Transcript Vegetables - CulinarySkills1

Chapter 20 pg. 492 -536
Vegetable Facts
• Refers to any herbacious plant that can be
partially or wholly eaten.
• Portions we eat include leaves, stems, roots,
tubers, seeds & flowers.
• Vegetables contain more starch and less sugar
than fruits. That is why veggies tend to be
savory, not sweet.
• Unlike fruits, vegetables are most often eaten
cooked, not raw.
9 Categories
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9.
Cabbages
Fruit-Vegetables
Gourds & Squashes
Greens
Mushrooms & Truffles
Onions
Pods & Seeds
Roots & Tubers
Stalks
• Brassica or cabbage
family, used for their
heads, flowers or
leaves.
• Quick growing, coolweather crops.
• Inexpensive & easy to
prepare.
Types Include:
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Bok Choy
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cauliflower
Head Cabbages
Kale
Kohlarabi
Savoy
Bok Choy: Also pok choy, white stemmed
variety of southern Chinese Cabbage.
Description: Tightly packed leaves are dark
green, with long white ribs attached at a
bulbous stem. Stalks are crisp and mild
with a flavor similar to romaine lettuce.
Uses: most often stir fried or used in soups.
Select: choose bright white stalks and dark
green leaves, avoid brown, moist spots.
Available: All year round
Broccoli: a type of flower, has a thick central
stalk with grayish leaves topped with more
heads of green florets.
Bok Choy
Uses: Can be eaten raw or steamed,
microwaved or sautéed and served warm
or cold. Benefit from blanching. Stems are
used for slow-cooked for soups. Leaves are
not used.
Broccoli
Select: Choose firm stalks with compact clusters
of tightly closed dark green florets. Avoid
stalks w/ yellowish flowers. Available all
year round.
Brussels Sprouts: cultivated around 1700.
Numerous small heads arranged in rows
along a thick stalk. Similar to baby cabbage.
Uses: steamed, roasted, sautéed &
blanched. Nutty flavor pairs well with
game, ham, duck or rich meats.
Select: ¾ “ – 1 ½ “ in diameter. Should be
bright green & free of blemishes.
Season: September – February
Cauliflower: king of the cabbage family.
Each stalk produces one flower or head
surrounded by large green leaves.
Brussels sprouts
Uses: Steamed, grilled, gratin & sauteed
Select: Firm compact heads. Any attached
leaves should be bright green and crisp. A
yellow color or spreading florets indicate
that the vegetable is overly mature.
Season: Available all year round. Best from
fall through spring.
Cauliflower
Head Cabbages: has been a staple of
northern European cuisine for centuries.
Has a large head with tightly packed pale
green leaves. Flat & coned shapes = avail.
Uses: eaten raw or in soups & stews;
braised, steamed or stir-fried. Leaves can
be steamed until soft, then wrapped
around a filling of seasoned meat.
Select: heads w/o dried cores.
Season: Available all year.
Kale: has a large ruffled, curly or bumpy
leaves. Its rather bitter flavor goes well
with rich meats such as game, pork or ham.
Green & Red Cabbage
Uses: Boiled, stuffed or used in soups
Select: choose leaves that are crisp, w/
grayish-green color.
Season: Available all year round. Peak
season during the winter months.
Facts: Ornamental or flowering kale,
sometimes marketed as “savoy” & edible.
Kale
Kohrabi: looks like a round root, actually a
bulbous stem created by crossbreeding
cabbage & turnip. Leaves & roots generally
removed before sale.
Description: Skin may be light green, purple
or green w/ a hint of red. Interior = white,
w/ a sweet flavor of turnips.
Uses: eaten raw or it can be cooked (whole,
sliced or diced) w/ moist-heat cooking
methods such as boiling and steaming. Can
be hollowed and filled meat or veg. mixture
Select: small tender stems & fresh green
leaves.
Season: June through September
Kohlrabi
Napa Cabbage
Napa Cabbage: also = Chinese cabbage and
widely used in Asian cuisines. Stout,
elongated head w/ tightly packed, firm, pale
green leaves. More tender than others.
Uses: eaten raw, well suited for stir-frying or
steaming.
Select: heads that are loose or tight, w/
tender unblemished leaves.
Season: Peak season, August through the
spring.
• Botanists classify avocados, eggplants,
peppers & tomatoes as fruits b/c they
develop from the ovary of flowering plants &
contain more seeds.
• Chefs prepare like vegetables.
Step 1: Cut the avocado in ½
lengthwise. Separate the 2
halves with a twisting
motion
Step 2: Insert a chef knife
into the pit and twist &
remove.
Step 3: Scoop out the flesh
with a large spoon
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Eggplants are filled w/ cells that
contain water & are surrounded by
tiny air pockets.
Heat will squeeze the air out of the
pockets.
If the eggplant has not been salted,
oil is free to seep into these pockets
& eggplant becomes soggy when
fried.
When the eggplant is sprinkled w/
salt, it draws the water out of the
cells.
The cells collapse, which makes the
pockets collapse. As a result no air
can seep into the tiny pockets during
the frying process.
Salt slices over paper towel and let
the water continue to drain for 30
minutes. Can grill, sauté, bake or fry
• Members of the capsicum
family.
• Chile peppers get their
heat from capsaicin,
which is found in the
seeds & placental ribs.
• Smaller, hotter it is
• Demonstrate Julienne,
peppers & de-rib hots
• Can be baked or sautéed
• Step 1: Roast the pepper
over an open flame until
completely charred.
• Step 2: Place the pepper
in a plastic bag or in a
bowl covered in plastic to
sweat for a few min.,
then remove the skin w/
your paring knife by
scraping the skin &
seeds.
1: With a paring knife, mark an x
on the bottom of the tomato
just deep enough to
penetrate the skin.
