TABLE I

COMPOSITION AND FOOD VALUE OF VEGETABLES

PURCHASE OF VEGETABLES

20.As in the case of other foods, the purchase of vegetables in the market requires special knowledge and attention in order that the best value may be obtained for the money expended. The housewife who has a limited amount of money to spend for food does not buy wisely when she purchases vegetables out of season or those which must be shipped long distances. On the other hand, it will be found that vegetables bought in season as well as those which are plentiful in the particular locality in which they are sold, especially if they are perishable vegetables, are lowest in price and are in the best condition for food. Therefore, whether the income is limited or not, it is wisdom on the part of the housewife to buy vegetables that grow in the neighboring region and to purchase them when they are in season.

21.A very important point for the housewife to keep in mind regarding the purchase of vegetables is that their price is determined not by their value as food, but by their scarcity and the demand for them. Take, for example, the case of mushrooms. As shown in Table I, this vegetable is low in food value, containing only 210 calories to the pound, but, if purchased, they are always an expensive food. The high price asked for mushrooms is entirely dependent on their scarcity. If there is much demand in a certain community for a food that is not plentiful in the market, the price of that food always goes up. As in the case of mushrooms, many expensive foods add practically nothing in the way of nourishment, their only value being in the variety of flavor they supply.

22.Furthermore, in order to provide wisely, the person who purchases vegetables for the family should be able to judge whether she is getting full value in food for the money she invests. She cannot always do this with each particular vegetable purchased, but she can buy in such a way that what she purchases will average correctly in this respect. The perishable vegetables should be bought as fresh as possible. No difficulty will be experienced in determining this, for they will soon wither or rot if they are not fresh, but the point is to find out their condition before they are bought. The housewife should be ever on the alert and should examine carefully the vegetables she buys before they are accepted from the grocer or taken from the market. In the case of certain vegetables, it is possible to conceal the fact that they are stale. For instance, the outside leaves of a head of lettuce or endive are sometimes removed and only the bleached center is offered for sale; but this always indicates that the outside leaves were either withered or spoiled or they would not have been taken off.

23.Much of the spoiling of vegetables can be avoided if proper attention is given to them in the market. Food of this kind should be so displayed that it is not exposed to the dirt and dust of the street, nor to flies and other destructive vermin. The practice of displaying vegetables on a stand in front of a store is gradually losing favor with the housewife who understands the sanitary precautions that should be taken with foods. On the other hand, housewives owe it to the merchant not to handle the foods they are going to buy, for the handling of them not only injures them so that they will not keep well, but renders them unfit to be accepted by the next purchaser.

24.The manner in which vegetables are sold should also receive consideration. It has been the custom to sell them by measure, but both housewives and merchants have come to realize that it is fairer to sell them by weight. Experience has shown that a pound is much more likely to be always uniform than is a quart or a peck. This is due to the fact that no two dealers are likely to measure in exactly the same way, even though the measures they use are up to the standard in size. Then, too, especially in the case of vegetables that are of various sizes and shapes, it is impossible to fill a measure properly because of the shape of the vegetables, and so either the housewife often receives short measure or the merchant gives more than the measure requires. All difficulty of this kind is entirely overcome when vegetables are weighed.

CARE OF VEGETABLES

25. PERISHABLE VEGETABLES,that is, those which spoil quickly, are usually bought in small quantities, and so are used up quickly. However, if they are kept on hand for only a day or so, they require a definite amount of care in order to insure the most satisfactory results in their use. To prevent them from spoiling or withering, they should be kept in a cool, damp place until they are needed. The most effective and convenient way in which to accomplish this is to store them in a refrigerator or other similar device. If ice cannot be obtained, the cellar should be utilized. Before vegetables of this kind are put away after being delivered from the market, they should be looked over carefully, and any that are spoiled should be discarded in order to prevent others that they might touch from becoming tainted. As little handling as possible, however, is advantageous, because when such foods become bruised and are then allowed to stand they are likely to spoil very quickly.

26.The less perishable vegetables, commonly called WINTER VEGETABLES because they may be kept through the winter, may be bought in quantity, provided proper storage facilities to prevent them from spoiling are available. Potatoes, in particular, are usually purchased in this way, for, as a rule, they may be obtained at a better price than when bought in small quantities, and then, too, they are a vegetable that most families use nearly every day. If they are bought in quantity, they should first be thoroughly tested, for often a potato looks very well on the outside while its texture and flavor may not be at all in accordance with its appearance. Great care should also be exercised to see that this vegetable, as well as carrots, turnips, parsnips, etc., has not been frosted, for frost ruins them as to texture and keeping qualities.

All such vegetables as these, provided they must be stored for any length of time, keep best in a cold, fairly dry atmosphere. To prevent them from sprouting, the storage room should, if possible, be kept dark, but in case they do sprout, the sprouts should be removed as soon as they are discovered. The best receptacles for the storage of these winter vegetables are bins, a convenient type of which is shown inEssentials of Cookery, Part 2, and the most satisfactory place in which to put such bins is a cellar that has a dirt floor rather than a board or a cement floor.

27.Because of their difference in physical structure, both as plants or parts of plants, and their variation in chemical composition, it is a rather difficult matter to classify vegetables. The vegetables that are discussed throughout these Sections are therefore not included in any classes, but are arranged alphabetically, a plan that the housewife will find very convenient. However, there are a few general classes whose names and characteristics should be known by the housewife, for an understanding of them will enable her to make a more intelligent use of this food. These classes, together with a brief description of the features that characterize them and the names by which the principal varieties are known, are here given.

[Illustration: FIG. 1]

28. SUCCULENT VEGETABLESare those which are generally eaten for their appetizing effect and their value as a source of mineral salts and bulk. These vegetables, which get their name from the fact that they are juicy in texture, include the greens, such as spinach, Swiss chard, dandelion, lettuce, etc., also celery, asparagus, cabbage, and all other plants whose green leaves and stems are edible. Succulent vegetables may be cooked, but they are often used as cold relishes or in the making of salads.

29. ROOT, TUBER, and BULB VEGETABLESform another class. Examples of several well-known roots are shown in Fig. 1, which from left to right are salsify, carrots, turnips, and parsnips. The varieties included in this class are closely related as to food value, and on the whole average much higher in this characteristic than do the succulent vegetables. Irish potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes are examples of tubers; sweet potatoes, beets, radishes, etc., in addition to the vegetables shown in Fig. 1, belong to the roots; and onions and all the vegetables related to the onion, such as garlic, shallots, and leeks, are illustrations of bulbs or enlarged underground stems.

30. FRUIT and FLOWER VEGETABLESform a third class. They present great variety in appearance, structure, and composition. To this class belong cucumbers, eggplant, winter and summer squash, vegetable marrow, tomatoes, peppers, and okra, which are in reality fruits but are used as vegetables. Flower vegetables include California, or French, artichokes, and cauliflower, all of which are in reality the buds of flowers or plants and are eaten for food.

31. LEGUMESform a fourth class of vegetables, and they include all the varieties of beans, peas, and lentils. When these foods are mature and dried, they have the highest food value of all the vegetables. Among the beans are Lima beans, kidney beans, navy, or soup, beans, soy beans, and many others. The peas include the various garden varieties that have been allowed to mature, cow-peas, and many others, some of which are not suitable for human consumption. The lentils occur in numerous varieties, too, but those commonly used are the red, yellow, and black ones. To legumes also belong peanuts, but as they are seldom used as vegetables in cookery, no further mention is made of them in this Section.

