Table Talk's illustrated cook book

Fresh asparagus should have the stalks well scraped, then, after washing, it is tied in small bundles and cooked in boiling salted water. When very fresh and young the bundles should stand upright in the water ; the steam in the closely covered kettle will be sufficient to cook the tender tips. Appropriate sauces to serve would be drawn butter, maitre d'hotel butter, a white sauce made with equal parts of milk and the water in which the asparagus is cooked — when the vegetable appears as an entree — a hollandaise sauce. If any of the tender stalks are left over, the sauce should be rinsed off with boiling water and the asparagus may be served cold as a salad with a plain French dressing; heat the tips carefully in a thick cream sauce and serve in •Swedish timbale cases as an entree or luncheon dish. The tough ends of the stalks should be put aside to be converted into a cream soup. CAULIFLOWER IN EDAM SHELL. The cauliflower should have the usual preliminary preparation and be boiled in salted water until tender, then set aside until cold. Make a cupful and a half of cream sauce, and to this add the cauliflower broken into flower- CAULIFLOWER IN EDAM SHELL. ets, putting aside half a dozen of the best pieces. Season well with pepper, but add little salt as the cheese will supply the lack. Fill the shell, place on a pan in a hot oven for fifteen minutes and serve, garnishing the top with the reserved flowerets and wrapping a folded napkin round the base. CARROT BALLS. Scrape and boil several large carrots in salted water until tender. Rub through a sieve or potato press, and measure. For each cupful put into a saucepan over the fire one-half of a tablespoonful of butter, mix with it one heaping tablespoonful of flour, add one-half of a cupful of milk and stir until smooth and thick. Add the prepared carrot, season to taste with salt, pepper, a few drops of onion juice and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley; cook for two minutes longer and set away until cold and firm. Form into small balls, dip each into slightly beaten egg, roll in sifted bread crumbs and fry until golden brown in smoking-hot fat. BAKED BUTTER SQUASH. WIPE THESE SMALL SQUASH; REMOVE THE INNER PULP; SEASON WITH SALT, BUTTER AND PEPPER; FILL centers; cover with bread crumbs mixed with .BEATEN EGG YOLK, AND BROWN; SERVE ONE TO EACH PERSON. SQUASH. Squash is one of the vegetables which must be tastily though simply prepared or it will be passed by many. It should be cut, pared and the seeds removed, boiled in well salted water until tender when pierced by a fork. Every drop of water should be carefully pressed out, the squash mashed, well seasoned and mellowed with salt, pepper and butter and stirred again until piping hot, then sent quickly to the table. Where the mistress has a kitchen garden to draw from, one hill of squash might be reserved for plucking when the size of eggs, boiling whole and serving in a cream sauce. The result is delightful, and if kept closely picked one hill will yield an abundance for a family of moderate size. SARATOGA ONIONS. Peel and thinly slice three large white onions and soak in milk for ten minutes, then drain and dry on a towel. Separate the slices into rings, put a dozen or more at a time in a frying-basket and plunge into smoking-hot fat. Take out as soon as delicately colored, drain for a moment on unglazed paper, turn into a heated dish, dust lightly with salt and serve at once. yo JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES. SCRUB THE VEGETABLES IN COLD WATER AND THEN COOK THE SAME AS POTATOES; REMOVE THE SKIN AFTER COOKING AND SERVE WITH A SAUCE. FRIED JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES.