365 tasty dishes

Wash and scrape i bunch of asparagus, cover with i quart of boiling water and boil for twenty minutes. Lift out the stalks, remove and set aside the tips; cut the stalks into inch pieces, return to the kettle and cook uncovered until very tender, then rub all through a sieve. Scald i pint of milk in a double boiler, add 2 tablespoonfuls of butter rubbed to a paste with 2 tablespoonfuls of flour and stir until thick and smooth. Add the asparagus pulp and liquid and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the reserved tips and simmer for five minutes longer. 30. — Surprise Potatoes. Select potatoes of the same size and of good shape. Wash and scrub them, then bake in a hot oven until done. Cut off the top of each and with a spoon scrape out into a bowl, being careful not to break the shells. For 4 good-sized potatoes allow i teaspoonful of butter, 2 tablespoonfuls of hot cream, salt and pepper to taste and the whites of 2 eggs. Put through a potato press, add the butter, cream and seasoning and whip well. Cut in May* lightly the whites of the eggs whipped to a stiflf dry froth. Refill the shells, replace the covers and return to the oven until very hot. 31. — Green-pea Timbales. After picking over and washing, soak dried green peas over night in plenty of cold water. Drain, add fresh water, heat slowly and simmer until very soft. Drain (the liquid may be used for soup or some other dish) and rub the peas through a fine sieve. To i pint of this pulp add 4 well-beaten eggs, ^ of a cupful of thick cream, J^ of a teaspoonful of onion juice, 2 tablespoonfuls of melted butter and salt and pepper to season very highly. Fill small buttered timbale molds with the mixture, place in a pan partly filled with hot water, cover with buttered paper and place in a hot oven until firm in the centre. Turn out carefully on a heated platter and pour round them a cream sauce to which a few whole peas have been added. JUNE. I. — Strawberries with Blanched Cream. Take i pint of very thick sweet cream, add sugar and orange flower water to taste, and bring it to the boiling point. Beat the whites of lo eggs with a little cold sweet cream, and pour them into the scalded cream. Stir constantly until it comes to a thick curd, then remove from the fire, strain it through a hair sieve, and beat well with a spoon until it is cold. Just before serving pour the cream into a deep glass dish half filled with fine, ripe, sweetened strawberries. 2. — Baked Cherry Pudding. Stone I pint of sour cherries, make a batter of 2 cupfuls of flour, I teaspoonful of salt, 2 teaspoonfuls of baking-powder sifted with the flour, i cupful of sweet milk, }i a cupful of sugar, 2 eggs, i tablespoonful of butter, }i a teaspoonful of cloves ; add the cherries last, and bake in a buttered mold thirty minutes. Serve with wine sauce or with sweetened cream. June. 3. — Tipsy Pudding. Place a stale sponge cake in a glass serving-dish. At intervals pour over it a few spoonfuls of sherry until the cake is evenly moistened. Prepare a soft custard with i pint of milk, 3 tablespoonfuls of sugar and 3 eggs. When done add i teaspoonful of vanilla and pour over the cake, then set aside and serve very cold. Pieces of stale cake may be substituted for the loaf, and before serving the dish may be decorated with dots of any bright-colored jelly, with candied cherries or with the white of an egg, whipped to a meringue with a heaping tablespoonful of powdered sugar.