VARIETIES OF VEGETABLES AND THEIR PREPARATION

32. PREPARING VEGETABLES FOR COOKING.--Before many vegetables can be cooked, they require a certain amount of preparation, such as washing, soaking, peeling, cutting up into suitable sizes, etc. When they must be peeled, great care should be taken not to remove too much of the vegetable with the skin. Whenever it is possible to do so, vegetables should be cooked in their skins, as there is much less waste of edible material if the skins are removed after cooking. Potatoes that are to be fried, hashed brown, or used for salad and other similar dishes may be boiled in their skins and peeled afterwards just as conveniently as to be peeled first and then boiled. Indeed, this plan is strongly recommended, for it not only saves material that is removed in the peeling but also conserves the mineral salts and the soluble food material, much of which is lost in the water during the cooking.

33.If it is desired to remove the peeling before cooking, it will be found more economical to put the vegetables in water and then scrape off the skins than to cut them off with a knife. This method is especially satisfactory with new potatoes and with such vegetables as carrots, parsnips, salsify, and turnips. The scraping can be accomplished more easily if the vegetables are first plunged into boiling water for a few minutes and then dipped into cold water.

When entire heads of such vegetables as cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, etc. are to be cooked, they should be soaked, head down, for at least 1/2 hour in salted water made by adding 1 teaspoon-full of salt to 1 quart of water. This is done in order to remove any bugs or worms that may be lodged in the head. The correct proportion of salt is an important detail of this process, for if salt water that is too strong is used, it will kill the bugs or worms and they will remain in the head.

34. METHODS OF COOKING APPLIED TO VEGETABLES.--The usual methods of cooking applied to vegetables are boiling, steaming, baking, stewing, frying, sautéing, broiling, and roasting. Which one of these to select depends, of course, on the particular kind of vegetable that is to be cooked and the result that is desired, but, if possible, an effort should be made to select an economical method. Starchy vegetables, such as Irish and sweet potatoes, beans, etc., develop a more delicious flavor when they are baked than when they are cooked by any other method of preparation. Steaming is an excellent means of preparing vegetables that must be cooked by moist heat, especially when it is desired that no soluble material be lost, as is often the case in boiling. Frying and sautéing, when applied to vegetables, usually produce a delicious flavor, but often render the vegetables decidedly indigestible. For this reason, vegetables so prepared should seldom if ever be served to children and to persons whose digestion is not good.

35. EFFECT OF COOKING ON VEGETABLES.--The various ways in which cooking affects vegetables should be thoroughly understood by the housewife. In the first place, some methods conserve the food material whereas others waste it. For instance, boiling in water, which is probably one of the most common ways of cooking vegetables, is decidedly advantageous in some respects, but the water dissolves much of the soluble material, such as mineral salts, sugar, etc., found in the vegetables, so that unless some use is made of this water in the cooking of other foods, considerable waste results. On the other hand, steaming and baking permit no loss of food material, and so they should be applied to vegetables whenever it is desired to conserve food substances.

36.The flavors of vegetables are greatly changed during the process of cooking, being increased in some cases and decreased in others. In the case of such strongly flavored vegetables as cabbage, cauliflower, onions, etc., it is advisable to dissipate part of the flavor. Therefore such vegetables should be cooked in an open vessel in order that the flavor may be decreased by evaporation. Vegetables mild in flavor, however, are improved by being cooked in a closed vessel, for all their flavor should be retained. The overcooking of vegetables is sometimes responsible for an increase of a disagreeable flavor.

37.Another feature of vegetables often changed by cooking is their color. For instance, green vegetables do not, upon cooking, always remain green. In many cases, the color may be improved by adding a very small quantity of soda to the water in which the vegetables are cooked. Attention should also be given to the length of time vegetables are subjected to heat, for the overboiling of some vegetables is liable to develop an unattractive color in them. This is particularly the case with cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, which develop not only a strong, disagreeable flavor but also a reddish color when cooked too long.

