Cut off the stalks at the point where toughness begins, and remove the lower scales on the stalks, (these often being objectionable), tie the stalks in bunches and set to cook, standing tips up in boiling salted water. When tender drain on a cloth. Dispose on a napkin and serve the sauce in a dish apart; or serve on buttered toast with the sauce above. The usual sauces for hot asparagus are Hollandaise, Bearnaise, Drawn Butter, Maltese, - made with the juice of blood oranges - and melted butter. As Maltese sauce is used so infrequently and the combination is well worth a trial we give the sauce in this place.

Asparagus, Maltese Sauce

Cook the asparagus, tied in a bunch, in boiling salted water. Lift out to slices of toast (the toast may be omitted), pour over the hot sauce and serve at once. For the sauce blood oranges are usually-selected. Put one-fourth a teaspoonful, each, of salt and paprika, the grated rind of half an orange, a tablespoonful of water and two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice over the fire to reduce one half; add half a cup of butter, beaten to a cream, and, one after another, the yolks of from two to four eggs; beat each yolk into the butter thoroughly before adding another. Set the dish over hot water and stir constantly while the mixture thickens, then add the juice of half a blood orange and stir and cook a moment longer. With two yolks the sauce should be as thick as cream; with four yolks as thick as mayonnaise.

Asparagus Tips In Potato Croustades

Mix the cooked asparagus tips with a sauce made of equal parts of chicken broth, cream and asparagus puree, thickened with roux. Fill the croustades and set three choice stalks about two and one half inches long above the asparagus in each croustade; sprinkle the heads with fine-chopped parsley or sifted yolk (cooked) of egg or both and serve at once.

Asparagus, With Eggs And Cheese Sauce

1 bunch of asparagus 4 hard-cooked eggs 8 rounds of buttered toast 2 tablespoonfuls of butter 2 tablespoonfuls of flour

¼ teaspoonful of salt ¼ teaspoonful of pepper 1 cup of milk ½ cup or more of cheese

Set the cooked asparagus in the center of a hot serving dish, and dispose the rounds of toast around the asparagus; set two lengthwise quarters of an egg on each round of toast. Have ready a white sauce made of the other ingredients, stirring into it, at the last, the cheese. Pour a little of the sauce over the quarters of eggs on the toast and serve the rest in a bowl. After the eggs are cooked they should be cooled in cold water that they may be shelled nicely, then let stand in hot water to reheat (do not let the water boil).

Asparagus Au Gratin

Put little bundles of asparagus on slices of toast in an au gratin dish and pour cream or Bechamel sauce over the points, then dredge quite thick with grated Parmesan cheese; cover the ends of the stalks with paper and set the dish in the oven to melt the cheese. If a little melted butter be sprinkled over the cheese, the glazing will be expedited.

Asparagus In Bread Cases

Cut bread in slices an inch and a quarter thick; cut each slice in the middle and trim neatly into two rectangular pieces. Remove the centers, to leave hollow cases with walls one-fourth an inch thick; turn the outer surfaces of the cases in melted butter and let brown in the oven. Have ready hot, cooked asparagus tips, seasoned with salt, black pepper and butter. Use these to fill the cases. For eight cases scramble four eggs in four tablespoonfuls of cream with salt and pepper. Dispose the egg above the asparagus and serve at once. Or, scald one cup of milk in a double boiler and in this cook the yolks of four eggs, beaten and mixed with one-fourth a tea-spoonful, each, of salt and pepper until thick, then pour over the asparagus and case.

Asparagus "A La Borghese"

Scrape the root ends of a bunch of asparagus, cutting the stalk where it ceases to be tender. Tie in bundles of about a dozen stalks, having the heads all together. Cook in a saucepan of boiling salted water about twenty minutes. Remove each bundle to a slice of toast, pour over the following sauce and serve at once. Melt one-fourth a cup of butter; in it cook two tablespoonfuls (level) of flour with one-fourth a teaspoonful, each, of salt, pepper and grated nutmeg; when bubbling add one cup of thin cream and stir until it boils; add one-fourth a cup of butter, in bits, and use at once.

For Asparagus Salad see Chapter IX.