It is very much to be regretted that haricot beans are not more used in this country. There are hundreds of thousands of families who at the end of a year would be richer in purse and more healthy in body if they would consent to deviate from the beaten track and try haricot beaus, not as an accompaniment to a dish of meat, but as an article of diet in themselves. The immense benefit derived in innumerable cases from a diet of beans is one of the strongest and most practical arguments in favour of vegetarianism. Meat-eaters often boast of the plainness of their food, and yet wonder that they suffer in health. It is not an uncommon thing for a man to consult his doctor and to tell him, "I live very simply, nothing but plain roast or boiled." Medical men are all agreed on one point, and that is that haricot beans rank almost first among vegetables as a nourishing article of diet. In writing on this subject, Sir Henry Thompson observes, "Let me recall, at the close of these few hints about the haricot, the fact that there is no product of the vegetable kingdom so nutritious, holding its own, in this respect, as it well can, even against the beef and mutton of the animal kingdom." This is a very strong statement, coming as it does from so high an authority, and vegetarians would do well to hear it in mind when discussing the subject of vegetarianism with those who differ from them. Sir Henry proceeds as follows:--"The haricot ranks just above lentils, which have been so much praised of late, and rightly, the haricot being to most palates more agreeable. By most stomachs, too, haricots are more easily digested than meat is; and, consuming weight for weight, the eater feels lighter and less oppressed, as a rule, after the leguminous dish, while the comparative cost is very greatly in favour of the latter." To boil haricot beans proceed as follows. We refer, of course, to the dried white haricot beans, the best of which are those known as Soissons. The beans should be soaked in cold water overnight, and in the morning any that may be found floating on the top of the water should be thrown away. Suppose the quantity be a quart; place these in a saucepan with two quarts of cold water, slightly salted. As soon as time water conies to the boil, move it so that the beans will only simmer gently; they must then continue simmering till they are tender. This generally takes about three hours, and if the water is hard, it is advisable to put in a tiny piece of soda. This is the simple way of cooking beans usually recommended in cookery-books when they are served up with a dish of meat, such as a leg of mutton a la Bretonne, where the beans are served in some rich brown gravy containing fat. In vegetarian cookery, of course, we must proceed entirely differently, and there are various ways in which this nourishing dish can be served, as savoury and as appetising, and indeed more so, than if we had assistance from the slaughter-house. We will now proceed to give a few instances. In the first place, it will greatly assist the flavour of the beans if we boil with them one or two onions and a dessertspoonful of savoury herbs. Supposing, however, we have them boiled plain. Take a large dry crust of bread and rub the outside well over with one or two beads of garlic. Place this crust of bread with the beans after they have been strained off, and toss them lightly about with the crust without breaking the beans. Remove the crust and moisten the beans while hot with a lump of butter, add a brimming dessertspoonful of chopped blanched parsley; squeeze the juice of a lemon over the whole, and serve. Instead of butter we can add, as they always do in Italy, two or three tablespoonfuls of pure olive oil. Those who have conquered the unreasonable English prejudice against the use of oil will probably find this superior to butter. If the beans are served in the form of a puree, it is always best to boil a few onions with them and rub the onions through the wire sieve with the beans, taking care that the quantity of onion is not so large that it destroys and overpowers the delicate and delicious flavour of the beans themselves. Next, we would call attention to the importance of not throwing away the water in which the beans were boiled. This water contains far more nourishment than people are aware of, and throughout the length and breadth of France, where economy is far more understood than in this country, it is invariably saved to assist in making some kind of soup, and as our soup will, of course, be vegetarian, the advantage gained is simply incalculable.
