Chapter 2

Separate the whites and yolks of the eggs. Put the butter into a saucepan, add the onions, cut into _very thin_ slices; shake until the onions are soft, but not brown, then dust over the flour, mix, and add the milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir carefully until this reaches boiling point, then stand it on the back part of the stove where it will keep hot for at least ten minutes. Beat the yolks of the eggs until very creamy, then stir them into the sauce, take from the fire, and fold in the well-beaten whites of the eggs. Turn into a baking dish or casserole and bake in a hot oven fifteen minutes; serve at once.

TO POACH EGGS

Use a shallow frying pan partly filled with boiling water. The eggs must be perfectly fresh. The white of an egg is held in a membrane which seems to lose its tenacity after the egg is three days old. Such an egg, when dropped into boiling water, spreads out; that is, it does not retain its shape. When ready to poach eggs, take the required number to the stove. The water must be boiling hot, but not actually bubbling. Break an egg into a saucer, slide it quickly into the water, and then another and another. Pull the pan to the side of the stove, where the water cannot possibly boil. With a tablespoon, baste the water over the yolks of the eggs, if they happen to be exposed. They must be entirely covered with a thin veil of the white. Have ready the desired quantity of toast on a heated platter, lift each egg with a slice or skimmer, trim off the ragged edges and slide them at once on the toast. Dust with salt and pepper, baste with melted butter, and send to the table.

EGGS MIRABEAU

Cut a sufficient number of rounds of bread, toast them carefully and cover them with _pate de foie gras_, put on top of each a poached egg, pour over sauce Perigueux, and send to the table.

EGGS NORWEGIAN

Cover rounds of toasted bread first with butter and then with anchovy paste, put on top of each a poached egg, pour over anchovy sauce, and send at once to the table.

EGGS PRESCOURT

Toast slices of bread, put thin slices of chicken on each, on top of this a poached egg, cover with sauce Bernaise, and serve at once.

EGGS COURTLAND

Mince sufficient cold chicken to make a half cupful. Make a half pint of cream sauce, add the minced chicken, a half teaspoonful of salt and a dash of red pepper. Toast a sufficient quantity of bread, put it on a heated platter, pour over a small quantity of the minced chicken and cream sauce, put on each a poached egg, cover with the remaining sauce, dust with parsley and serve with a garnish of green peas.

EGGS LOUISIANA

Make a half pint of tomato sauce, toast a sufficient quantity of bread, butter the bread and put on each slice a poached egg; cover with the tomato sauce.

EGGS RICHMOND

Chop sufficient cold chicken to make a half cupful, add an equal quantity of finely-chopped mushrooms, add this to a half pint of cream sauce. Add one unbeaten egg to a pint of cold boiled rice, season it with salt and pepper, make into round, flat cakes, and fry in hot fat. Arrange these on a heated platter, pour over the cream sauce mixture, and put on top of each a poached egg.

HUNGARIAN EGGS

Boil a cup of rice until tender and dry. Make a half pint of paprika sauce. Turn the rice into the center of a platter, smooth it down, cover the top with poached eggs, pour over the paprika sauce and send at once to the table.

EGGS NOVA SCOTIA

Put a poached egg on top of a flat codfish cake, pour over cream or tomato sauce, and send to the table.

EGGS LAKME

Cut cold chicken or turkey into very thin slices, and stand over hot water, in a dish, until heated; toast a sufficient quantity of bread, butter the slices, put on each a slice of chicken or turkey, dust lightly with salt and pepper. On top of these place a poached egg, cover with tarragon sauce, and send to the table.

EGGS MALIKOFF

Toast rounds of bread, cover them with caviar which has been seasoned with a little onion and pepper. Put on top of each a poached egg, cover with horseradish sauce, and send to the table.

EGGS VIRGINIA

Grate six ears of corn. Add half cupful of milk, a half cupful of flour and two eggs, beaten separately, and a half teaspoonful of salt and a dash of pepper. Drop the mixture in large tablespoonfuls in hot fat. When brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Drain and arrange neatly on a large platter. Put a poached egg on the top of each cake, cover with cream sauce and send to the table. This dish, with green peas, makes quite a complete meal.

JAPANESE EGGS

Carefully boil one cup of rice, drain dry. Make a half pint of cream sauce, add to it a teaspoonful of grated onion and a teaspoonful of chopped celery. Poach the desired number of eggs. Put the rice in the center of a platter, cover it with the eggs, pour over the sauce. Dust the dish with parsley, and send at once to the table. The edge of this dish may be garnished with broiled sardines or carefully broiled smoked salmon.