38.The application of heat to vegetables also has a definite effect on them. By sufficient cooking, the cellulose of vegetables is softened to the extent that it is less irritating and much more likely to be partly digested than that of raw vegetables. The acids of fruits increase upon cooking, and so the acidity of vegetables is increased to a certain extent. Vegetables that contain starch are rendered digestible in no other way than by cooking. On the other hand, the protein material of this food is coagulated by the application of heat, just as the white of an egg or the tissue of meat is coagulated and hardened. However, cooking is the only means of softening the cellulose that surrounds this material.

Still, high-protein foods, such as beans, peas, and lentils, can be much improved if they are cooked in water that is not very hard. The lime in hard water has a tendency to harden them to the extent that they require a much longer time to cook than when soft water is used. These vegetables may be still further softened by the addition of a small quantity of soda to the water in which they are cooked, but care should be taken not to use too much soda, as it will injure the flavor. When soda is used, the vegetable should be parboiled for 10 or 15 minutes in the soda water and then drained and cooked in fresh water. This method, of course, does not apply to vegetables that are cooked in soda water to retain their color.

39.Salt is always added in the cooking of vegetables to season them. In the use of salt, two important points must be borne in mind: first, that it has the effect of hardening the tissues of the vegetable in much the same manner as it hardens the tissues of meat; and, secondly, that it helps to draw out the flavor of the vegetables. These two facts determine largely the time for adding the salt. If an old, tough, winter vegetable is to be prepared, it should be cooked until nearly soft in water that contains no salt, and the salt should be added just before the cooking is finished. When it is desired to draw out the flavor, as, for instance, when vegetables are cooked for soup or stews, the salt should be supplied when the vegetables are put on to cook. Young tender vegetables may be cooked in salt water, but as such water extracts a certain amount of flavor, an effort should be made to use it in the preparation of stews, sauces, and soups.

40.Vegetables may, of course, be served plain, but they are greatly improved in flavor, nutritive value, and often in appearance by the addition of a well-seasoned sauce. Numerous sauces are used for this purpose, the one to select depending somewhat on the vegetable, the method of cooking employed, and the flavor that is desired. Recipes for the sauces found to be most satisfactory are here given. It will be well to practice the making of these, so as to become familiar with them and thus know just what sauce is meant when reference is made to a particular sauce in the recipes for vegetables. The quantities given in the recipes for sauces will make sufficient sauce to dress the vegetables required for four to six persons. White sauce, which is probably the one that is used oftenest, may be made in various thicknesses, as has been explained previously. However, the medium white sauce has been found to be the one most nearly correct for vegetables and consequently the one most preferred.

MEDIUM WHITE SAUCE

Melt the butter and add the flour, salt, and pepper. Pour into this the milk, which has been previously heated, and cook together until the flour thickens completely. Pour over the vegetable, from which the water has been previously drained, and serve.

VEGETABLE SAUCE

Melt the butter, add the flour, salt, and pepper, and pour into this the heated liquids. Cook until the mixture thickens. Pour over the drained vegetable and serve hot.

DRAWN-BUTTER SAUCE

Melt the butter, add the flour, salt, and pepper, and pour into this the hot water. Boil for a few minutes and serve.

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

Melt the butter, add the flour, salt, and water, and cook until the mixture thickens. While still hot, pour over the slightly beaten egg yolk, beating constantly to prevent curding. Add the vinegar or lemon juice. Serve with vegetables that have been boiled in salt water.

SOUR-CREAM DRESSING

Melt the butter and add the flour, salt, and pepper. Pour into this the heated milk or cream, and allow the sauce to thicken. Then add the vinegar, stirring rapidly, and serve hot.

TOMATO SAUCE

Heat the tomatoes with the onion and force through a sieve. Melt the butter, add the flour, salt, pepper, and the strained tomatoes. Cook together until thick, remove, and serve hot with a vegetable.

MAÎTRE D'HÔTEL SAUCE

Melt the butter and add the chopped parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Mix well, and allow the whole to boil, but not to brown. Pour over the vegetable and serve.