7 lbs. flour, salt to taste (about 3/4 ounce), 1 ounce yeast, 1-1/2 quarts of warm water. Put the flour into a pan or large basin, add salt to taste, and mix it well in. Put the yeast with a lump of sugar into a small basin, and pour a little of the warm water on to if. Cold or hot water kills the yeast. Leave this a little while until the yeast bubbles, then smooth out all lumps and pour into a hole made in the middle of the flour. Pour in the rest of the warm water, and begin to stir in the flour. Now begin kneading the dough, and knead until the whole is smooth and damp, and leaves the hand without sticking, which will take about 15 to 20 minutes. Time spent in kneading is not wasted. Set the pan in a warm place, covered with a clean cloth. Be careful not to put the pan where it can get too hot. The fender is a good place, but to the side of the fire rather than in front. Let it rise at least an hour, but should it not have risen very much--say double the size--let it stand longer, as the bread cannot be light if the dough has not risen sufficiently. Now have a baking-board well floured, and turn all the dough on to it. Have tins or earthenware pans, or even pie-dishes well greased. Divide the dough, putting enough to half fill the pans or tins. Put these on the fender to rise again for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake in a hot oven, about 350 degrees (a little hotter than for pastry). Bake (for a loaf about 2 lbs. in a moderate oven) from 30 to 40 minutes. Of course the time depends greatly on the size of the loaves and the heat of the oven. The above recipe produces the ordinary white loaf. Better bread would, in my opinion, result from the use of a very fine wholemeal flour such as the "Nu-Era," and the omission of salt.
Scrub well and steam, either with or without peeling. If peeled, this should be done very thinly, as the greater part of the valuable potash salts lie just under the skin. BAKED.--Moderate-sized potatoes take from 45 to 60 minutes. If peeled before baking, cut in halves and put on a greased tin with a little nut-fat or butter on each. CHIPS.--Cut into long chips and try in deep oil or fat. A frying-basket and stew-pan are the most convenient utensils, but they take a great deal of fat. A frying-pan and egg-slice will answer the same purpose for small quantities. Success depends upon getting the fat the right temperature. It must be remembered that fat and oil do not bubble when they boil. They bubble just before boiling. As soon as they become quite still they boil. A very faint blue smoke now arises. When the fat actually smokes, it is burning and spoilt. If the chips are put in wet, or before the fat boils, they will be sodden and spoilt. A tiny piece of bread may be first put in to test. If this "fizzles" well, the fat is ready. When the chips are golden brown, lift them out with a slice and lay them on paper to drain. Then put in vegetable dish and serve quickly. They are spoilt if allowed to cool. MASHED.--Old potatoes are best mashed after steaming. They should be well beaten with a fork, and a little butter and milk, or nut-butter added. SAUTÉ.--Take cold steamed potatoes and cut into slices. Melt a small piece of fat or butter in a pan, and, when hot, put in potatoes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Shake over fire until brown. TO USE COLD POTATOES.--Chop in small pieces. Melt a very little fat in a pan. Put in potatoes, and as they get warm mash with a fork, and press down hard on the pan. Do not stir. At the end of 20 minutes the under side should be brown. Turn out in a roll and serve.
1/2 pint red lentils, 1/2 pint bread-crumbs, 2 ozs. butter or 1-1/2 oz. nutter, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1/2 a nutmeg. Well wash the lentils and place on the fire with just enough water to cover them. Simmer gently until quite soft. Add the butter, lemon juice, nutmeg, and bread-crumbs. Stir well, heat to boiling point, and cook for 10 minutes. Put in jars, and when cold pour some melted butter or nutter on the top. Tomato juice may be used in place of the lemon juice if preferred.
