Handbook of practical cookery

Take the asparagus from the water at the expiration of the twenty minutes, and drain it upon a wire sieve ; place it in a vegetable dish, and pour the sauce carefully around and across the tips, exercising caution not to spatter the ends of the stalks that are to be taken in the fingers. NOTES. — Asparagus may be boiled in the above manner, and served upon toast instead of with the white sauce. A very simple manner of boiling this vegetable is to stand the unbroken bundle of asparagus upon the stalk end upright in a saucepan containing boiling water enough to reach nearly to the tender green tips. It must be boiled rapidly until tender, and then, preparing a hot napkin upon a platter, take the asparagus from the water, and draining it for a moment, place it upon the napkin, cut the bands, and draw them away, and fold over all snugly the ends of the napkin. The white sauce which is used for this must be served in a gravy-boat. A favourite way of serving boiled asparagus is to make it very cold by standing in the ice-box, and then serve with a sauce piquant, composed of vinegar, pepper, salt, and salad oil. In this way asparagus may be used as a salad. Green Pease. — One quart of shelled pease, one ounce of butter, one half tea-spoonful of powdered sugar, one tea-spoonful of salt, one half tea-spoonful of pepper, one sprig of mint. Place the pease in a large sauce-pan of boiling water, in which should be thrown the sprig of mint, and covering, let them boil rapidly from ten to twenty minutes, as the age of the pease may require. The moment the pease are done, they must be taken from the water and drained, as overcooking spoils them. While the pease are draining, melt the butter in the sauce-pan in which they have been cooked, and when this is melted, throw back into it the pease, sprinkle over them the pepper, salt, and sugar, and covering the sauce-pan, shake it over the fire until the pease are very hot, taking care that they neither brown nor break. Turnips. — For this take six turnips, two table-spoonfuls of beef-dripping, one tea-spoonful of salt, one half tea-spoonful of pepper, one table-spoonful of cream. First pare the turnips, taking care to cut off the white lining of the skin, which is bitter, and the thickness of which will be perceived by the clearly defined circle discovered in BOILED CABBAGE. 107 cutting off the top. Wash the turnips thoroughly in cold water to whiten them and remove the finger-marks, and putting them into a sauce-pan, cover them with boiling water, and closing the lid of the sauce-pan, boil them rapidly until a fork will easily penetrate to their centres. When done, drain the water well off them, add the beefdripping, pepper, and salt, and with a potato-masher mash them finely, using a fork occasionally to break the lumps. When mashed, stir in with them the cream, and pile them high in a vegetable dish, smoothing the edges around with a knife. Boiled Cabbage. — For this provide one head of cabbage, three table-spoonfuls of beef-dripping, one tea-spoonful of salt, one half tea-spoonful of pepper, one lump of soda the size of a pea.