FoodNet

The "Queen" cookery books: Vegetables

1902

Page 47

Presented as published in 1902. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Onions, sauti's. — Trim some small pickling or silver onions and blanch them for fifteen minutes, then drain off and put them in a pan with plenty of butter, tossing them in this till done, but being very careful neither to let them colour nor break. stewed. — Trim, peel, and parboil some nice Spanish onions for ten minutes in salted water ; then dry them and halve them lengthwise. Put into a pan a slice of fat bacon, a bouquet, two or three cloves, some whole peppers, and a lump of loaf sugar, cover well Avith good white or brown stock (according to what you want the onions for), bring this just to the boil, then let it simmer for about t\Am hours. Now set the onions aside and keep them hot, mean- while strain the liquor (if brown), remove all fat, and boil it up sharply till well reduced, then serve over and Avith the onions. If preferred the onion liquor may be, Avhen reduced, added to any sauce to taste, Avhich is then served Avith the onions, the name of the dish varying according to the sauce used. The first method is knoAvn as au jus. stuffed. — These are served like the Museo- A'ite dish, only varying the stuffing, which may be of any kind of cooked meat, seasoned and mixed to taste. Or, again, when trimmed as for the onion en casserole, a slice is cut off the top, the centre scooped out, and rejAlaced by a trimmed and seasoned kidney, the top is fastened on again, and the Avhole is then finished VEGETABLES. 9;J ofl; as in that recipe, the centre scooped out being^ minced and added to the peel, arranged round the whole onion as described. Onion threads. — These are a most excellent garnish to salads of all kinds, more delicate even than chives. They are simply the young stalks thrown up by the seeds when planted eight or ten days. Onion and celery seed are both invaluable if lightly planted in shallow boxes and kept well watered in a warm corner of the scullery, or some place of the kind, and are then always at hand for flavouring. Parsley iPersil). — This is used chiefly as a garnish, either fresh or fried. It is also a component part of the Avell known bouquet, or bunch of herbs so fre- quently mentioned in cookery recipes. A point not sufficiently realised by the average cook is that the stalks of the parsley are fully better for the bouquet than the leaves, which can in this way be reserved for garnishing purposes. For use raw, pick the heads off neatly into little bunches (removing any hard coarse stalks), wash them gently, dry them in a very clean cloth, and use. Remember that to keep parsley fresh and crisp for table, the stalks only should be placed in water, for if the leaves are allowed tO’ steep, they decay very quickly, and acquire a most unpleasant smell and flavour. fried. — This, if well cooked, should be as green as when first plucked. Choose the freshest and greenest pieces, wash them carefully, dry them gently in a clean cloth, being careful not to crush them, then remove any long or coarse stalks, and set them ready for use. When vou have fried whatever VEGETABLES.