In eating them, be careful after having taken off the snail and eaten it, to turn down the shell, for there is some juice in the bottom of it which is delicious; the best way is to drink it as if from the bottom of a glass.
They can be broiled on a gridiron, but they are not as good as in a kettle; some of the juice is lost, and also the flavor.
_Stewed._--Put in a stewpan four ounces of butter for fifty snails, and set it on a good fire; when melted, sprinkle in it a teaspoonful of flour, stirring a while; then add a teaspoonful of parsley chopped fine, two sprigs of thyme, a bay-leaf, a pint of white wine, and then the snails, which you have previously put back into their shells; cover the whole with warm broth, boil gently till the sauce is reduced and the snails are cooked, and serve them mouth upward, and filled with the sauce.
Green vegetables must look fresh, and have nothing rotten about them.
_To boil or blanch Green Vegetables._--Whatever they are, spinach, green peas, asparagus, etc., put some cold water and a little salt on the fire; clean the vegetable, wash it if necessary, then drop it in the water at the first boil; keep boiling for a time or till done; drain, and immediately drop it in cold water; drain again before using. It is impossible to tell how long it takes to boil; it depends entirely on the nature of the vegetable: for instance, spinach, as well as peas or any other vegetable, according to how tender it is, may take from three to twenty minutes to cook properly. Dry vegetables, such as beans, peas, lentils, etc., are washed or soaked in cold water, drained, and then set on the fire with cold water and no salt. Salt renders beans much harder and retards their cooking. Other vegetables that are neither green nor dry, such as carrots, turnips, etc., are generally set on the fire with cold water and salt. If prepared in other ways, it is explained in the receipts.
Potatoes are generally steamed; when they must be boiled, it is explained. We recommend to drop the green vegetables in the water at the first boil, because, in boiling, water evaporates its gases and alkali, and is therefore inferior for cooking purposes. Green vegetables are more acid here than in Europe, on account of the newness and richness of the soil; so is some fruit.