St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1900-06-30
USES OF ASPARAGUS.
garious WAYS of Preparing thesvese-
table That Are Not Com
ueonIy Knows.

Our common garden asparagus IL
generally the first vegetable from our
gardens. 1t is found growing wild ON
The southern shores of England, and In
greta quantities on he western steppes
Of Russia, where il furnishes food for
thecatfle, says the New York Tribune.
Asparagus is generally simply boiled and
served on toast with dressing of but
ter, but there are d multitude OF
other ways Of cooking 1t which are more
economical, because every portion Of
the stalk is made use of. The French
cook often divides a large bunch of ac-
paragus into three portions. The ten
der tips of the stalk are cut off and
served by themselves. They should be
boiled in salted water about ten nain-
utes, and then drained and served on
the dainty brown toast The tough
lower portion of the stalk is cut or
and laid aside for soup, and the middle
part of the stalk, which ought to be-
green and tender, should be tied up in
a bundle, plunged in enough boiling
water to cover it. and be steadily boiled
for "a minutes or half an hour Some
times this portion of the stalk lis cut
into inch and a half lengths and boiled
tender in this way in water. In either
case the asparagus is served on thin
slices of toast with a Hollandaise sauce,
or simply butter. A HolIandaise sauce
for asparagus is made as follows: Fry
a small white onion in two tablespoons
fuls of butter. add half a bay leaf and
six peppers; stir in two even tal,le-
spoonfuls Of flour, and moisfen the
whole with three cups of white stock,
either chicken or veal broth Let the
sauce boil and skim off any fat that
arises. Add a heaping, feaspoohfuI of
salt and let the sauce simmer s225 min
utes. Draw it toward the back OF
the stove, where it will stop boiling,
and slowly add the yolks of three eggs
and the juice of half lemon. Beat
carefully. Do not let 1t boil again.
Strain it. Add a sheaping teaspoonfu1
of butter and serve. This saace will
keep a week in cold cellar. It is a
delicious sauce to use with fish as well
as asparagus. A cup of the sauce Is
enough for q bunch of asparagus.
A drawn butter, which is a less ex-
pensive sauce than Hollandaise to serve
on boiled asparagus. is made as fol-
lows: Put two large tablespoonfuls Of
butter in a saucepan to melt: add two
even tablespoonfuls OF -four; when well
mixed add slowly one quart of warm
water, stirring it in gradually and
thoroughly; add a teaspoonful of salt.
Let it simmer half an hour, until it
is quite thick, then add a scant table,
spoonful of butter, little at a time,
and little white pepper. Stir il until
it is white. Squeeze in the juice of a
lemon and strain the sauce. 1t will
keep week in a very cold place. Some
times these sauces are served in boat
with the boiled asparagus simply
drained and laid on platter
An asparagus omelet is an ordinary
omeiet Of four eggs, with two table,
spoonfuls of asparagus tips which have
just Been boiled and mixed with but
ter and salt for seasoning added before
theeomelet is folded. Asparagus is "a
vegetable that cannot be successfully
warmed over. therefore only enough
for use at the time should be cooked.
is not especially good for
salad, but is sometimes served nstIlat
acid modification of salad known az
! cold .vinaigrette.' To prepare the
sauce, pound the yollz of a
lard-boiled egg in a bowl and add
spoonful of vinegar; season with sal
4 saitspoonfu1 of pepper, white onion
minced fne and three tablespoonfnIs
# good olive oil. This is enough for
laf a bunch of boiled asparagus, cut in
~ aanich lengths. Toss it well in the
sauce This sauce is also good used o.
1ot asparagus.