General Chat

I suppose we all get into habits with cooking everyday food. the main thing is we all seem to eat fresh veg.

My sort of lazy habit is on Sundays when we usually have a full roast in the evening (just the 2 of us), While I am doing other jobs, I steam the green veg until underdone, then just as dishing up I put them in the microwave for two or three minutes to heat/finish. They still taste fresh, even cauliflower. It saves the last minute rush of cooking veg. :-D

JoyLouise, the only time I eat 'mushies' - or rather the next stage up - marrowfat peas, is with fish!!
I have 'chips' with fish too - but usually potato wedges fried in a pan.

I remember not long after we were married and OH worked shifts so got used to cooking. I came home, looking forward to a lovely dinner, and was presented with what I called 'a dog's dinner'. He'd cooked everything bar the meat in one pan. Yuk!

Folks, you can imagine how 'the balloon went up' when he saw my lack of appreciation for his culinary efforts. :-0

By the way, as much as I don't like cooking (or any type of housework for that matter), I do make an effort when we have guests.

I love roasts with all the trimmings and tend to get out the steamer. Once the electric one broke I bought one that goes on the hob so boil potatoes for mash in the bottom, root vegies next basket and, on the top, soft vegies like peas, broccoli etc.

Often, for quickness when I am alone or there are two of us, I have microwaved peas and those microwaveable vegie packs but on the rare occasion when OH fancies home-made chips he does them himself because I love Icel**d's frozen sweet potato chips and he can't stomach them; and, strangely to some people, I never eat fish with chips, only fish with mushies.

I have seen my OH looking at me with shaking head and disbelief.

He does make lovely bread though. :-D

just asked a friend how he cooks his veggies.
He puts the water on, and puts in the veggies as he does them.
Potatoes, carrots and swede take longest, so are put in first, to the (by now) warming water. Cabbage and other 'above ground' veggies take less time, so are put in later.
He cooks 'other veg' with potatoes. (I don't)
He reckons it's a habit acquired when he lived in a bedsit, with only a one or two ring baby belling to cook on.
I also lived in a bedsit with a baby belling, but still don't cook 'overground' veg with potatoes (too starchy).
I will cook swede with potatoes if I'm going to mash them together anyway.

Frozen goes in the microwave :-)

I rarely use frozen, JoyLouise.

I live alone too, Ann, and cook the potatoes in one pan, root veg (ie carrots) in water, then the rest of the vegetables in a steamer on top of the carrots.
The water from these veggies is used for gravy. :-D

I always boil the kettle first and pour it on the veg in the saucepan and cook them that way - they always taste nice - and as I live alone I generally cook my veg all together in the one saucepan - saves on the washing up and the gas :-D

Frozen veg into boiling water - did you all forget about frozen?

Anything for an easy life :-D :-D :-D

I was taught the same as you Maggie, root veg in cold above the ground in boiling. However I steam most veg now and only boil new poataoes and part boil roast.

Don't recall ever being told how to cook veg of any description.
As a rule of thumb, root veg in cold water as it means they start to cook while the water is heating up, and anything grown above ground to go into boiling water. If heated too long, you'd destroy the vitamin content.
Lid on regardless, as it conserves the heat.

To be honest, the only 'boiled' veg we cook in a saucepan are new potatoes. Everything else is done in the microwave.

Shirley, my gran was in domestic service in the early '20's, (cook in 1924) and I presume my mum was told how to cook vegetables by her.

Strange how such a mundane action can differ!! :-D :-D

We always keep the lid on - it saves fuel!! :-)

I always do the same as Shirley's Mum. I can't remember what my Mum did, but I probably copied her - apart from cabbage, which I remember boiling to death in cookery classes at school! :-)

Mum always cooked all veg in cold water and put the lid on after they came to the boil, then turning down the heat to simmer

Mum was in domestic service as a young woman in the early 1920,s she became a cook general in the kitchen of a couple of big houses .she lived in too

I steam my veg in a steamer which has its lid to keep the steam in

As a general 'rule of thumb', I was told that root vegetables go in cold water, those grown above the water in hot water.

At work, a lady said she was told that all vegetables go in cold water, but root vegetables were cooked with the lid off the pan.

What were you told?