EGGS A LA WINDSOR

6 eggs 6 rounds of toast 2 level tablespoonfuls of butter 2 level tablespoonfuls of flour 1/2 pint of chicken stock 1 tablespoonful of chopped parsley 1 tablespoonful of chopped olive 1 tablespoonful of chopped Spanish pepper 1/2 teaspoonful of salt 1 saltspoonful of black pepper

Rub the butter and flour together and add the stock; stir until boiling, and add the salt and pepper. Toast the bread. Poach the eggs, put them on the toast, pour over carefully the sauce, heap the chopped vegetables, mixed, in the center of each egg and send to the table.

EGGS BUCKINGHAM

Allow one egg to each person that is to be served. Cut either a dry or a Virginia ham into very thin slices; allow one thin square to each person. Toast squares of bread, remove the crust. Broil the ham quickly; put each square of ham on a square of toast, put on top a poached egg, dust lightly with pepper and send to the table.

POACHED EGGS ON FRIED TOMATOES

Cut solid tomatoes into slices a quarter of an inch thick, dust them with salt and pepper, dip them in egg beaten with a tablespoonful of water, roll them thickly with bread crumbs, dip them again in the egg, dust again with bread crumbs, and fry in deep hot fat. Drain on brown paper, dish on a heated platter, put a poached egg in the center of each slice, dust with salt and pepper, put a tablespoonful of tomato sauce over each egg and send at once to the table. Cream sauce may be used in the place of tomato sauce.

EGGS A LA FINNOIS

6 eggs 2 level tablespoonfuls of butter 2 level tablespoonfuls of flour 1/2 pint of strained tomato 1 tablespoonful of chopped chives 2 green peppers

Rub the butter and flour together, add the tomatoes, and the peppers, chopped very fine. Stir until this reaches boiling point, and stand it over hot water. Poach the eggs in deep water. Toast six rounds of bread; arrange the toast on a platter, put one egg on each slice, pour around the tomato sauce, dust thickly with the chives and send to the table.

EGGS A LA GRETNA

6 eggs 2 heads of celery 2 level tablespoonfuls of butter 2 level tablespoonfuls of flour 1/2 pint of milk 1 teaspoonful of salt 1 saltspoonful of pepper

Cut the celery into inch lengths, wash thoroughly, cover with boiling water and simmer gently thirty minutes until the celery is tender; drain, saving the water in which the celery was cooked for another purpose. Rub the butter and flour together, add the milk, salt and pepper; when boiling add the celery; stand this over hot water while you poach the eggs and toast six squares of bread. Butter the toast, put on each slice one egg; put these around the edge of a large platter, turn the celery into the middle of the dish and send at once to the table. To increase the beauty of this dish, and to give it a greater food value, you may garnish between the toast and celery with carefully boiled rice; this then makes an exceedingly nice supper dish.

EGGS A L'IMPERATRICE

Toast six slices of bread; butter them, put on top a thin slice of _pate de foie gras_, and on top of this a hot poached egg. Baste with a little melted butter, dust with salt and pepper and send at once to the table. This is one of the most elegant of all the egg dishes.

EGGS WITH CHESTNUTS

This is an exceedingly nice dish to serve in the Fall when chestnuts are fresh. Shell a quart of chestnuts, blanch them, then boil them until tender; drain and press through a colander. Add a half cupful of hot milk, a tablespoonful of butter, a teaspoonful of salt and a saltspoonful of pepper. Beat until light and stand over a kettle of hot water while you poach six or eight eggs. Dish the chestnut puree in a small platter, cover the poached eggs over the top, dust them with salt, pepper and chopped parsley.

EGGS A LA REGENCE

6 eggs 1/2 cupful of chopped cold cooked ham 1 grated onion 1/2 can of chopped mushrooms 2 tablespoonfuls of butter 2 tablespoonfuls of flour 1/2 pint of chicken stock 1/2 teaspoonful of salt 1 saltspoonful of pepper

Stand the ham over hot water until thoroughly heated. Rub the butter and flour together, add the stock, stir until boiling, add the mushrooms, sliced, the salt, pepper and the onion; stand this over hot water while you poach the eggs. Dish the eggs, cover them with the sauce, strained, and cover with the chopped ham. Garnish the dish with mashed potatoes or boiled rice, and send at once to the table.

