Scrape some oyster plant and drop quickly into cold water with a few drops of vinegar to prevent its turning dark. Boil until soft in salted water, mash fine, and for every half pint of the pulp add one well beaten egg, a teaspoonful of melted butter, a tablespoonful of cream, a heaping tablespoonful of flour, salt and pepper. Drop into boiling lard or drippings and fry brown. Or, instead of mashing the salsify after boiling, some prefer to drain it, and to dip each piece in batter and fry it in hot lard. Season with salt and pepper after frying, drain in a napkin and serve hot.
FRIED SALSIFY.
Scrape, cut into finger lengths and boil in salted water, drain and cover with a dressing of oil and vinegar, salt and pepper. Let stand until well seasoned, then drain again, sprinkle with parsley and fry in hot fat. Put in but few pieces at a time as each needs attention. Dry in a hot colander and serve.
SALSIFY SOUP.
Use a pint of salsify cut fine, boil until soft in a pint of water, mash and put through a sieve. Have ready three pints of boiling milk, into this put the salsify, liquor and pulp, thicken with a tablespoonful of flour, and season with butter, pepper and salt. Roll crackers and stir in three tablespoonfuls of cracker dust.
Asparagus Sauce.—Use the tender part of the stalks for the main dish, boil the tougher part until it is as soft as it will be, then rub through a coarse sieve. Put the pulp into a mixture of one tablespoonful each of butter and flour and let it simmer for a few moments, add a half-cup of water in which the asparagus was boiled, season with salt and pepper and boil thoroughly; just before taking from the fire add a half-cup of hot cream or one-half cup of milk and water, and a teaspoonful of butter; a little grating of nutmeg improves the flavor.
Bechamel Sauce.—Bechamel sauce is a white one and needs a white stock; if there is none at hand make it in the following manner: cut up lean veal, free from fat into three-inch cubes and put them into a stewpan. Add one small onion, one small carrot cut into pieces, and six ounces of butter. Fry the vegetables in the butter ten minutes, without coloring, then stir in three ounces of flour, and continue stirring five minutes longer. Add three pints of stock, one pint of cream, five ounces of mushrooms, a small sprinkling of dried herbs, one half teaspoonful of salt and a pinch of white pepper. Stir until it comes to a boil, skim occasionally to remove the fat, and simmer for two hours. Strain through a cloth or fine sieve into a porcelain stewpan with a gill of cream. Simmer over the fire till it coats the spoon, strain again through a cloth or fine sieve into a basin, and set till the sauce is cold. This sauce requires the cook's utmost attention.
Butter Sauce or Drawn Butter Sauce.—Mix one tablespoonful each of butter and flour to a smooth paste, put in a saucepan to melt, not to brown, and add one cupful of water, broth, or milk. Season with one teaspoonful of salt and one saltspoonful of pepper. Stir constantly while boiling. This is a good sauce in itself and is the foundation of many other sauces; it is varied with different vegetable flavors, catsups, vinegars, spices, lemon juice, leaves and the different sweet herbs.