Soyer's standard cookery

Many people refrain from eating onions on account of their disagreeable effect. If the following is tried, it will be found, probably, that they may be eaten with impunity. Before using onions for any purpose, either for cooking or for salads, peel them and put them in a bowl of cold water (in which a piece of soda the size of a hazel-nut has been dissolved), for about ten minutes. Then take them out and wash in fresh water. The soda will have withdrawn all that makes them objectionable, without impairing their flavor. To Fry Onions. Put as many peeled onions as are required into a saucepan containing cold salted water; let the water boil up and continue boiling for seven minutes, then drain the onions and put them aside until they are cool. Slice them with a sharp knife, and separate them into rings, and roll them up in a floured cloth until it is time to fry them. Have ready a saucepan containing plenty of boiling fat, place the onion rings — not too many at a time — in a wire frying-basket, and cook them until they are crisp and of a golden brown; drain on paper, and serve very hot. Onions Stuffed. Peel twelve large onions, cut a piece off at the top and bottom to give them a flat appearance, blanch and lay them on a cloth to dry; take the middle out of each onion, and fill with veal forcemeat (with a little chopped shallot parsley, and mushroom, mixed in it), and put them in a saucepan well buttered; cover with white broth, and allow to simmer over a slow fire until covered with a glaze, and tender; turn them over, and serve where required. Onions Puree with Poached Eggs. Fry some onions in thin slices and chop them fine; drain well, and simmer them in stock until they can be sieved. When quite smooth, replace in the pan, and add a little nutril, and boil for a few minutes, stirring constantly. The puree should be quite thick. Serve very hot, with poached eggs on the top, and garnish with fried croutons. Spanish Onions Au Gratin. Boil one pound of Spanish onions, throwing away the water after it first comes to the boil, and adding fresh. Well butter a fireproof dish, and arrange the boiled onions in it. Fill up the crevices, and cover the top with browned breadcrumbs and grated cheese, moisten with little milk, season well, and over all place a layer of breadcrumbs with little dabs of butter. Bake until a nice color. Spanish Onions en Surprise. Put some Spanish onions, which have been peeled and washed, into a saucepan containing plenty of cold salted water; when the water boils up draw the pan to the side of the stove, and let them cook gently until they are parboiled. Drain the onions and carefully remove the middles: place some savory rice in each, pressing it well into the onion, put them on a baking-tin which has been rubbed with some good butter or beef dripping, and surround them with small pieces of fat, cover the onions with greased paper, and let them cook slowly in a moderately-heated oven for four hours, basting them frequently. Serve with thick tomato sauce. Stuffed Onions.