Asparagus Peas

The Book of Household Management · Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) · 1861

Source: The Book of Household Management
Time: Total: 30 min
Status: success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe: No

Ingredients (12)

100 heads of asparagus ↝ Asparagus, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
2 oz. of butter ↝ Butter, stick, unsalted [Dairy and Egg Products]
a small bunch of parsley ↝ Parsley, raw [Not included in a food category]
2 or 3 green onions ↝ Onions, green, raw [Onions]
flour ↝ Flour, 00 [Cereal Grains and Pasta]
1 lump of sugar ↝ Sugar, NFS [Sugars and honey]
the yolks of 2 eggs ↝ Egg, yolk only, raw [Eggs and omelets]
4 tablespoonfuls of cream ↝ Cream, whipped [Cream cheese, sour cream, whipped cream]
salt ↝ Salt, table, iodized [Spices and Herbs]
salt and water ↝ Salt, table, iodized [Spices and Herbs]
salt and water ↝ Water, tap [Tap water]
boiling water ↝ Water, tap [Tap water]

Instructions (6)

Carefully scrape the asparagus, cut it into pieces of an equal size, avoiding that which is in the least hard or tough, and throw them into cold water.
Boil the asparagus in salt and water until three-parts done; take it out, drain, and place it on a cloth to dry the moisture away from it.
Put it into a stewpan with the butter, parsley, and onions, and shake over a brisk fire for 10 minutes.
Dredge in a little flour, add the sugar, and moisten with boiling water.
When boiled a short time and reduced, take out the parsley and onions, thicken with the yolks of 2 eggs beaten with the cream; add a seasoning of salt, and, when the whole is on the point of simmering, serve.
Make the sauce sufficiently thick to adhere to the vegetable.

Original Text

ASPARAGUS PEAS.

(Entremets, or to be served as a Side-dish with the Second Course.)

1088. INGREDIENTS.—100 heads of asparagus, 2 oz. of butter, a small bunch of parsley, 2 or 3 green onions, flour, 1 lump of sugar, the yolks of 2 eggs, 4 tablespoonfuls of cream, salt.

Mode.—Carefully scrape the asparagus, cut it into pieces of an equal size, avoiding that which is in the least hard or tough, and throw them into cold water. Then boil the asparagus in salt and water until three-parts done; take it out, drain, and place it on a cloth to dry the moisture away from it. Put it into a stewpan with the butter, parsley, and onions, and shake over a brisk fire for 10 minutes. Dredge in a little flour, add the sugar, and moisten with boiling water. When boiled a short time and reduced, take out the parsley and onions, thicken with the yolks of 2 eggs beaten with the cream; add a seasoning of salt, and, when the whole is on the point of simmering, serve. Make the sauce sufficiently thick to adhere to the vegetable.

Time.—Altogether, 1/2 hour. Average cost, 1s. 6d. a pint.

Seasonable in May, June, and July.

MEDICINAL USES OF ASPARAGUS.—This plant not only acts as a wholesome and nutritious vegetable, but also as a diuretic, aperient, and deobstruent. The chemical analysis of its juice discovers its composition to be a peculiar crystallizable principle, called asparagin, albumen, mannite, malic acid, and some salts. Thours says, the cellular tissue contains a substance similar to sage. The berries are capable of undergoing vinous fermentation, and affording alcohol by distillation. In their unripe state they possess the same properties as the roots, and probably in a much higher degree.

Notes

—