PARSLEY-BUTTER SAUCE

Heat the butter in a saucepan until it is well browned, and then add the parsley, salt, and pepper. Allow the sauce to become hot, but not to boil. This is an excellent sauce to use over new potatoes or diced vegetables, such as turnips or carrots.

41.ASPARAGUS is a vegetable that consists of the shoots of the plant, which are eaten before the blossoms develop. It grows quickly and is very tender if the shoots are clipped at just the right time after they appear above the ground. It comes early in the spring, being about the first green vegetable that gets into the local market, but its season is comparatively short. It does not keep long after it is purchased and is better when it is used at once. If asparagus must be kept for any length of time, it should be stored in a cool, damp place.

42.In selecting asparagus, it should be remembered that there are two varieties, one of which is green and the other white. The stems of the green asparagus should be green to the bottom, and should not be hard nor woody where they are cut from the plant. However, if a part of the stems is found to be woody, the hard ends should not be rejected, for the outside may be peeled off and the center used, or the hard ends may be cooked with other vegetables for the making of soup. The white asparagus will have slightly green tips, while the rest of the stem will be white.

Asparagus is one of the succulent vegetables comparatively low in food value. It contains, as Table I shows, only one-fourth as many calories to the pound as potatoes. Its food value, however, may be increased by dressing it with butter after the vegetable has been cooked or by serving with it a sauce made with milk, butter, flour, etc. Then, too, asparagus is sometimes served on toast, which is another means of making a more nutritious dish out of this vegetable.

In its composition, asparagus contains adiuretic, that is, a substance that has an effect upon the kidneys, and that is known asasparagine. Because of the presence of this substance, asparagus is thought to be injurious to those who have kidney trouble, but it need not be avoided except in some forms of this disease.

43. PREPARATION FOR COOKING.--To prepare asparagus for cooking, strip the tiny scales from the sides of the stems by means of a small paring knife. These hold sand and are responsible for the presence of the grit that is sometimes found in a cooked dish of asparagus even when the housewife feels certain that she has washed it as clean as possible. Then wash the stems thoroughly in several cold waters, lifting them out of the water after each washing instead of pouring the water off of them. If the water is poured off the stems, the sand that has been washed from them is likely to remain in the bottom of the pan and mix with the vegetable again.

When the asparagus has been sufficiently washed, it may be used in the full lengths or cut into pieces of any desired length, 1 inch being the size that is usually preferred. If stems are to be cooked whole, it is a good plan to form them into a bunch as when purchased and tie the bunch with a tape or a string. When this is done, the string should, of course, be cut and removed before the asparagus is served. A point to remember about the preparation of this vegetable is that it should always be cooked in boiling, salted water.

44. ASPARAGUS WITH BUTTER DRESSING.--Perhaps the simplest way in which to prepare asparagus is to cook it in salted water and then serve it with a butter dressing. When prepared in this way, it may be served plain, but it becomes more attractive, as well as more nutritious, if it is placed on squares of toast.

For this dish, secure a bunch of fresh, tender asparagus, wash it thoroughly, and then, as desired, cut it into inch lengths or allow it to remain whole. Pour enough boiling water over it to cover well, add salt in the proportion of 1 teaspoonful to each quart of water, and allow it to cook until the stems may be easily pierced with a fork, which in most cases will require not more than from 10 to 15 minutes. The length of the cooking is an important factor with this vegetable, for when it is overcooked its flavor is not so agreeable as when it has had just enough cooking. When the asparagus is done, drain off the water, season with a little more salt and a dash of pepper, and, if it is to be served without toast, add 1 tablespoonful of butter for each bunch cooked, allowing the butter to melt. In case it is to be served on toast, allow a small amount of the liquid in which it was cooked to remain on it, add the butter to this, and, after placing several of the stems or a number of the pieces on the squares of toast, dip a little of the liquid over all.