1-1/4 lb. fine wholemeal flour to 3/4 pint water. Put the meal into a basin, add the water gradually, and mix with a clean, cool hand. (Bread, pastry, etc., mixed with a spoon, especially of metal, will not be so light as that mixed with a light cool hand.) Knead lightly for 20 minutes. (A little more flour may be required while kneading, as some brands of meal do not absorb so much water as others, but do not add more than is absolutely necessary to prevent the fingers sticking.) Put the dough on to a floured board and divide into four round loaves. Prick with a fork on top. The colder the water used, the lighter the bread, and if the mixing be done by an open window so much the better, for unfermented bread is air-raised. Distilled or clean boiled rain-water makes the lightest bread. But it should be poured backwards and forwards from one jug to another several times, in order to aerate it. Another method of mixing is the following:--Put the water into the basin first and stir the meal quickly into it with a spatula or wooden spoon. When it gets too stiff to be stirred, add the rest of the meal. Knead for two minutes, and shape into loaves as above. BAKING.--Bake on the bare oven shelf, floored. If possible have a few holes bored in the shelf. This is not absolutely necessary, but any tinker or ironmonger will perforate your shelf for a few pence. Better still are wire shelves, like sieves. (This does not apply to gas ovens.) Start with a hot oven, but not too hot. To test, sprinkle a teaspoonful of flour in a patty pan, and put in the oven for five minutes. At the end of that time, if the flour is a light golden-brown colour, the oven is right. Now put in the bread and keep the heat of the oven well up for half an hour. At the end of this time turn the loaves. Now bake for another hour, but do not make up the fire again. Let the oven get slightly cooler. The same result may perhaps be obtained by moving to a cooler shelf. It all depends on the oven. But always start with a hot oven, and after the first half hour let the oven get cooler. Always remember, that the larger the loaves the slower must be the baking, otherwise they will be overdone on the outside and underdone in the middle. Do not open the oven door oftener than absolutely necessary. If a gas oven is used the bread must be baked on a baking sheet placed on a sand tin. A sand tin is the ordinary square or oblong baking tin, generally supplied with gas stoves, filled with silver sand. A baking sheet is simply a piece of sheet-iron, a size smaller than the oven shelves, so that the heat may pass up and round it. Any ironmonger will cut one to size for a few pence. Do not forget to place a vessel of water (hot) in the bottom of the oven. This is always necessary in a gas oven when baking bread, cakes or pastry. It must not be forgotten that ovens are like children they need understanding. The temperature of the kitchen and the oven's nearness to a window or door will often make a difference of five or ten minutes in the time needed for baking. One gas oven that I knew never baked well in winter unless a screen was put before it to keep away draughts! ROLLS.--If you desire to get your bread more quickly it is only a question of making smaller loaves. Little rolls may be cut out with a large egg-cup or small pastry cutter, and these take any time from twenty minutes to half an hour.
Line a pudding-basin with slices of bread from which the crust has been removed. Take care to fit the slices together as closely and neatly as possible. Stew any juicy fruit in season with sugar to taste. Do not add water. (Blackcurrants or raspberries and redcurrants are best for this dish.) When done, fill up the basin with the boiling fruit. Top with slices of bread fitted well in. Leave until cold. Turn out and serve.
This bread has a very sweet taste. It is made by stirring boiling water into any quantity of meal required, sufficient to form a stiff paste. Then take out of the basin on to a board and knead quickly with as much more flour as is needed to make it workable. Cut it into small rolls with a large egg-cup or small vegetable cutter. The quicker this is done the better, in order to retain the heat of the water. Bake from 20 to 30 minutes.
Into 1 lb. wholemeal flour rub 4 ozs. nutter or 5 ozs. butter. Mix to a stiff dough with cold water. Knead lightly but well. Shape into small buns about 1 inch thick. Bake for an hour in a moderate oven.
1 lb. chestnuts, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, cornflour and water or 1 egg. Boil the chestnuts for half an hour. Shell, and well mash with a fork. Add the parsley. Dissolve 1 tablespoon cornflour in 1 tablespoon water. Use as much of this as required to moisten the chestnut, and mix it to a stiff paste. Shape into firm, round, rather flat rissoles, roll in white flour, and fry in deep oil or fat to a golden brown colour. Serve with parsley or tomato sauce. For those who take eggs, the rissoles may be moistened and bound with a beaten egg instead of the cornflour and water. They may also be rolled in egg and bread-crumbs after flouring.