EGGS A LA LIVINGSTONE

6 squares of toast 1 tureen of pate-de-foie-gras 6 eggs 1/2 cupful of good stock 2 tablespoonfuls of sherry 1 teaspoonful of kitchen bouquet 1/2 teaspoonful of salt 1 dash of pepper

Toast the bread, butter it and put on top of each slice of toast a slice of _pate de foie gras_; put this on a heated dish, stand it at the mouth of the oven door while you poach the eggs. Put into a saucepan all the other ingredients, bring to a boil, put one poached egg on each slice of _pate de foie gras_; baste with the sauce and send at once to the table.

EGGS MORNAY

6 eggs 2 tablespoonfuls of butter 2 tablespoonfuls of flour 1/2 pint of milk 1/2 teaspoonful of salt 1/2 teaspoonful of paprika 4 tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese

Rub the butter and flour together, add the milk, stir until boiling, add the salt and paprika, and if you have it, a teaspoonful of soy; pour half of this sauce in a shallow granite platter or baking dish. Poach the eggs, drain them carefully, and put them over the top of the sauce, cover with the remaining sauce, dust with Parmesan cheese and run in the oven a moment to brown.

EGGS ZANZIBAR

1 small egg plant 1 thin slice of ham 6 eggs 2 tablespoonfuls of sherry 2 tablespoonfuls of tomato catsup 2 level tablespoonfuls of butter 1 dash of pepper

Cut the egg plant into slices, season it with salt and pepper, dip in egg and bread crumbs and fry carefully in deep hot fat; put this on brown paper in the oven to dry. Broil the ham, cut it into squares sufficiently small to go neatly on top of each slice of egg plant. Poach the eggs, and heat the other ingredients for the sauce. Dish the egg plant on a platter, put on the ham, and on each piece of ham an egg; baste with sauce and send to the table.

EGGS MONTE BELLO

6 eggs 2 level tablespoonfuls of butter 2 level tablespoonfuls of flour 1/2 pint of strained tomato 1 teaspoonful of onion juice 1/2 teaspoonful of salt 1 saltspoonful of pepper

Put about two quarts of water into a small deep saucepan; when boiling very hard drop in, one at a time, the eggs. In dropping them in, the white will fold over the yolk and make the eggs round. Push them to the back of the stove to stand for two minutes. Lift them with a skimmer, dip them in an egg beaten with a tablespoonful of water, dust them with bread crumbs and fry them in deep hot fat. You cannot use a frying basket. Just drop them in the fat, and as they are browned lift them out onto soft paper to drain. Rub the butter and flour together, add the tomato and seasoning; when boiling dish the eggs on a heated platter, pour around tomato sauce and send to the table.

EGGS A LA BOURBON

6 eggs 1/2 pint of stock 1 tablespoonful of butter 6 tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 teaspoonful of salt 1 dash of pepper

Put the stock in a small saucepan, poach the eggs in it, two at a time; lift them carefully and lay them on a hot granite or silver dish. When all are poached, dust over the cheese and stand them in the hot oven for just a moment until the cheese is melted. In the meantime boil the stock until it is reduced one-half, add the butter, baste it over the eggs and send to the table. This dish may be garnished with triangular pieces of toast.

EGGS BERNAISE

6 whole eggs 4 yolks of eggs 4 tablespoonfuls of stock 4 tablespoonfuls of olive oil 1 tablespoonful of chopped parsley 1 tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar 1 tablespoonful of butter 1 tablespoonful of flour 1/2 cupful of strained tomato 1 teaspoonful of onion juice 1/2 teaspoonful of salt

Put the stock, yolks of eggs and olive oil into a saucepan, stir over hot water until you have a thick, smooth sauce like mayonnaise; take from the fire, and when slightly cool stir in the tarragon vinegar and parsley. Rub the butter and flour together, add the tomato, and when boiling add a palatable seasoning of salt and pepper. Toast six halves of English muffins or squares of bread. Heat a platter, butter the toast, put it on the hot platter, and poach the eggs. Put one poached egg on each slice of toast, fill the bottom of the dish with tomato sauce and put a tablespoonful of Bernaise sauce on top of each egg. These may be garnished with a little chopped truffle, or a little chopped parsley.

EGGS A LA RORER

Toast rounds of bread, one for each person. Butter them. Heat, in boiling water, the choke of a French artichoke, one for each slice of bread. Make sauce Hollandaise, and put one artichoke bottom on each slice of bread on a heated platter. Put in the center a poached egg and pour over the sauce Hollandaise. Garnish the dish with nicely cooked French or fresh green peas.

