What materials in Carrot and Cabbage Salad contain vitamines? State the kind of vitamine present in each material.

LESSON LXXXII

SALADS (B)

STUFFED EGGS

Cut hard-cooked eggs into halves crosswise. Remove the yolks, mash them, and for each egg add the following ingredients:

1 tablespoonful chopped chicken, ham, or other meat Dash salt 1 teaspoonful vegetable oil or melted butter 6 drops vinegar 1/8 teaspoonful mustard Cayenne

Mix the ingredients. Refill the whites with the yolk mixture. Serve the stuffed eggs on lettuce leaves.

The chopped chicken or meat may be omitted from the egg mixture, or a little chopped pickle or olive or cheese may be used instead of the meat. Salad dressing may be served with Stuffed Eggs.

CREAM SALAD DRESSING

3 tablespoonfuls butter _or_ substitute 4 tablespoonfuls flour 2 tablespoonfuls sugar Pepper 1 to 2 eggs l 1/2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/2 teaspoonful mustard 1 1/2 cupfuls milk (sweet _or_ sour) 1/2 cupful vinegar

Make a sauce of the fat, flour, and milk. Beat the eggs, add the seasonings. Add the first mixture gradually to the egg mixture and cook over hot water as a custard (see _Soft Custard_). Add the vinegar, strain. Cool before serving.

Less mustard may be used, if desired.

BANANA SALAD

Peel and scrape bananas. Place them on lettuce leaves or surround with a border of shredded lettuce. Cover with Cream Salad or Mayonnaise Dressing and sprinkle chopped peanuts or California walnuts over them. Serve at once.

Banana Salad may be varied by serving it with Cream Salad Dressing to which peanut butter is added,--(1/2 cupful salad dressing and 1/4 cupful peanut butter). Do not use the chopped peanuts with this combination. A mixture of sliced apples and bananas served with the peanut butter dressing makes a pleasing salad.

QUESTIONS

Name the food materials contained in the above recipes which contain vitamines. What kind of vitamines does each contain?

Give two methods of hard-cooking eggs (see _Hard-cooked Eggs_).

In Stuffed Eggs what meats could be substituted for chopped chicken or ham?

What material could be substituted for one of the eggs in Cream Salad Dressing?

If yolks of eggs are used in Cream Salad Dressing, how many should be substituted for two whole eggs?

Why should bananas be scraped?

Why should they be served at once after preparing?

LESSON LXXXIII

CLASSIFICATION OF THE FOODSTUFFS

Substances that nourish the body may be classified as follows:

/ (_a_) Starch / Carbohydrates \ (_b_) Sugar Energy Givers | Fats \ Protein

[Footnote 59: Carbohydrates also include cellulose. But because cellulose does not yield any appreciable amount of energy, it is not listed with starch and sugar.]

/ Complete Proteins / Protein Body Builders \ Incomplete Proteins \ Ash

/ Ash Body Regulators | Water / (_a_) Fat-soluble A \ Vitamines | (_b_) Water-soluble B \ (_c_) Water-soluble C

[Footnote 60: "So little is known regarding the chemical composition of vitamines that it is difficult to classify them. Since the three food essentials termed as fat-soluble A, water-soluble B, and water-soluble C are individual substances and very different in character, it may be that they will be classified later as three separate foodstuffs. It could then be said that there are eight foodstuffs."]

Make lists of foods rich in:

(1) Water. (2) Ash. (3) Carbohydrates. Subdivide foods rich in carbohydrates, into foods rich in (_a_) sugar, (_b_) starch, (_c_) cellulose (_i.e._ bulky foods). (4) Fats. (5) Protein. Indicate those foods that contain _complete_ proteins and those that contain _incomplete_ proteins. (6) Vitamines. Subdivide foods rich in vitamines into foods rich in fat-soluble A, water-soluble B, water-soluble C.

Explain why certain foods are contained in two or more lists.

RELATED WORK

LESSON LXXXIV

SELECTING FOOD

MARKETING _VERSUS_ TELEPHONING.--Visits to food markets or grocery stores are most essential, especially if one is learning to buy. It is first necessary to find desirable market places or stores,--those that are clean and reliable. Screened windows and doors, and adequate bins, boxes, jars, or other receptacles for storing foods are necessary in keeping foods clean. After one has found desirable places for marketing, it is well to become acquainted with desirable brands of staple canned or package goods. After this knowledge is gained such foods may be ordered by telephone, or by messenger with satisfaction.

But no matter how experienced the buyer, it is more satisfactory to select at markets perishable goods such as meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables that wilt readily. In certain cases where the housekeeper has such obligations or so many duties that a personal visit to markets is impossible, food must be purchased by telephone or messenger. Such a procedure, however, is usually followed at the sacrifice of economy and satisfaction in buying.

FRESH _VERSUS_ CANNED FOODS.--Fresh foods of good quality are generally more desirable both from the standpoint of flavor and nutriment than canned goods. When, however, fresh foods are unseasonable, their price may greatly exceed that of canned foods. A good rule to follow is to buy fresh foods when they are in season and the canned ones when fresh foods of reasonable price cannot be secured. The practice of buying perishable foods, especially fruits, when they are abundant and canning them for later use is thrifty.

To buy factory-canned fruits and vegetables when fresh winter fruits, such as cranberries, oranges, and apples, and root vegetables may be purchased is questionable both from the standpoint of economy and nutriment. It is often more economical to purchase dried rather than canned fruits. The former usually contain more food value per pound.

BULK _VERSUS_ PACKAGE GOODS.--Time spent in placing and sealing foods in packages and the cost of the containers make the price of package foods exceed those sold in bulk. Moreover, large packages usually cost more proportionately than small ones. On the other hand, package foods may be cleaner, require less handling, and are often much more inviting because of their attractive wrapping. It does not follow, however, that all foods sold in containers are cleaner than those sold in bulk. Unsanitary conditions sometimes prevail at factories where the foods are packed. It is a safe rule to buy in package form only those foods which cannot be washed or sterilized by cooking.

UNCOOKED _VERSUS_ COOKED FOODS.--Not only breads, cakes, certain cereals, and canned goods may be purchased ready cooked, but other foods, such as salads and puddings, may be bought in certain markets and stores. Such foods are much higher in price than those of equal quality prepared at home. The cost of labor, fuel, and "overhead expense" as well as of materials must be paid for by the purchaser. Unless one is engaged in business other than housekeeping or one's housekeeping duties are too arduous it is generally not wise to make a practice of buying cooked foods.

LARGE _VERSUS_ SMALL QUANTITIES.--It is usually wasteful to purchase perishable foods in large quantities. Fresh meats, perishable fruits such as berries, and green vegetables should be purchased only in quantities sufficient for immediate use. It is sometimes economical, as far as fuel and time are concerned, to buy enough fresh meat for two days' consumption, provided all of it can be cooked on the first day, and then used cold or merely reheated on the second day.

Unless storage space is limited, flour should not be purchased in less than 25 pound sacks. In less quantity than this it usually costs more per pound. It is wise for small families, however, to purchase flour and other grains in smaller quantities in the summer time since weevils may infest such food materials.