[Illustration: FIG. 2]45. CREAMED ASPARAGUS ON TOAST.--A still more nutritious dish can be prepared from asparagus by combining it with a cream sauce and serving it on toast. The sauce supplies protein and fat and the toast furnishes carbohydrate, substances in which this vegetable is low. Numerous ways of serving this combination may be resorted to, but one of the most attractive methods is illustrated in Fig. 2. As here shown, a small bunch of the stems is slipped through a ring of toast cut by means of round cutters of two sizes. If it is not desired to use toast for this, a ring of lemon rind or pimiento may be substituted, or the ring may be omitted altogether and the stems merely laid in an orderly manner on a square of toast. Also, with this dish, as with the previous one, the asparagus may be cut into inch lengths instead of being cooked whole.

To prepare creamed asparagus, clean it in the manner explained in Art. 43. Then either cut it into inch lengths or allow the stems to remain whole, and cook it in enough boiling salted water to cover it well. While the asparagus is cooking, prepare a medium white sauce. As soon as the asparagus has cooked enough to be pierced with a fork, pour off the water and serve with the sauce in any of the ways already suggested. If the asparagus is left whole, the sauce is poured over it after it is placed on the toast, but when it is cut into small pieces, it is usually combined with the sauce and the creamed vegetable then poured over the toast.

46. SCALLOPED ASPARAGUS.--Another nutritious dish with asparagus as its base is scalloped asparagus. This involves all the ingredients used in creamed asparagus, but to give it still more food value, cheese is also added.

SCALLOPED ASPARAGUS

(

Sufficient to Serve Six

)

Clean the asparagus according to the directions given in Art. 43. Cut it into inch lengths and cook in boiling salted water until it is tender enough to be pierced with a fork, and then drain. Prepare a sauce by melting the butter, adding the flour, and pouring into this mixture the heated stock and milk seasoned with the salt. Put a layer of the buttered crumbs in the bottom of a baking dish, and pour half the asparagus over them. Sprinkle the asparagus with one-third the cheese and add another layer of crumbs. Sprinkle this with one-third the cheese. Add the remainder of the asparagus and the crumbs and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Pour the sauce over the entire mixture, place in the oven, and bake until heated thoroughly and the top is slightly browned. Serve from the baking dish.

VARIETIES OF BEANS

47.Of all the vegetables commonly used for food, BEANS afford the greatest variety. However, there are two principal classes into which all varieties of this vegetable can be placed, namely,string beansandshell beans. String beans include both the pods and the seeds, and are used when the beans are very young. Shell beans consist of the seeds, which are allowed to mature either partly or entirely and are taken from the shells before cooking. Those which are partly developed are cooked when they are fresh, but the ones that are allowed to mature completely are dried and then stored for use at any time during the year. In some cases, the same variety of beans may be used in the three ways mentioned, while in others certain kinds are raised expressly for one of these purposes.

48.The food value of beans increases as they mature, as will be observed upon reference to Table I. The very young beans, that is, the string beans, which include the pods and all, are comparatively low in food value, being only a little higher than asparagus. To increase the food value of these, fat meat, butter, or other fat is supplied in their cooking, or milk or a cream sauce is added before they are served. Fresh shell beans have much more nutriment than string beans, whereas dried beans are very high in food value. It is this characteristic of dried shell beans that makes them a very good meat substitute.

STRING BEANS

49. VARIETIES OF STRING BEANS.--There are two general varieties of string beans: the yellow ones, which are commonly known aswax beans, and the green ones, which are the ones usually meant when the term string beans is used. Numerous varieties exist among these classes, and some are very much better than others. Many of them have strings, but others are stringless and consequently are easier to prepare. Whatever kind is used should be picked from the vines before the beans are old enough for the pods to develop woody fibers. Otherwise they will not be palatable, for when they have reached this stage it will be impossible to cook them soft.

50. SELECTION AND CARE.--Small, round, rusty-looking spots are common to both string and wax beans; but when such spots are present they must be removed before cooking. As there is considerable waste in the preparation of such beans for the table, it is wise in buying string beans to select those whose surface is not marred with such blemishes. In addition, the beans should be as fresh as can be obtained and crisp and tender enough to snap when the pods are bent in half. Proper attention should be given to them after they are purchased, too. If possible, they should be cooked immediately, but if this cannot be done they should be kept in a cool, damp place to prevent them from becoming limp. However, if they wilt before they can be cooked, they may be freshened by allowing them to stand in cold water for a short time.

51. PREPARATION AND COOKING.--To prepare beans for cooking, wash them thoroughly in cold water. If the beans are of the stringless variety, cut off the stem and blossom ends; but, in case they have strings, break the ends and strip off the strings together with the ends, as shown in Fig. 3. The beans may then be cooked whole or cut into inch lengths before cooking. If it is desired to cut them, the most convenient way is to place them in an orderly heap on a cutting board and then cut a handful at a time, drawing a sharp knife across them as they are held on the board. Any imperfect portions should be removed before cutting.

[Illustration: FIG. 3]52.The cooking of string beans is similar to that of asparagus, except that they require longer cooking. Put them, either whole or cut into a kettle, cover them with boiling water to which has been added 1 teaspoonful of salt to each quart of water, and cook them with the cover on the kettle until they can be easily pierced with a fork. The length of time required to cook them depends on the age of the beans, but usually from 30 minutes to 1 hour will be sufficient. When they are done, drain the water from them, but save it to make sauce for them or to add to soup stock.

53. STRING BEANS IN BUTTER.--String beans, which, of course, include wax beans, may be served with a sauce of some kind, but they are very appetizing when merely drained after cooking and served with melted butter.

To prepare beans in this manner, wash the desired amount, remove the ends and strings, if necessary, and cut into inch lengths. Cook until they are tender and then pour off the water. Add 1 tablespoonful of butter for each four persons to be served, a dash of pepper, and, if they are not salty enough, a little more salt. Allow the butter to melt and serve the beans hot.

54. STRING BEANS WITH SALT PORK.--Those who like the flavor of salt pork will find string beans cooked with a small piece of this meat very appetizing. Besides improving the flavor, salt pork supplies the beans with fat, a food substance in which they are very low.

After washing the beans that are to be cooked in this way, remove the ends and strings, but do not cut into inch lengths. Put the whole beans to cook in boiling water and add 1/4 pound of pork for a sufficient amount of beans for four persons. Cook until the beans are tender, and serve with the pork without removing from the liquid.

55. CREAMED STRING BEANS.--Perhaps the most popular way in which to prepare string or wax beans is to cream them. Not only an appetizing dish, but one whose food value is increased, is the result. The cream sauce served with the beans may be made entirely of milk, but a very satisfactory sauce can be made by using half milk or cream and half liquid in which the beans were cooked. To prepare creamed beans, clean the beans in the usual way and cut them into inch lengths. Put them to cook in boiling salted water and cook until they may be easily pierced with a fork. Pour off the water, but keep it to use in the dressing. To dress a sufficient quantity of beans for four persons, a sauce should be made as follows:

SAUCE FOR CREAMED STRING BEANS

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour, salt, and pepper. Pour in the heated liquids and stir until the mixture is smooth and thoroughly cooked. Add the sauce to the beans, heat together, and serve.

56. STRING BEANS WITH SOUR DRESSING.--A dish having an entirely different flavor from those already explained is produced when beans are served with a sour dressing.

To prepare beans in this way, clean a sufficient number according to the directions already given and cut them into inch lengths. Cook them in boiling salted water until they are tender. Pour off the water, but retain 1/2 cupful for the dressing. Make the following sauce, which will dress a sufficient quantity of beans for four persons:

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