EGGS BENEDICT

Separate two eggs. Break the yolks, add a cupful of milk, a half teaspoonful of salt, one and a half cupfuls of flour and a tablespoonful of melted butter. Beat well, add two level teaspoonfuls of baking powder and fold in the well-beaten whites. Bake on a griddle in large muffin rings. Broil thin slices of ham. Make a sauce Hollandaise. Chop a truffle. Poach the required number of eggs. Dish the muffins, put a square of ham on each, then a poached egg and cover each egg nicely with sauce Hollandaise. Dust with truffle and serve at once.

TO HARD-BOIL EGGS

Put the eggs in warm water, bring the water quickly to the boiling point, then push the kettle to the back of the stove, where the water will remain at 200 degrees Fahrenheit, for twenty minutes. If these are to be used for made-over dishes, throw them at once into cold water, remove the shells, or the yolks will lose their color.

EGGS CREOLE

Put two tablespoonfuls of butter and four of chopped onions into a saucepan, cook until the onion is soft, but not brown. Then add four peeled fresh tomatoes that have been cut into pieces, and three finely chopped green peppers. Cook this fifteen minutes, and add a level teaspoonful of salt. Have the eggs hard-boiled, and cut into slices. Put them into a baking dish, pour over the sauce, re-heat in the oven, and serve with a dish of boiled rice.

CURRIED EGGS

Peel, and cut into slices, three large onions. Put them in a saucepan with two tablespoonfuls of butter. Stand over hot water and cook until the onions are soft. Add a teaspoonful of curry powder, a clove of garlic mashed, a saltspoonful of ground ginger, a half teaspoonful of salt and a tablespoonful of flour; mix thoroughly and add a half pint of water. Stir until boiling. Have ready six hard-boiled eggs, cut them into slices, arrange them over a dish of carefully boiled rice, on a hot platter, strain over the sauce, and send at once to the table. This dish is made more attractive by a garnish with sweet Spanish peppers, cut into strips.

EGGS BEAUREGARD

Hard-boil five eggs. Separate the whites from the yolks. Put the yolks through a sieve. Put the whites either through a vegetable press, or chop them very fine. Make a half pint of cream sauce, season it and add the whites. Have ready a sufficient amount of toast, carefully buttered. Put this on a heated platter, cover over the cream sauce and the whites, dust the tops with the yolks, then with salt and pepper. Garnish the edge of the dish with finely chopped parsley, and send at once to the table.

EGGS LAFAYETTE

Hard-boil six eggs, chop them, but not fine. Make a half pint of curry sauce. Put the chopped eggs over a bed of carefully boiled rice, cover with the curry sauce, garnish with strips of Spanish pepper and serve. This dish may be changed by using tomato sauce in place of the curry sauce.

EGGS JEFFERSON

Select the desired number of good-sized tomatoes, allowing one to each person. Cut off the blossom end, scoop out the seeds, stand the tomatoes in a baking pan in the oven until they are partly cooked. Put a half teaspoonful of butter and a dusting of salt and pepper into the bottom of each, and break in one egg. Put these back in the oven until the eggs are "set." Have ready a round of toasted bread for each tomato, stand the tomato in the center of the bread, fill the bottom of the dish with cream sauce, and send to the table.

EGGS WASHINGTON

Add a half pint of crab meat to a half pint of cream sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Have ready either bread pates or pates made from puff paste. Put a tablespoonful of the crab mixture in the bottom of each. Break in an egg. Stand in the oven until the egg is "set." Or you may poach the eggs and slide them into the pate. Pour over the remaining quantity of crabmeat sauce, and send at once to the table.

EGGS AU GRATIN

Make a pint of cream sauce. Hard-boil six eggs. Cut them into slices. Put them in the baking dish and cover with the cream sauce. Dust thickly with cheese, and brown quickly in the oven.

DEVILED EGGS

Hard-boil twelve eggs. Remove the shells. Cut the eggs into halves, crosswise. Take out the yolks without breaking the whites. Press the yolks through a sieve. Add four tablespoonfuls of finely chopped chicken, tongue or ham. Add a half teaspoonful of salt, a saltspoonful of pepper and two tablespoonfuls of melted butter. Rub the mixture. Form it into balls the size of the yolks and put them into the places in the whites from which the yolks were taken. Put two halves together, roll them in tissue paper that has been fringed at the ends, giving each a twist. If these balls are made the size of the yolk, and put back into the whites, they may be placed on a platter, heated, and served on toast, with cream sauce; then they are very much like the eggs Bernhardt.

