To keep their color, I often proceed thus for entrées or second courses: I plain boil as above, and put them in a stewpan, with four small onions, a little mint, parsley, butter, sugar, and a drop of water, simmer a few minutes, add as above the flour, butter, and liaison, and serve; they are very good this way, but not so rich in flavor.
There are different kinds, but I prefer the Prussian Blue above all.
641. Seakale.—Proceed exactly as for asparagus for boiling, but previously to boiling cut out the black part of the roots, and well wash and tie it together, and serve with the same sauce as asparagus. There is a kind of seakale that is rank and stringy, and not worth eating; it may be known, when raw, by the outside near the root, which is very tough and hard.
642. Sprue-grass.—The longer the green part the better the sprue; take each piece and gently bend it, and it will break off at that part which you require, beyond it is too hard, and cannot be eaten; when you thus have the pieces, cut them into lengths of a quarter of an inch, which well wash; have one gallon of water, into which put one ounce of salt, and boil, then put in the sprue and boil for ten minutes, or till tender, then drain on a sieve, put them in a stewpan, with two ounces of fresh butter, half a teaspoonful of flour, the same of salt, two pinches of pepper, and place on the fire, stir well together, and serve hot. The yolk of an egg, well beaten with two spoonfuls of cream, may be added to it; and when serving, also two spoonfuls of white sauce or melted butter,—but I always do it as the first.
643. Celery.—Cut about ten heads of large celery from six to seven inches long, trim the outside and cut the root to a point, wash it very well between the leaves, tie three together, put a gallon of water, with two ounces of salt, to boil, then add the celery, and boil for fifteen minutes, then drain it, put into a stewpan a small slice of bacon, and lay the celery on it, put it on the fire for two minutes, add one onion sliced, cover with broth until quite tender, then take it out, and dish on a piece of toast, pass the gravy through a sieve into a stewpan, skim off the fat, reduce it to a demi-glaze, add a little sugar and a small pat of butter, which you have rubbed into some flour, stir it well, and sauce over; it ought to be thick, and of a nice brown color, which produce, if required, by a little coloring. Marrow may be served with it, by taking two good pieces of marrow, and boil for a few minutes in a quart of water, and serve on each side the celery. It can also be cooked plain boiled, and served with melted butter over, and also boiled in eight tablespoonfuls of brown sauce, six of broth, and half a teaspoonful of sugar, in which it has boiled ten minutes, or until tender; sauce over and serve.
644. Salsify.—I do not know why this vegetable, which is held in such high estimation on the Continent, should be so little esteemed with us; I will here supply their manner of cooking it, and perhaps you will give it a fair trial. Take twelve middling-sized ones, scrape them well till quite white, rub each with lemon and put in cold water; put into a stewpan a quarter of a pound of beef or mutton suet, cut in small dice one onion, a little thyme, a bay-leaf, a tablespoonful of salt, and four cloves, put on the fire and stir for five minutes, add two tablespoonfuls of flour, and stir well, then add three pints of water, when just boiling put in your salsify, simmer till tender; they will take nearly one hour; dish on toast, sauce over with Dutch, maître d’hôtel, or onion sauce, or a very good demi-glaze, or Italian sauce. Should any remain, they may be made into fritters thus: put the sauce, if any, in a basin, add a little salt, pepper, two spoonfuls of vinegar, half a chopped eschalot, and a spoonful of oil, place in the salsify, and let it remain for some hours, when ready to serve, make a small quantity of batter, dip each piece in it, and fry for five minutes in lard or fat, dish up with fried parsley over.