Joe Tilden's recipes for epicures

Boil large choice asparagus until tender. Put a layer of stalks upon the dish on which they are to be served. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, cayenne, and a little grated Parmesan cheese. Make three layers of this and pour over all a little melted butter. Break on top a fresh egg for each person, and put in the oven until set. Serve very hot. To be served individually, six stalks may be placed on each dish, covered with cheese, and an egg broken over them. Serve after placing in the oven a few moments. Corn au Gratin Score down twelve ears of boiled corn, and with the back of a knife press out the kernels. Put them into a baking dish with a large piece of butter, salt, pepper, a finely chopped green pepper and a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan or Gruyere cheese. Place in a hot oven until just browned and serve immediately. Cauliflower au Gratin Boil a large cauliflower twenty minutes in salted water. When tender drain and put on the dish on which it is to be served. Make a sauce of two ounces of butter, one ounce of flour and half a pint of milk, one ounce of grated Parmesan cheese, salt and cayenne. Mix this well, putting in the cheese last. Pour it over the cauliflower and sprinkle more cheese over the top. Set in a hot oven until browned and serve at once. Okra Cut the stems off of young okra pods and boil in water until the seeds turn red, which should be in half an hour. Drain and toss in a pan with butter, salt, pepper and cayenne. Potato Cream Boil six medium-sized, mealy potatoes and when soft press them through a sieve until light and floury. Then beat into them the raw yolks of six eggs and a little milk and butter. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with finely chopped chevril and thyme, and fine dice of fried bread before serving. Sweet Potatoes Take six good sized sweet potatoes and boil until nearly done. Then peel them and roll in melted butter, lay in a buttered baking pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar and bake until done. Chili Beans Take four cups of red beans, one onion, four cloves of garlic, cover with water and cook all day in a covered saucepan. Add a little water from time to time if too dry. Cook slowly four red peppers and five black peppers with seeds out, three black peppers with seeds, four cloves of garlic, four onions with the hearts taken out, salt, and one cup of beef stock. Rub through a sieve. Put in a saucepan four tablespoonfuls of marrow. When very hot add the beans and then the sauce. To Boil Rice Have plenty of salted water, with the juice of a lime in it. When boiling add rice that has been washed in three waters. Boil fast for sixteen minutes. Try a grain, and if done dash in a glass of cold water. Drain at once through a colander. Cover with a cloth and let stand by the fire for a few minutes, shaking up the colander once or twice. This will make every grain separate. Risotto Fry two chopped onions in butter until light brown in color. Add one cup of raw rice and cover with beef stock. As the rice absorbs the stock add more until done. Then add two large tomatoes stewed with a little sugar and highly seasoned. Place on the dish for serving and grate Parmesan cheese over it. Memo