The frugal housewife; or, experienced cook : wherein the art of dressing all sorts of viands with cleanliness, decency, and elegance is explained in five hundred approved receipts ... / originally written by Susanna Carter, but now improved by an experienced cook in one of the principal taverns in the city of London.
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To dress Greens, Roots, ore. cut the bean in four, and then across, which is eight pieces. Lay them in water and salt; and when your pan boils, put in some salt and the beans. When they are tender, they are enough. Take care they do not lose their fine green. Lay them in a plate, and have butter in a cup. Artichokes. Wring off the stalks, and put them in the water cold, with the tops dowmvard, that all the dust and sand may boil out. When the water boils, an hour and a half will do them. Asparagus. Scrape all the stalks very carefully till they look white, then cut the stalks even alike, throw them in water, and have ready a stew-pan .boiling. Put in some salt, and tie the asparagus in little bundles. Let the water keep boiling, and when they are a little tender take them up. If you boil them too much, you lose both colour and taste. Cut the round of a small loaf, about half an inch thick, toast it brown on both sides, dip it in the asparagus liquor, and lay it in your dish : pour a little butter over the toast, then lay the asparagus on it all round the dish, with the white tops outward. Do not pour butter over the asparagus, for that makes it greasy to the fingers, but have butter in a bason, and send it to table. Directions concerning Garden Things. Most people spoil garden things by overboiling them. All things that are green should have a little crispness; for if they are over- boiled, they neither have any sweetness or beauty. Beans and Bacon. When you dress beans and bacon, boil them separate, for the bacon will spoil the colour of the beans. Always throw some salt in the water, and some parsley nicely picked. When the beans are enough, which you will know by their being tender, throw them into a cullender to drain. Take up the bacon, and skin it, throw some raspings of bread over the top ; and if you have an iron, make it red hot, and hold it over to brown the top of the bacon; if you have not one, set it before the fire to brown. Lay the beans in the dish, and the bacon in the middle on the top, and send them to table with parsley amt butter in a bason. C