Baking

Cooking starchy vegetables, such as potatoes, winter squash, and sweet potatoes, as well as root vegetables and other moist, dense-textured vegetables such as tomatoes, beets, eggplant, onions, and turnips, from the raw to the finished state. Starchy vegetables are baked because the dry heat produces a desirable texture. Baked potatoes, for example, do not have the same texture as boiled or steamed potatoes.

Vegetables that are cut before baking may become browned on the cut surfaces or only on the edges. A degree of browning enhances appearance, and the caramelization of sugars creates a rich, complex flavor. The term roasted is often used for this type of baked vegetable preparation.

In theory, any vegetable with enough moisture can be baked like potatoes, but the drying effects of the oven and the long cooking time make it undesirable for most small vegetables, such as peas and green beans.

Finishing certain vegetable combinations, sometimes known as casseroles. The vegetables in these items are usually parcooked by simmering or steaming before they are baked.

Vegetable casseroles are baked for either of two reasons:

• The slow, all-around heat allows the product to cook undisturbed. The agitation and stirring of rangetop cooking is not always desirable. Baked beans could be finished on top of the range, but they would be mushier and more broken. Custard-based timbales would be pourable, not firmly set.
• The dry heat produces desirable effects, such as browning and caramelizing of sugars. For example, you could put a pan of candied sweet potatoes in a steamer, but the moist heat would not allow a glaze to form.