The Book of Household Management

by Mrs. Beeton

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES WITH WHITE SAUCE.

(Entremets, or to be served with the Second Course as a Side-dish.)

1086. INGREDIENTS.—12 to 15 artichokes, 12 to 15 Brussels sprouts, 1/2 pint of white sauce, No. 538.

Mode.—Peel and cut the artichokes in the shape of a pear; cut a piece off the bottom of each, that they may stand upright in the dish, and boil them in salt and water until tender. Have ready 1/2 pint of white sauce, made by recipe No. 538; dish the artichokes, pour over them the sauce, and place between each a fine Brussels sprout: these should be boiled separately, and not with the artichokes.

Time.—About 20 minutes. Average cost, 2d. per lb.

Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.

Seasonable from September to June.

THE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE.—This plant is well known, being, for its tubers, cultivated not only as a garden vegetable, but also as an agricultural crop. By many it is much esteemed as an esculent, when cooked in various ways; and the domesticated animals eat both the fresh foliage, and the tubers with great relish. By some, they are not only considered nourishing, but even fattening.

BOILED ASPARAGUS.

1087. INGREDIENTS.—To each 1/2 gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt; asparagus.

[Illustration: ASPARAGUS ON TOAST. ASPARAGUS TONGS.]

Mode.—Asparagus should be dressed as soon as possible after it is cut, although it may be kept for a day or two by putting the stalks into cold water; yet, to be good, like every other vegetable, it cannot be cooked too fresh. Scrape the white part of the stems, beginning from the head, and throw them into cold water; then tie them into bundles of about 20 each, keeping the heads all one way, and cut the stalks evenly, that they may all be the same length; put them into boiling water, with salt in the above proportion; keep them boiling quickly until tender, with the saucepan uncovered. When the asparagus is done, dish it upon toast, which should be dipped in the water it was cooked in, and leave the white ends outwards each war, with the points meeting in the middle. Serve with a tureen of melted butter.

Time.—15 to 18 minutes after the water boils.

Average cost, in full season, 2s. 6d. the 100 heads.

Sufficient.—Allow about 50 heads for 4 or 5 persons.

Seasonable.—May be had, forced, from January but cheapest in May, June, and July.

[Illustration: ASPARAGUS.]

ASPARAGUS.—This plant belongs to the variously-featured family of the order Liliaceae, which, in the temperate regions of both hemispheres, are most abundant, and, between the tropics, gigantic in size and arborescent in form. Asparagus is a native of Great Britain, and is found on various parts of the seacoast, and in the fens of Lincolnshire. At Kynarve Cove, in Cornwall, there is an island called "Asparagus Island," from the abundance in which it is there found. The uses to which the young shoots are applied, and the manure in which they are cultivated in order to bring them to the highest state of excellence, have been a study with many kitchen-gardeners.

ASPARAGUS PEAS.

(Entremets, or to be served as a Side-dish with the Second Course.)

1088. INGREDIENTS.—100 heads of asparagus, 2 oz. of butter, a small bunch of parsley, 2 or 3 green onions, flour, 1 lump of sugar, the yolks of 2 eggs, 4 tablespoonfuls of cream, salt.

Mode.—Carefully scrape the asparagus, cut it into pieces of an equal size, avoiding that which is in the least hard or tough, and throw them into cold water. Then boil the asparagus in salt and water until three-parts done; take it out, drain, and place it on a cloth to dry the moisture away from it. Put it into a stewpan with the butter, parsley, and onions, and shake over a brisk fire for 10 minutes. Dredge in a little flour, add the sugar, and moisten with boiling water. When boiled a short time and reduced, take out the parsley and onions, thicken with the yolks of 2 eggs beaten with the cream; add a seasoning of salt, and, when the whole is on the point of simmering, serve. Make the sauce sufficiently thick to adhere to the vegetable.

Time.—Altogether, 1/2 hour. Average cost, 1s. 6d. a pint.

Seasonable in May, June, and July.

MEDICINAL USES OF ASPARAGUS.—This plant not only acts as a wholesome and nutritious vegetable, but also as a diuretic, aperient, and deobstruent. The chemical analysis of its juice discovers its composition to be a peculiar crystallizable principle, called asparagin, albumen, mannite, malic acid, and some salts. Thours says, the cellular tissue contains a substance similar to sage. The berries are capable of undergoing vinous fermentation, and affording alcohol by distillation. In their unripe state they possess the same properties as the roots, and probably in a much higher degree.