STEWED SPINACH.—Pick the spinach very clean, and wash it through two or three waters. Then drain it, and put it into a sauce-pan, with only the water that remains about it after the washing. Add a very little salt and pepper, and let it stew for twenty minutes, or till it is quite tender; turning it often, and pressing it down with a broad wooden spoon or flat ladle. When done, drain it through a sieve, pressing out all the moisture, till you get it as dry as you can. Then put it on a flat dish, and chop or mince it well. Set it again over the fire; add to it some bits of butter dredged with flour, and some beaten yolk of egg. Let it simmer five minutes or more, and when it comes to a boil, take it off. Have ready some thin slices of buttered toast, cut into triangular or three-cornered pieces, without any crust. Lay them in regular order round a flat dish, and heap the spinach evenly upon them, smoothing the surface with the back of a spoon, and scoring it across in diamonds.
ASPARAGUS LOAVES.—Having scraped the stalks of three bundles of fine, large asparagus, (laying it, as you proceed, in a pan of cold water,) tie it up again in bunches, put them into a pot with a great deal of boiling water, and a little salt, and boil them about twenty minutes, or till quite tender. Then take out the asparagus, and drain it. Cut off the green tops of two-thirds of the asparagus, and on the remainder leave about two inches of the white stalk; this remaining asparagus must be kept warm. Put the tops into a stew-pan with a pint of cream, or rich milk, sufficient to cover them well; adding three table-spoonfuls of fresh butter, rolled in flour, half a grated nutmeg, and the well-beaten yolks of three eggs. Set the stew-pan over hot coals, and stir the mixture till it comes to a boil. Then immediately remove it. Have ready some tall fresh rolls or penny loaves; cut the tops carefully off, in a nice circular or oval piece, and then scoop out the inside of the rolls, and fill them with the stewed asparagus while it is hot. Make small holes very nicely in the tops or lids. Fit the lids again on the rolls, and stick in the holes (of which you must make as many as you can) the remaining asparagus, that has had the bit of stalk left on for this purpose. Send them to table warm, as side-dishes.
ASPARAGUS OMELET.—Take two bunches of the largest and finest asparagus. Put it into a pot of boiling water, with a tea-spoonful of salt, and boil it about twenty-five minutes, or till perfectly tender. Then drain it, and chop small all the green part. Beat four eggs very light, and add to them a wine-glass of cream. Mix the chopped asparagus thoroughly with the egg and cream, adding a salt-spoon of salt, and a very little cayenne. Melt a large slice of fresh butter in a frying-pan over the fire; and when it has boiled, and the bubbling has ceased, put in the mixture, and fry it till light and firm. Then slip it from the frying-pan to a hot dish, and fold it over.
For a soft omelet, put the mixture into a skillet, with a piece of fresh butter. Let it stew slowly for ten minutes. Lay a thin slice of buttered toast in the bottom of a hot dish, and cut the toast into small squares, but let them remain close together. With a spoon heap the soft omelet upon the toast, and serve it up.
Any omelet mixture may be kept soft by stewing instead of frying it, and it will be found far more wholesome.
STEWED PEAS.—Take young, tender green peas, and put into a stew-pan, with sufficient fresh butter to keep them from burning, but no water. Season them with a little black pepper, and a very little salt. Set them over a moderate fire, and stir them about till the butter is well mixed through them. Let them simmer till quite soft and slightly broken; taking off the lid occasionally, and giving them a stir up from the bottom. If you find them becoming too dry, add some more butter. When done, drain off what superfluous butter may be about the peas, and send them to table hot. They will be found excellent.