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To Boil Vegetables Green

A simple method for boiling potatoes until tender, then peeling and serving.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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To Boil Vegetables Green

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash and scrub the potatoes clean with a hard brush.

  2. Rinse the potatoes well and arrange them compactly in a saucepan.

Boil

  1. Add cold water to cover the potatoes and bring to a boil.

  2. Add 1 large teaspoon of salt for every quart of water.

  3. Simmer the potatoes until nearly done, then boil rapidly for the last 2-3 minutes.

  4. Check for tenderness by probing with a fork.

Drain and serve

  1. Drain the water immediately and allow steam to escape by lifting the lid.

  2. Place the potatoes on a tray or by the side of the fire until moisture evaporates.

  3. Peel the potatoes and serve.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Starch that softens as it cooks, giving the flesh its tender, fluffy texture.

The step that matters

Simmer until nearly done, then boil rapidly. A steady simmer cooks the potatoes through gently, while a hard rolling boil for too long can break the outer flesh apart and leave the centres uneven. The short final boil finishes them without over-softening.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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