Cooking and Plating Vegetables

Introduction

This lesson will present the different methods vegetables can be cooked. Moist and dry heat methods will be presented as well as procedures for cooking vegetables in batches for food service. This lesson will also present the topics to help you determine the qualities of a well-cooked vegetable and reminders on the appropriate accompaniments of vegetable dishes.

Boiling and Steaming Vegetables

Two of the most common methods in cooking vegetables is boiling them in water and steam. The following are methods similar to boiling and steaming:

Blanching - Vegetables are immersed briefly, usually 30 seconds to 1 minute, depending on ripeness, in boiling water to make the skin easy to remove, to eliminate or reduce strong odors or flavors, to set the color of vegetables to be served cold, and/or as the first step in other cooking methods.
Par-cooking/ Parboiling - Vegetables are cooked to partial doneness, to prepare them to be finished by grilling, sautéing, or stewing.

Procedure for Boiling Vegetables

Boil the water in a pot.
Season the cooking liquid and bring it to proper cooking temperature before adding the prepared vegetables.
Cook the vegetables to the desired doneness.
Drain thoroughly using a colander or sieve.

Tips for Boiling Vegetables

Broccoli Mornay

Sautéing Vegetables

Sautéing cooks vegetables quickly in a small amount of fat. Vegetables are tossed or flipped in the pan over high heat. Sautéing may be used to cook precooked or blanched as well as raw vegetables.

Procedure for Sautéing Vegetables

Blanch the vegetables and drain afterward.
Place sauté pan on high heat. Add a small amount of clarified butter and oil enough to coat the bottom of the pan.
Add the vegetables.
Season the vegetables with salt and pepper.
Turn the vegetables as often as necessary to cook and coat the vegetables evenly.
As soon as the vegetables are cooked, or heated through if precooked, remove from the pan, plate and serve.

Tips for Sautéing Vegetables

Braising and Stewing Vegetables

Braised vegetables are seared or browned and added to a small amount of liquid to be cooked until done. Meanwhile, in stewing vegetables are fully submerged in water or other liquid and simmered until tender.

Ratatouille

Grilling and Broiling Vegetables

Broiling applies heat from a source above the meat while grilling or pan-broiling apply heat from a source below. Broiling and grilling are also used to finish cooked or partially cooked vegetables by browning or glazing them on top.

Grilling and Broiling Vegetables

Frying Vegetables

Frying cooks items in fat. This method can be done in two ways:

Shallow/ Pan Frying - cooking with oil in a pan in a medium to high heat
Deep- fat Frying - submerging food into hot oil in a temperature which can range between 325°F (165°C) and 400°F (200°C).

Vegetable Fritters

Cooking Large Quantities of Vegetables

In quantity cooking, it is rarely possible to cook individual vegetable portions to order. After 20 to 30 minutes at steam table temperatures, even carefully prepared vegetables are usually overcooked. Two common systems have been devised for quantity cooking are:

Batch Cooking - a method of quantity cooking suited for set meal services or those with fixed menu items. In this method, vegetables are cooked one batch at a time.
Blanch-and-Chilling - a method that involves partial cooking and chilling vegetables to be cooked just before serving. Blanch-and-Chilling is most helpful in extended meal service as it gives the cook complete control over the degree of doneness of vegetables when served.

Checking Vegetables for Doneness

The doneness of vegetable varies from one to another. Some, such as winter squash, eggplant, and braised celery, are considered properly cooked when they are quite soft. Most vegetables are best cooked very briefly until they are crisp-tender or al dente (firm to the bite).

Guidelines for Plating Vegetable Dishes

When plating vegetable dishes, it is important that accompaniments such as the sauces and side dishes are looked into. Accompaniments should add contrast while complimenting the dish. The following are important reminders for selecting vegetable accompaniments for plating:

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