Peel and boil them till tender in milk and water. The time required must depend upon their size.—They may be served in white sauce. Onions to Stew.—Spanish onions are best. Peel and parboil very gently; then stew them in good broth, or milk and water, and season with white pepper and salt. When done, thicken the sauce with butter rolled in flour, lift out the onions, place them in a dish, and pour the sauce over.—Or: stew them in rich, brown gravy. Onions to Roast.—Roast them before the fire, in their skins.
Pare the cucumbers, and cut them in four, longways; to each one put a small onion, sliced; then stew them in broth, with cayenne, pepper, salt, and nutmeg. When done, lay them in a dish, thicken the sauce with butter rubbed in flour, and pour over them. For maigre dinners, stew them in enough water to moisten them, with a large piece of butter: when done, pour some cream, mixed with beaten yolk of egg, into the saucepan, enough to make a sufficiency of sauce, let it thicken over the fire, lay the cucumbers in a dish, and pour the sauce over.—Or: cut onions and cucumbers in halves, fry in butter, and pour good broth or gravy over them; then stew till done, and skim off the fat.
Cut the head in pieces of 3 inches long, and stew as directed for cucumbers. Some cooks stew it whole, or, if very large, divided in two, and in strong brown gravy.—Or: if to be white, in rich veal broth, and add some cream. It must be cooked till quite tender to eat well.
Both are used in sauces and ragouts. For stewing, button mushrooms, or the smallest flaps, are best. Trim them carefully, for a little bit of mould will spoil the whole. Stew them, in their own gravy, in an earthen vessel, with a very little water to prevent their burning. When nearly done, add as much rich brown gravy as is required for
