How to Boil Artichokes.—If the artichokes are very young, about an inch of the stalk can be left; but should they be full grown, the stalk must be cut quite close. Wash them well and put them into strong salt and water to soak for a couple of hours. Pull away a few of the lower leaves, and snip off the points of all. Fill a saucepan with water, throw some salt into it, let it boil up, and then remove the scum from the top; put the artichokes in, with the stalks upward, and let them boil until the leaves can be loosened easily; this will take from thirty to forty minutes, according to the age of the artichokes. The saucepan should not be covered during the time they are boiling. Rich, melted butter is always sent to the table with them.
New Mode to Dress Asparagus.—Scrape the grass, tie it up in bundles, and cut the ends off an even length. Have ready a saucepan, with boiling water, and salt in proportion of a heaped saltspoonful to a quart of water. Put in the grass, standing it on the bottom with the green heads out of the water, so that they are not liable to be boiled off. If the water boils too fast, dash in a little cold water. When the grass has boiled a quarter of an hour it will be sufficiently done; remove it from the saucepan, cut off the ends down to the edible part, arrange it on a dish in a round pyramid, with the heads toward the middle of the dish, and boil some eggs hard; cut them in two, and place them round the dish quite hot. Serve melted butter in a sauce-tureen; and those who like it rub the yoke of a hard egg into the butter, which makes a delicious sauce to the asparagus.
How to Boil Asparagus.—Scrape the asparagus; tie them in small bunches; boil them in a large pan of water with salt in it; before you dish them up toast some slices of bread, and then dip them in the boiling water; lay the asparagus on the toasts; pour on them rich melted butter, and serve hot.
Ragout of Asparagus.—Cut small asparagus like green peas; the best method is to break them off first; then tie them in small bunches to cut, boil them till half done; then drain them, and finish with butter, a little broth, herbs, two cloves, and a sprig of savory. When done, take out the cloves, herbs, etc., mix two yolks of eggs, with a little flour, and broth, to garnish a first course dish. But if you intend to serve it in a second course mix cream, a little salt, and sugar.
French Beans, a la Creme.—Slice the beans and boil them in water with salt. When soft, drain. Put into a stewpan two ounces of fresh butter, the yolks of three eggs, beaten up into a gill of cream, and set over a slow fire. When hot, add a spoonful of vinegar, simmer for five minutes.
To Preserve French Beans for Winter.—Pick them young, and throw into a little wooden keg a layer of them three inches deep; then sprinkle them with salt, put another layer of beans, and do the same as high as you think proper, alternately with salt, but not too much of this. Lay over them a plate, or cover of wood, that will go into the keg, and put a heavy stone on it. A pickle will rise from the beans and salt. If they are too salt, the soaking and boiling will not be sufficient to make them pleasant to the taste.
Stewed Beans.—Boil them in water in which a lump of butter has been placed; preserve them as white as you can; chop a few sweet herbs with some parsley very fine; then stew them in a pint of the water in which the leaves have been boiled, and to which a quarter of a pint of cream has been added; stew until quite tender, then add the beans, and stew five minutes, thickening with butter and flour.
How to Boil Broccoli.—Peel the thick skin of the stalks, and boil for nearly a quarter of an hour, with a little bit of soda, then put in salt, and boil five minutes more. Broccoli and savoys taste better when a little bacon is boiled with them.
How to boil Cabbage.—Cut off the outside leaves, and cut it in quarters; pick it well, and wash it clean; boil it in a large quantity of water, with plenty of salt in it; when it is tender and a fine light green, lay it on a sieve to drain, but do not squeeze it, it will take off the flavor; have ready some very rich melted butter, or chop it with cold butter. Greens must be boiled the same way. Strong vegetables like turnips and cabbage, etc., require much water.
Cabbage Salad.—Three eggs well beaten, one cup of vinegar, two tablespoons of mustard, salt and pepper, one tablespoon of butter; let this mixture come to a boil, when cool add seven tablespoons of cream, half a head of cabbage shaved fine.