How to cook vegetables

Stuffed Onions as Garniture. Peel 8 or 10 medium-sized onions, parboil them in salted water with a small piece of butter. Drain on a cloth and cool. Carefully scoop out the centre part of each onion, and chop very fine, with about half its quantity of mushrooms. Put it in a stew-pan with a handful of breadcrumbs, season with pepper, salt, and a little grated nutmeg, moisten with a little Espagnole sauce, mix well, and stuff the centre of the onions with sauce. Place them on a buttered sautepan, sprinkle the top with fresh breadcrumbs, put a small bit of butter on each one, and bake in a moderate oven a golden colour. They will take about 20 minutes to bake. Onion Fritters. Peel and cut in rounds four or five onions. Divide into rings. Season and roll them in flour, shake them in a colander or strainer. Plunge at once in hot fat, and fry them to a golden colour. Drain, dish up on a folded serviette, and garnish with fried parsley, and serve. Glazed Onions. After having peeled the required quantity of small onions, blanch them for a few minutes in salted water, and drain them. Next place them in a stew-pan with a large piece of butter, season with salt, pepper, a good pinch of castor sugar, and just enough rich stock to cover. Boil up quickly over the fire, then place the pan in the oven to reduce the stock until they are nicely glazed. These onions are used as garnish for various meat and poultry dishes. Onion Puree a la Soubise. Peel 4 to 6 large onions, cut in rounds, and put in a saucepan with i oz. of butter, add salt, pepper to taste, i oz. of rice, and enough white stock to cover. Cover with a piece of buttered paper. Put the pan on a quick fire to set it cooking, then allow to simmer in the oven for about an hour. Stir the contents of the pan from time to time. When the onions and rice are cooked, pass through a fine sieve. Return the puree to a saucepan, and reduce well, stirring with a spoon until the desired consistency is obtained. At the last, stir in a tablespoonful of good white sauce, and a small piece of fresh butter. This puree is largely employed for garnish with cutlets and all other entrees named “ a la Soubise.” Soubise Sauce. Braise some finely-chopped, peeled, and blanched onions until they are nearly a puree, then pass through a fine sieve with the liquor in which the onions were cooked, make a light white roux with butter and flour, and incorporate this with the onion puree ; add a little meat glaze and cream, for the sauce must be thick enough to mask the cooked meat for which it is destined. Onion Puree a la Provencale. Proceed the same as directed for Puree a la Soubise, only when it is reduced, add a liaison of 2 yolks of eggs to give the desired consistency to the puree. It is used to spread over par-cooked cutlets, fillets, tournedos, etc. White Onion Sauce. Peel and chop the onions finely, and boil them in sufficient milk to cover until cooked. Season with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg. Drain the onions on ONTONS. T 20 a sieve when cooked, and thicken the stock with a white roux, cornflour, or some arrowroot, and make into a fairly thick sauce, to which add the cooked onions. This sauce is usually served with boiled or roast rabbit, or with boiled mutton. Brown Onion Sauce.