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Stuffed Onions
6 medium to large onions 1/2 cup chopped ham or chopped green pepper 1/2 cup soft bread-crums Fine dry bread-crums 1/2 cup milk Pepper 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon fat Remove a slice from the top of each onion and parboil the onions until almost tender. Drain and remove the centers, making six little cups. Chop the onion that was scooped out and combine with it the ham and soft crums. Add seasoning and refill the onion cups. Place them in a baking-dish, cover with crums, add the milk, and bake until tender.
A straightforward stuffed vegetable from the late 1920s, written in the compressed style of the period: no oven temperature, no baking time, and one ingredient (the fat) never mentioned in the method. Both gaps are easy to fill.
- Oven and timeBake uncovered at 375F for 25 to 35 minutes, until the onions yield easily to a knife and the crumb topping has browned. The onions are already nearly cooked from parboiling, so this stage is about heating the filling through and colouring the top.
- The missing fatThe tablespoon of fat is listed but never used. Dot it over the dry crumbs before baking, or toss the crumbs in it first; either way the topping browns instead of drying out. Butter is the obvious choice.
- "Crums"The book's spelling of crumbs. Soft crumbs are torn from the interior of fresh bread and stay loose; fine dry crumbs are from stale bread or toast, ground, and are used only for the top.
- ParboilingPeel the onions, take the slice off the top, and simmer in salted water 10 to 15 minutes depending on size. Stop while they still hold their shape firmly, or the cups will collapse when you hollow them.
- Hollowing the cupsLeave two or three outer layers as the wall. A grapefruit spoon or a small melon baller works better than a paring knife. Save every scrap of the centres; they make up a large share of the filling.
- The milkThe half cup of milk goes into the dish around the onions, not into the stuffing, and keeps them from scorching while contributing steam. Check partway through and add a spoonful of water if the dish runs dry.
- Ham or green pepperThe recipe offers either. Ham makes this a light supper dish; green pepper keeps it a vegetable side. Cooked ham is assumed here, and it carries salt, so taste before adding the full half teaspoon.
- YieldSix onions, one per person as a side dish, or two each for a light main course with bread and a salad.