"Broccoli is a cooking puzzle I can't solve. The flower-heads of broccoli are so tender they cook in a few minutes. But the stalks are thick and take a long time to cook tender. So naturally when I cook broccoli the tender heads boil to pieces long before the stalks are done enough to eat. What's the secret of cooking so heads and stalks are both ready at the same time?"

The secret is not in the cooking but in the preparing. One method is to cut the stalks lengthwise into fairly thin strips. The strips will cook more quickly than the large thick stalks because heat can penetrate them more easily. Another way to prepare broccoli is to cut the stems crosswise into small chunks.

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A problem very much like this one about asparagus comes up in the next email:

"Please tell me how to cook asparagus so the tender tips won't be over-soft."

To cook asparagus whole, trim off the tough woody bottom ends of the stalks. Then tie the stalks together in a loose bunch. Stand the bunch in boiling salted water with the tender tips above water. The tips will cook by steam while the stalks boil tender. (My mother always stood asparagus up in a stove top coffee pot and cooked them there – works great!) You can also turn your double boiler into a convenient cooker for stand-up asparagus.

Have boiling salted water in the lower part of the boiler. Set the bunch of asparagus in the water. Then invert the upper part of the cooker over the tips of the asparagus and let them cook in the steam.

While we're on the subject of asparagus, here is a frequent question: "How can I fix asparagus so it won't be gritty? I wash and wash it but after cooking there's sand still in it."

Very often grains of sand get under the little scales on the asparagus stalk.

The way to get rid of this sand is to remove these scales with a knife and then wash the asparagus.