2: Blanch the tomato in boiling
water for 20 sec; refresh the
ice water.
3: Using a paring knife, cut out
the core and peel the tomato.
4: cut the tomato in ½
horizontally and spoon out
the seeds & juice.
5: Chop or dice the tomato as
desired for the recipe.
• The gourd family includes
750 species; found in warm
regions worldwide.
• Large root systems, w/
quick growing trailing vines
& large leaves.
• Flowers are often attractive
and edible.
• Squashes are classified by
winter or summer. Filled w/
many seeds. Eaten raw,
dipped in batter and deepfried or filled w/ cheese or
meat & baked.
Chayote: known as the merliton or
vegetable pear, staple throughout central
America.
Description: Light green skin and paler
green flesh. Single white edible seed in the
center. Starchy and very bland usually
combined w/ flavorful ingredients.
Uses: eaten raw, flavor and texture benefit
from roasting, steaming, sautéing or grilling.
Select: have a well colored skin w/ few
ridges. Avoid soft spots or bruises.
Season: late fall and winter
Chayote
Cucumbers: 2 categories; pickling & slicing.
Both are not interchangeable. Pickling =
bitter
Uses: eaten raw, in salads or mixed w/
yogurt and dill mint & great w/ spicy dishes
b/c of refreshing quality.
Select: choose firm but not hard. Avoid limp
or yellowed or have soft spots.
Cucumbers
Season: Available all year round, peak
season = April through October.
Butternut Squash
Banana Squash
Winter Squashes: include acorn, banana,
butternut, Hubbard, pumpkin & spaghetti
Description: They have hard skins and seeds,
neither of which are generally eaten. Flesh
is removed before or after cooking, tends to
be sweeter and more strongly flavored than
the summer squash.
Uses: rarely eaten raw, baked, roasting,
steaming, sautéing or pureed for soups or
fillings.
Season: October through March
Acorn Squash
Yellow Squash
Zucchini
Summer Squashes: includes patty pan,
yellow crookneck and zucchini varieties.
Description: They have soft edible skins.
Uses: can be eaten raw, suitable for grilling,
steaming, sautéing or baking.
Season: Available all year round. Peak
season is April through September.
Patty pan Squash
• Refers to a variety of
leafy green vegetables
that may be served raw,
but are rarely cooked.
• Greens have been long
used in India, Asia & the
Mediterranean &
important part of
regional cuisine in
Southern United States
• Have an extremely high
water content, which
means cooking causes
drastic shrinkage.
• Rule allow 8 oz (250g) per
portion before cooking.
• Choose tender greens
with a good color and no
limpness. Avoid dry or
yellow leaves.
• Available all year. Best in
November through June.
Sorrel
Mustard greens
Spinach
Swiss chard
Mushrooms & Truffles
Mushrooms
• Lgst. Cultivated mushroom is the
portabella, which are an overgrown
crimini
• Wild mushrooms are gathered and sold
by specialty purveyors. They are spread
around the world through air currents,
the same item may be found in several
areas
• Mushrooms are cultivated or gathered
from the wild have a stronger earthy or
nutty flavor than cultivated, and should
be cooked before eating.
• Available fresh, canned or dried.
Mushrooms are composed of up to 80%
water, dried products are often the most
economical, even though they cost $100
‘s per pound. Rehydrate for 10-20 min.
• Should be dusted and rinsed for dirt
before using.
Truffles
• Tubers that grow near the roots of oak or
beech trees.
• Cultivated only to the extent that oak
groves are planted to encourage truffle
growth.
• 2 varieties, Périgord (black) and
Piedmontese (white).
• Fresh truffles are gathered in the fall and
are rarely marketed outside their locale.
• White ones have strong aroma and
flavor. Only need a little bit to garnish
soups, sauces and pasta.
• Black truffles are often used as a garnish
or to flavor pates, terrines or egg dishes.
• Truffles can cost several 100’s $ per/lb.,
most kitchens purchase canned, dried or
processed.
Mushrooms are members of a broad category of plants known as fungi.
(Fungi have no seeds, stems or flowers; they produce through spores).
They have a stalk w/ an umbrella-like top. Although not a vegetable,
mushrooms are used in the same manner as vegetables.
Black Trumpet
Portabella
Morels
Oyster
Shitake
Porcini
Porcini
Truffles
Procedure for Soaking Dried Beans
1. Pick through the dried beans and remove any grit, pebbels
or debris.
2. Place the beans in a bowl and cover with cold water;
remove any skins or other items that float to the surface.
3. Drain the beans in a colander, then rinse under cold
running water.
4. Return the beans to a bowl and cover with fresh cold
water. Allow 3 cups H2O for each cup of beans.
5. Soak the beans in the cold water for the time specified in
the recipe, usually several hours or overnight. Drain
through a colander, discarding the water
1. Rinse & pick through the beans
2. Place the beans in a saucepan and add
enough cool water to cover them by 2”
3. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 min.
4. Remove from the heat, cover and soak for 1
hour.
5. Drain and discard the soaking liquid. Proceed
with the recipe.
• Most veggies are more than 80% water; the remaining
portions contain carbohydrates (primarily starches) and
small amounts of protein & fat.
• Lack of protein makes them low in calories
• Good source of vitamins and minerals.
• Be careful during preparation to preserve their
nutritional content. Once peeled or cut, vegetables lose
nutrients to the air to any liquid they are allowed to soak.
• Vitamins are concentrated under the skin, so peel thinly,
if at all.
• USDA voluntary grading
system for fresh vegetables
traded
• System is based on
appearance, condition and
other factors affecting waste
or eating quality
• 4 Grades = in descending
order of quality
– U.S. Extra Fancy
– U.S. Fancy
– U.S. Fancy #1
– U.S. # 1