Asparagus with White Sauce

Ingredients

• one bunch of asparagus
• two ounces of butter
• one ounce of flour
• one gill of milk
• two tablespoonfuls of cream
• one saltspoonful of salt
• one saltspoonful of pepper

Method

1. 1

   Trim the asparagus and cut it into equal lengths.

2. 2

   Wash it in cold water and put it into a saucepan, cover with boiling water, and shut the lid.

3. 3

   When the water boils, take off the cover and let it boil for twenty minutes.

4. 4

   Five minutes before done, mix butter and flour in a small saucepan, add a gill and a half of the asparagus liquor, stir until it boils, then add milk and boil for two more minutes.

5. 5

   Season with salt and pepper, then stir in cream.

6. 6

   Drain asparagus and serve with sauce.

As published

This recipe was extracted from The art of cooking (1880) by Matilda Lees Dods, page 45. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

one bunch of asparagus, two ounces of butter, one ounce of flour, one gill of milk, two table- spoonfuls of cream, one saltspoonful of salt, one salt- spoonful of pepper. Trim the asparagus and cut it into equal lengths, wash it in cold water and putting it into a saucepan, cover with boiling water, and shut the lid of the sauce- pan for the first moment ; when the water boils up vig- GREEN PEAS. 99 orously, take off the cover and let the asparagus boil for twenty minutes. Five minutes before the asparagus is done, take a small saucepan, and mixing it in the butter and the flour, add to this by degrees a gill and a half of the liquor in which the asparagus is boiling. Stir this with the butter and flour until the mixture boils, when the milk should be added, and two minutes additional boiling allowed. Season with the salt and pepper, and drawing the sauce- pan aside from the fire, stir into it the cream. Take the aspsuragus 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 sauce- pan containing boiling water enough to reach nearly to the tender green tips. It must be boiled rapidly until tender, and then, prepar- ing 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 favorite way of serving boiled asparagus, is to make it very cold by standing in the ice-box, and then serve with a sauce piquant, com- posed of vinegar, pepper, salt and salad oil. In this way, asparagus may be used as a salad. Oreen Peas. — One quart of shelled peas, one ounce of butter, one-half teaspoonful of powdered sugar, one 100 VEGETABLES, teaspoonful of salt, one-half teaspoonful of pepper, one sprig of mint. Place the peas in a large saucepan 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 peas may require. The moment the peas are done, they must be taken from the water and drained, as over cooking spoils them. While the peas 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 peas, sprinkle over them the pepper, salt and sugar, and, covering the saucepan, shake it over the fire until the peas are very hot, taking care that they neither brown nor break. ' Turnips. — For this take : six turnips, two table- spoonsfuls of beef dripping, one teaspoonful of salt, one- half teaspoonful of pepper, one tablespoonful 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 cutting off the top. Wash the turnips thoroughly in cold water to whiten them and remove the finger marks, and putting them into a saucepan, cover them with boiling water, and closing the lid pf the saucepan boil them rapidly until a fork will easily penetrate to their centres. When done, drain the water well off them, add the beef- dripping, 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 SUMMER SQUASH. loi Boiled Cabbage. — For this provide : one head of cabbage, three tablespoonsful of beef-drippings, one tea- spoonful of salt, one-half teaspoonful of pepper, one lump of saleratus the size of a pea. Select a large, firm head of cabbage, wash it well and cut away the coarse outer leaves. This done cut off the stalk and make cuts in the base of the cabbage, cross- ing each other in the centre, so that the water may pene- trate to the heart and cook it equally. Prepare a large saucepan of boiling water, into which throw the saleratus, put into this the cabbage, covering the pan until the water boils up, when removing the cover, it must be allowed to boil rapidly, until a skewer or fork will pierce readily through it Remove the cabbage now to a cullender and let the water drain from it, and chop it roughly with a knife when drained. When chopped put it into a vegetable dish, pour over it the beef-drippings, sprinkle over the pepper and salt, when it must be tossed about with a fork very quickly in order that the cabbage may not cool. When the seasoning is thoroughly distributed send it at once to the table. Notes — This may be cooked exactly the same way and served whole if preferred, in which case the dripping must be heated and poured over and the pepper and salt sprinkled over afterwards. Cabbage may also be boiled very palatably in the liquor in which either salt beef or salt pork is boiled. Boiled Suxnmer Squash. — Take for this purpose : two medium sized squashes, two ounces of butter, one- half teaspoonful of pepper, one dessert spoonful of salt. The squashes must first be pared, then cut into slices and put into cold water for ten minutes. 102 VEGETABLES. Put the slices into a saucepan together with sufficient water to cover them, into which must be thrown the salt, and boil for about twenty minutes. Remove the squash to a cullender, drain off as much ' of the water as possible and mash them up, using a fork to break up all the lumps. Place all in a vegetable dish, add the butter and pepper, and toss them about with a fork until the butter is melted, when it should be smoothed over the top with a knife-blade, and served immediately. Boiled Carrots "with Brown Sauce. — For this prepare : one bunch of young carrots, one ounce of but- ter, one-half ounce of flour, one-half pint of brown stock, one dessert spoonful of catsup, one saltspoonful of salt, one saltspoonful of pepper

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.