Domestic

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 39, 14 October 1925, Page 59

Domestic

Maureen

Spinach a Valuable Food. Spinach is the reliable standby from the garden. Most of us know that spinach is a valuable food, and particularly so in the diet of the child. The reason for this is that spinach is an important source of iron and one of the important vitamines. The simplest methods of preparation of spinach are best. First of all, it must he thoroughly cleansed, and this takes a good deal of time, water, and patience. Any food is distasteful .if you crunch sand between your teeth when you cat it. To clean spinach, cut off the roots, break the leaves apart and drop them into a large pan of water. Rinse them well, and then lift them into a second pan of fresh, clean water. Do not pour the water off over the spinach, or the grit that has been washed off will got back on the leaves. Continue washing in clean waters until then' .is no trace of sand on the bottom of the pan. If the spinach is at all wilted, let it stand in cold wafer until it becomes fresh and crisp. Drain from this water and blanch as follows;

Spinach Souffle. 1 peck spinach, 1 egg, 1 tahlespooiifnl butter, 2 tablespoousful cream, i teaspoonful. salt. I teaspoonful sugar, speck of pepper, 2 egg whites. Cook and chop finely the spinach, add a well-beaten egg, 1 tablespoonfni butter, the salt, sugar, and pepper to season. Cool, add the cream, mix thoroughly, and fold in the. stiffly-beaten whites of eggs. Put into a buttered baking dish, sprinkle with sugar, and bake, covered for fifteen minutes, or covered ten minutes and uncovered five minutes. Serve at once. Time-table for Cooking Vegetables. The following table may be used as a general guide for the length of time to cook fresh vegetables in boiling water: Asparagus lb-20 minutes beans 4b-60 minutes Old beets 3- 4 hours Young beets Id-00 minutes Cabbage ' 20-30 minutes (.’arrets 30-60 minutes Cauliflower 20-30 minutes Onions 20-30 minutes Parsnips 80-4 d minutes Creen peas 20-80 minutes Potatoes 30-40 minutes Spinach Id-30 minutes Turnips 30-4 b minutes

For half-a-peek of spinach out in a casserole, add enough water to the pan to cover the bottom. Then cover the pan closely and let cook slowly, so that the loaves at the bottom will not burn. With the application of this slow heat the juices of the spinach come out and the spinach cooks in its its own juices. Continue cooking until the spinach is tender and then pour the spinach into a colander and let it drain well. Chop finely and add butter and seasoning to taste. Reheat and serve. For a peck of spinach you should allow three tablespoonsful of butter and a teaspoonful of salt. This is the best method to use in cooking young, tender spinach when the flavor is not strong: but if the spinach is overgrown, the flavor is strong and somewhat acrid and should then be cooked in boiling water until tender, and then drain well in the colander before chopping and adding the seasoning.'

Whenever possible, vegetables should he cooked whole and without peeling. This applies particularly to the root and tuber kinds. When cut, the true starch and other nutriment materials enclosed in little cell walls are exposed and fall out into the water during cooking. Much of the food value of the vegetable is lost by this process of preparation. If they must be cut, they lose less of their nutritious substances when cut lengthwise rather than crosswise.

The water should he toiling before vegetables are put into it. This helps to set the color and shortens the time of cooking, so that a smaller proportion of minerals is extracted than when cold water is used. As soon as the vegetables are cooked and tender, remove them from the fire to prevent VflLwer-cooking, and drain at once.