Boiled Asparagus

Have the asparagus as fresh as possible, scrape and clean, washing thoroughly and tie with a string into bundles of five or six shoots each, taking care to have the head even so that the stalks may be cut off at the bottom leaving them of equal length. Place the bundles in boiling salt and water and boil them fast without the lid until tender; this will be from twenty minutes to half an hour; then have ready some slices of toast without crust and lay them for sippets at the bottom of the vegetable dish. Take out the bundles of asparagus from the boiling water, using great care to prevent the heads from falling off. Lay them upon the toast and untie them upon it, allow the asparagus to fall so that it will be one way upon the toast, and the sippet be moistened with the water of the asparagus. Melted butter with the juice of a lemon to every pint may be served separately in a boat or poured over it. Oiled butter is sometimes served with asparagus, especially in Paris and other continental cities.

Asparagus Croustade

Carefully cut off a small piece of the end of three French rolls, and scrape out all the crumb with the handle of a spoon; put the tops and shells into a fryingpan with a little butter and fry them, or they may be placed before the fire to get crisp. Pour one breakfastcupful of cream into a saucepan, add the yolks of five eggs, and beat together for a few minutes, seasoning with a little salt and grated nutmeg. Set the saucepan on the fire and when the mixture begins to thicken, put in about seventy green parts of the asparagus, cut up into small pieces. Fill the rolls with this mixture, replace the lids or pieces of the tops that were cut off, and with a sharp-pointed stick or skewer make sufficient holes at one end of them to insert about ten more of the green parts of the asparagus. Then arrange them on a napkin placed on a dish, and serve. The pieces of asparagus projecting from the rolls will give the appearance of growing out of them.

Asparagus, Pompadour

After washing, place the asparagus in a saucepan of salted boiling water, and boil until done. Take them out, cut them into lengths of about two inches, and place in a cloth near the fire to dry. Prepare a little sauce with vinegar, butter, yolk of egg, salt and pepper and place the asparagus on a dish, pour over the sauce, and serve.

Asparagus With Cream

Cut into small pieces a bunch of asparagus and put in a saucepan of boiling water and blanch for about three minutes. Then remove, drain and put into another saucepan with a small quantity of warm water, some butter, sugar, and one onion. Set the pan on the side of the fire and simmer gently for half an hour, take out the onion, add a thickening of yolk of egg and cream, stir it well and turn the whole out onto a dish, and serve.

Asparagus Tops With Cream

Cut off the points or heads of the desired quantity of asparagus, wash and drain them and place in a saucepan with a little warmed butter. Set the pan on the fire, stir in a little bechamel sauce, and when done remove, place on a dish, pour over the sauce, and serve.