Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1914-04-29
FIRST De VEGETABLES
ASPARAGUS as HEARTILY WEI
) COINED As "A DISH OF SPRING.
Time and Care Expended In its Prep
sratlon 10 Well Repaid by lsueeuisnt :.%
Properties hit 10 Prop
ss5s s5 ,3. eriy Served. s3; ~;

,Aspara gus is one Of the things that
make us glad when spring comes. It's
flavor, like the first warm winds tnat
blow out OF an April sky. Is dellctatse =
forerunner: of the richer gifts OF SUM y :.
mer. And, yet, Is there one OF all IN the 9.
many vegetables that the warm !. suns 'llll'.
Of summer bring out that IS m mo g
toothsome than asparagus? s5i; 4 55jSi
From the housewives point OF VIEW,
1 the best thing about asparagus y thatt
] it is 30 simple to prepare for the
table, In fact, with q little boiling
In little water with q little salt and
butter you have dish At for king.
The matter OF boiling, however, 10
sometimes stumbling block. We all
have seen asparagus come to the ta-
BILE with apitated heads. This dit-
ficulty3 is due to the fact that the
heads are SO much tendererr than the
stalks that when the stalks have been ZEN.
boiled sufficiently the heads have been cen
boiled to pieces. One. way to obyiate
this trouble is to take pains to put
the lunches Of asparagus after they
have been washed and n scraped into
the. boiling dish with the stalk END
down. H The boiling water should be
poured over the stalks as far as the the
heads, but not to cover them: Th e.
as the stalks boil the heads are gently
steamed. and II handled carefully VIII
not break. n
Another way to obviate this dim !.
Guilty is to use wire basket which ID
made especially for asparagus. TINS
basket holds the stalks while cooking
and the bottom opens easily, SO that
when the asparagus is cooked It can
be put on q plate or serving platter
without breaking the ends. It costs
Is cents H I'm. a :s
Asparagus should always be cooked 4
With salt in the proportion of 9 tea
spoonful to . quart OF water. No rule i
can be laid down as to the length Of !
time to cook asparagus. When It IL
young and very tender is minutes Will
suffice. When It is somewhat older IL
will be 4 improved by cooking up To-
80 minutes or more.
AZ. In choosing tt asparagus from the
market 1t matters little whether # be !
small and highly colored or thick
stalked and white. ~ II 1t Is young and
fresh it is sure to be good. Aspara-
gus is like fish in this, that you don't
really know It's favor unit you have
eaten It very fresh; Just caught from
the water or justs cut from the a.
5paragus bed. But the next best thing
to do with respect to asparagus 10
to buy it on market day and get it T
home and in the icebox early in the
morning before it has been exposed
to the air and heat many hours. III
rs The custom $of sending asparagus
In as a separate course Isl good one.
for nothing is more satisfactory As ~
separate vegetable course than this
,succulent spring stalk. It can be \
served with the heads resting on = \
tiny strip Of buttered toast, dressed
with pepper and salt and butter or (
with a good cream sauce or 1t can
be served In any OF "a dozen more
elaborate ways. Sax
Served simply with butter or cold. !
with vinaigrette sauce, It ts e good
OF any roast meat
r. Various sauces make various dishes 4
.of asparagus and although connois-s
seurs insist that the delicate flavor
OF this vegetable cannot be improved
on by the addition of Shavoring, other
than pepper. salt end melted butter.
still sauces can be depended on By
the cook for variety. SIS s, re