EGGS A LA TRIPE

Hard-boil eight eggs. Remove the shells, cut eggs crosswise in rather thick slices. Cut three small onions into very thin slices. Separate them into rings, cover them with boiling water and boil rapidly ten minutes; drain, then cover them with fresh water and boil until they are tender; drain again, but save the water. Now mix the eggs and onions carefully, without breaking. Put two level tablespoonfuls of butter and two of flour into a saucepan. Mix. Add a grating of nutmeg, a saltspoonful of black pepper, the juice of a lemon, and a half-pint of the water in which the onions were boiled. Bring to the boiling point, add two tablespoonfuls of cream; then add the eggs and onions. When thoroughly hot, dish them in a conical form, garnish with triangular pieces of toast, and serve.

EGGS A L'AURORE

Hard-boil six eggs, cut them into halves lengthwise, take out the yolks, keeping them whole. Cut the whites into fine strips. Make a cream sauce. Add to it two tablespoonfuls of finely chopped sardines or finely chopped lobster or crab, a tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar. Add the whites of the eggs, and, when quite hot, add the yolks, without breaking them. Turn this at once into a heated dish, garnish the dish with triangular pieces of toast, and send to the table. Or, if you like, make the sauce, season it and put a layer into the bottom of the baking-dish, then a layer of Parmesan cheese, then a layer of the yolks, pressed through a sieve, and so on, alternating, having the last layer of the yolks of the eggs. Dust over a few bread crumbs, put here and there bits of butter, and brown quickly in the oven.

EGGS A LA DAUPHIN

Remove the shells from six hard-boiled eggs, cut them into halves, lengthwise, take out the yolks, press them through a sieve. Add four level tablespoonfuls of melted butter, and half a teaspoonful of salt, a grating of nutmeg and two tablespoonfuls of Parmesan cheese. Add half a cupful of cream to a half cupful of sifted bread crumbs. Mix this with the yolks, rub until smooth, then add one well-beaten egg, and the yolk of one egg. Cover the bottom of the baking dish with the mixture forming it in a pyramid and cover with the chopped whites. Have ready two extra hard-boiled eggs, take out the yolks, press them through a sieve, all over the top. Garnish the edges of the dish with triangular pieces of toasted bread, cover the whole with cream sauce, brown in the oven, and serve at once.

EGGS A LA BENNETT

6 hard-boiled eggs 2 tablespoonfuls of butter 1 teaspoonful of anchovy sauce 1 tablespoonful of finely chopped chives or onion 1/2 cupful of bread crumbs 1/2 teaspoonful of salt

Cut the eggs into halves lengthwise; remove the yolks, rub them with half the butter, salt, onion and anchovy paste. Fill these back into the whites. Cover the bottom of a baking dish with ordinary white sauce, stand in the eggs, put over the bread crumbs, baste them with the remaining butter, melted, and stand in the oven long enough to brown.

EGGS BROULLI

Beat four eggs. Add to them four tablespoonfuls of stock, four tablespoonfuls of cream, a saltspoonful of salt and half a saltspoonful of pepper. Turn them into a saucepan, stand in a pan of hot water, stir with an egg-beater until they are thick and jelly-like. Turn at once into a heated dish, garnish with toast and send to the table.

SCALLOPED EGGS

4 hard-boiled eggs 2 tablespoonfuls of butter 2 level tablespoonfuls of flour 1/2 pint of milk 1 cupful of finely chopped cold cooked chicken or fish 1 teaspoonful of salt 1 saltspoonful of pepper

Chop the eggs rather fine. Rub the butter and flour together, add the milk, stir until boiling, add the salt and pepper. Put a layer of eggs in the bottom of a casserole, or baking dish, then a layer of the fish or chicken, then a little white sauce, and so continue until the ingredients are used. Dust the top thickly with bread crumbs and bake in a moderate oven until nicely browned.

EGG FARCI

6 hard-boiled eggs 2 cupfuls of mashed potatoes 1 cupful of finely chopped cold cooked meat 1 tablespoonful of chopped parsley 1 tablespoonful of butter 1 tablespoonful of flour 1 gill (a half cupful) of milk 1 level teaspoonful of salt 1 teaspoonful of onion juice 1 saltspoonful of pepper

Hard-boil the eggs, chop them fine, mix them with the meat, add the salt, pepper and parsley. Rub the butter and flour together, add the milk, stir until boiling; add this gradually to the potatoes. When smooth add the hard-boiled eggs, meat and parsley. Fill into small custard cups or into shirring dishes, brush with milk and brown in the oven. These make a nice supper or luncheon dish.

EGG BALLS