Appearing now in a thrift store near you, an old cookbook from the Junior League of Jackson, Mississippi, now that a whole generation of women who signed their names Mrs. John So-and-so and Mrs. George V. Somebody IV are beginning to pass out of earthly inhabitance. These women will be known for the public parks they fought for, the education for the poor, their charity to the sick, and for their recipes contributed here. But among them is a recipe by one Eudora Welty, described as a "sustaining member."
"This is from a recipe Katherine Anne Porter gave me, which she got in France," she wrote. "These little pies are served hot at the wine festivals along with the bottle of wine." In her kitchen it became something betwixt tarte tatin and quiche, but you didn't use such words then; to do so would have been pretentious in Jackson. So she called it "onion pie" in native plain language, and the recipe works somewhat on the same level as her fiction, with the magic wholly produced out of whatever simplicities happen to be at hand. She signed it "Eudora Welty," and it's the only contributor's name in the entire cookbook that is not masked by the armor of a wealthy man's name, Mrs. Jack Who's Who, or Mrs. Tom Gotmoney.
Eudora Welty's Onion Pie
Crust
Lump of butter the size of an egg
Rounded teaspoon lard
Heaping teaspoon baking powder
Salt
Fairly heaping cup of flour
Cold sweet milk
egg yolk (optional)
Filling
3 large sweet Spanish onions
1 large Tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon flour
Salt and pepper
2 eggs
1 cup whipping cream
CRUST: Work together the softened butter, lard, baking powder, salt and flour. Add enough cold sweet milk to make a good firm dough. Well-beaten yolk of an egg may be added if desired. Line an 8-inch pie plate with rolled pastry. FILLING: Shave onions fine; fry in butter to a nice brown, really brown and much reduced. Add flour. Stir well; salt and pepper to taste. Beat the eggs till pretty light; mix with cupful cream; fold them into the fried onions gently till perfectly mixed. Pour into the crust and bake about 30 minutes or till brown and puffy at about 400 degrees Farenheit. Serve at once. Serves 4.
Miss Eudora Welty
