Boiled 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 and wash asparagus, then boil in salted water for 20 minutes.

As published

This recipe was extracted from The art of cooking (1880) by Matilda Lees Dods, page 43. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

ne salt* spoonful of pepper. The spinach must be thoroughly washed through three or four waters and the stalks picked off. Put it when washed into a dry saucepan, sprinkle over it the salt, and covering the saucepan closely place it over the fire. The salt and heat together will draw from the spinach enough of its own green liquor in which to boil, and when it reaches the boiling point allow it to boil for ten minutes. At the end of this time remove the spinach to a cul- lender that it may drain entirely of its liquor and when drained it must either be very finely chopped or passed through a coarse wire sieve. Into a small saucepan put the butter and cream and place all over the fire until the cream boils, then stir in the spinach and let the mixture get very hot but not boiling, as boiling will draw more liquor from the spinach and spoil the dish. ^6 VEGETABLES, Season now with the cayenne and pepper and "draw the saucepan aside from the fire to keep hot until the eggs are prepared. Fill a small saucepan with boiling water and into this put the lemon-juice. Break the egg into a cup and drop it into the saucepan, the water in which must continue to boil, and as soon as the form of the first egg sets, break and drop in the second in the same manner, which continue until the four eggs are in the saucepan, permitting each egg to remain about three minutes. When the eggs are done remove the spinach from its saucepan and pile it high in the centre of a vegetable dish, smoothing the edges around and the top with a knife blade. Take the eggs from the water with a skim- ming spoon, and arrange them upon the fiat top of the spinach. This dish should be garnished for serving with cor- ners of fried bread or toast. Note. — If lemon-juice is not convenient, a few drops of vinegar may be used for poaching the eggs, but the flavor of it will always be detected although it firms the egg quite as well as the lemon-juice which leaves no taste of itself with the egg, Cauliflower au Oratin. — Provide for this : one cauliflower, one ounce of butter, one ounce of flour, one gill of cold water, two tablespoonfuls of cream, three ounces of grated Parmesan cheese, one grain of cayenne, one saltspoonful of white pepper, one tablespoonful of salt. A close firm head of cauliflower must be selected for this preparation and this must be first thrown into a basin of strongly salted water and left for twenty minutes in, TOMA TO FARCL 97 order that sand, grit or other foreign substances may be drawn out. Trim off the green leaves and cut the stalk squarely across about two inches below the flower, after which prepare a large saucepan by putting it over the fire, filling it two-thirds full of boiling water with a table- spoonful of salt. Into this saucepan put the cauliflower, the flower down- wards and covering it until the water boils up vigorously, when removing the saucepan cover, all should be allowed to boil rapidly for fifteen minutes. At the end of this time take the' cauliflower from the water and placing it upon a gratin plate with the flower uppermost, wrap over it thickly but lightly a clean towel both to keep it hot and to absorb such moisture as nfay have remained in the top. Melt in a small saucepan the butter into which stir the flour, and add by degrees the cold water. When this boils take it from the fire, add to it the cream and two ounces of the grated cheese. Season all with the cayenne and pepper, and removing the towel from the cauliflower pour this sauce over it. Sprinkle over the flower the remaining ounce of cheese and place all into a quick oven where the cheese upon the top must be allowed nicely to brown. Serve immediately. Notes. — If Parmesan cheese cannot be obtained, any strong, old cheese that is dry enough to grate, may be used instead. In boiling aU vegetables and cereals the more rapidly the water boils the more satisfactory will be the result. If a gratin- plate is not available, the cauliflower must be put upon a plate that will stand the heat of the oven and in serving, a napkin may be laid under and prettily folded around to conceal the plate, if unsightly. 98 VEGETABLES. Tomato Farcl. — Provide for this : one quart of fresh tomatoes, two Spanish onions, four tablespoonsfuls of bread crumbs, three ounces of butter, one-half tea- spoonful of salt, one teaspoonf ul of pepper. The onions must have been put into boiling water and soaked over night, and when required for the preparation, they should be dried in a towel and then sliced, making the slices about a third of an inch thick. Melt in a frying-pan an ounce of the butter, and when hot, brown on both sides in it the onion slices. Slice the tomatoes and arrange a layer of them in the bottom of a vegetable dish, and over this put a layer of the browned onion. Sprinkle over this a little of tlie bread crumbs, season with the pepper and salt, and with these alternating layers proceed to fill the vegetable dish, leaving a top covering of the bread crumbs. When the dish is filled, distribute the butter in small pieces over the top, and place all in a moderate oven to bake for three-quarters of an hour. Note — Canned tomatoes will answer for this farci, and when used, the half of a quart can will be sufficient. Boiled Asparagus "with White Sauce. — For this provide : 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

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