Great care should be taken in the use of an onion. One often finds that if by accident a knife used for cutting an onion has been overlooked and it comes in contact with any article of food the flavour of the onion will spoil everything. It is also a fact that if an onion is cut before it is put into soup or sauce, the soup at once becomes cloudy, while on the other hand if it is merely peeled and put in whole, soup or sauce will remain perfectly clear. Then again for onion sauce or soup which would be made with milk, you must never put in any salt or any other ingredient till after the milk has boiled. If the onion is added before, the milk will curdle and be spoilt.
If you want to fry onions for steak, etc., have some good beef dripping already melted in a baking tin and when it is boiling put in the quantity of onions you may wish to cook cut in thin slices (cut always round the onion) then add salt and pepper to taste and bake in a steady oven, turning them once or twice with the blade of a knife.
For stuffing for either meat or poultry never put the onions in water. Cut thin as above directed (never chop) and boil in a deep frying pan in butter. By boiling I mean using a larger quantity of fat and not allowing the onions to be browned: one-fourth lb. will be quite sufficient for stuffing intended for a goose. Have ready on the board the crumb of a stale white loaf rubbed through a cheese-grater, and from four to five large sage leaves chopped fine. Mix the two together with pepper and salt to taste, turn the whole contents of the pan into the crumbs and chop finely all together. In this way the stuffing will be found moist and will not repeat after eating.
In cooking green vegetables use common soda not bi-carbonate. They should be always put into boiling water.
Fresh peas should never be shelled over night and should be kept in a covered dish after shelling till it is time for them to be cooked. Peas will become quite tough if exposed to the air for any length of time. Always put into boiling water, never add salt or soda till the peas are boiling. Scarlet runner beans should only be cut in strips in time for boiling as the edges become hard and dry if left for more than an hour. These are best kept in cold water. Dwarf beans should be treated in the same manner, but can be served with only the ends and edges removed.
All salads should be put into a bowl of cold water with a good piece of salt for not more than ten minutes before needed. A wire basket swung round vigorously will be found the best mode of drying all salads before dressing.
If lettuce is to be cooked, cos-lettuce will be found better than the cabbage variety. It will become greatly reduced in the cooking and is much improved by being lightly sauté in a frying pan in which a finely shredded spring onion has been lightly fried in a little butter. Form into small mounds with a tablespoon, and serve very hot.
Cabbage and cauliflower should be put for awhile before cooking into a bowl of cold water with a good piece of salt, head down and the stump cut four times across.
Spinach requires washing in several waters with a liberal quantity of salt. But the last water without salt. Have ready a large saucepan at least half full of boiling water. If, as some people direct, you put spinach into a nearly dry saucepan on the assumption that it has absorbed enough water to be cooked in, there will be an unpleasant smell. Add salt and a piece of ordinary soda about as big as a large pea. Boil with the lid off till quite tender. The spinach should then be a beautiful shade of green. Treat sorrel the same way; only it will be noticed that it will change colour directly it is put into the boiling water, becoming a greeny yellow, and is slightly acid in taste. It is usually eaten with veal, with poached eggs served on it, or as a dish by itself served with fried bread round the edge.
Tomatoes are always very useful and can be accommodated in many different ways. For a breakfast dish—take, for two persons, four nice sound tomatoes. Place in a large basin and scald with boiling water over them. The skin will then peel off quite easily leaving the tomatoes perfectly whole. Cut into slices and put into a cold pan with a piece of butter about the size of a tablespoon and a pinch of salt and pepper. Place on the fire and break the tomatoes in the butter as they cook. Let them fry frequently and serve under poached eggs. Another way: Take four or more tomatoes, remove the stalk but not the skin. Cut the top off, scoop the fruit out leaving a wall, have ready some chopped lean ham, chicken or other meat, add a little onion to the inside which has been taken out of the tomatoes, pepper and salt. Put into a small frying pan, and fry lightly, put the mixture into the tomato, have a little dripping melted in a baking tin, place the tomatoes into it, when hot put the top on the tomato to form a lid and bake from 15 to 20 minutes.