Handbook of practical cookery

At the end of this time take the cauliflower from the water, and placing it upon a gratin plate with the flower uppermost, wrap over it thickly but lightly a clean towel, both to keep it hot and to absorb such moisture as may have remained in the top. Melt in a small sauce-pan the butter, into which stir the flour, and add by degrees the cold water. When this boils, take it from the fire ; add to it the cream and two ounces of the grated cheese. Season all with the cayenne and pepper, and removing the towel from the cauliflower, pour this sauce over it. Sprinkle over the flower the remaining ounce of cheese, and place all into a quick oven, where the cheese upon the top must be allowed nicely to brown. Serve immediately. NOTES. — If Parmesan cheese cannot be obtained, any strong old cheese that is dry enough to grate may be used instead. In boiling all vegetables and cereals, the more rapidly the water boils, the more satisfactory will be the result. If a gratin-plate is not available, the cauliflower must be put upon a plate that will stand the heat of the oven ; and in serving, a napkin may be laid under, and prettily folded around to conceal the plate if unsightly. Tomato Farci. — Provide for this one quart of fresh tomatoes, two Spanish onions, four table-spoonfuls of bread crumbs, three ounces of butter, one half tea-spoonful of salt, one tea-spoonful of pepper. BOILED ASPARAGUS WITH WHITE SAUCE. 105 The onions must have been put into boiling water, and soaked over-night ; and when required for the preparation, they should be dried in a towel, and then sliced, making the slices about a third of an inch thick. Melt in a frying-pan an ounce of the butter, and when hot, brown on both sides in it the onion slices. Slice the tomatoes, and arrange a layer of them in the bottom of a vegetable dish, and over this put a layer of the browned onion. Sprinkle over this a little of the bread crumbs, season with the pepper and salt, and with these alternating layers proceed to fill the vegetable dish, leaving a top covering of the bread crumbs. When the dish is filled, distribute the butter in small pieces over the top, and place all in a moderate oven to bake for three quarters of an hour. NOTE. — Canned tomatoes will answer for this farci, and when used, the half of a quart can will be sufficient. Boiled Asparagus with White Sauce. — For this provide one bunch of asparagus, two ounces of butter, one ounce of flour, one gill of milk, two table-spoonfuls of cream, one salt-spoonful of salt, one salt-spoonful of pepper. Trim the asparagus, and cut it into equal lengths ; wash it in cold water, and putting it into a sauce-pan, cover with boiling water, and shut the lid of the sauce-pan for the first moment. When the water boils up vigorously, take off the cover, and let the asparagus boil for twenty minutes. Five minutes before the asparagus is done, take a small sauce-pan, and mixing in it the butter and the flour, add to this by degrees a gill and a half of the liquor in which the asparagus is boiling. Stir this with the butter and flour until the mixture boils, when the milk should be added, and two minutes additional boiling allowed. Season with the salt and pepper, and drawing the sauce-pan aside from the fire, stir into it the cream.