EGGS
“The following method of determining the age of eggs is practised in the markets of Paris. About six ounces of common cooking salt is put into a large glass, which is then filled with water. When the salt is in solution an egg is dropped into the glass. If the egg is only one day old, it immediately sinks to the bottom; if any older it does not reach the bottom of the glass. If three days old, it sinks only just below the surface. From five days upwards it floats; the older it is the more it protrudes out of the water.”—German Newspaper.
Boiled eggs (No. 1)
Be sure the water is at a rapid boil. Wash the eggs in warm water, leaving them in it just long enough to take off the chill. If you put them on to boil while cold you must allow twenty seconds for the shells to get warm. Boil steadily three minutes and a half, take out, wrap in a warmed napkin and send immediately to table.
Boiled eggs (No. 2)
Wash in warm water; lay in boiling water and remove the saucepan promptly from the fire to the side of the range where it will hold the heat, but can not possibly boil. Cover closely and leave thus for seven or eight minutes, according to the size of the eggs. It will be of a custard-like consistency all through, and be far more digestible than when the white is firm and the yolk soft.
Poached eggs
Add a little vinegar to the water in which you poach eggs, to prevent the whites from spreading. Breaking each one into a shallow cup about a quarter of an hour before it is to be cooked is also a good plan.
OMELET
BAKED EGGS
Be sure the water is boiling and free from specks. If you have no egg-poacher, use a clean frying-pan. Fill with boiling water; draw to the side of the range, slip the eggs, one by one, upon the surface, set carefully back over the fire and boil gently three minutes, or until the whites are firm. Take up with a flat perforated spoon, lay upon rounds of buttered toast, trim off ragged edges and dust lightly with salt and white pepper. Celery salt gives a pleasant flavor to poached eggs, and some relish a drop of onion juice upon each.
Eggs poached in milk
Proceed as with those poached in water, using boiling milk instead. When done, transfer to slices of hot buttered toast laid upon a platter and pour over all a white sauce—plain drawn butter, or butter drawn in stock of some kind. Chicken stock is particularly good for this.
Scrambled eggs
Have a tablespoonful of butter hissing hot in the frying-pan. Break six eggs into a bowl; add, without breaking the eggs, two tablespoonfuls of cream, or, if you have none, of milk in which half a teaspoonful of corn-starch has been wet; add pepper, salt, and a little finely minced parsley; turn all into the pan, and stir incessantly in all directions, until you have a creamy mass.
Turn out upon buttered toast or into a hot water dish and serve before the mass hardens.
Scrambled eggs in cups
With a rather large tin “shape” cut round out of slices of stale bread an inch thick. With a small “shape” cut more than half through these rounds and dig out the crumb carefully, leaving bottom and sides a quarter of an inch thick. Set in a pan on the upper grating of the oven to crisp. When of a delicate brown, butter the insides and edges of the “cups” and leave in the oven three minutes longer. Arrange on a dish and fill with scrambled eggs prepared as in the last recipe.
Fried eggs
Fry slices of bacon quickly, take out the meat and keep it hot; strain the fat that ran from them, add a tablespoonful of cottolene or other fat or dripping, bring to a boil and break into the pan as many eggs as you need. Slip a spatula under each, as soon as it is fairly “set” and reverse it dexterously if you like “turned” eggs.
Trim ragged and discolored edges, arrange in the center of a hot platter and lay the bacon about them.
Fried eggs with brown sauce
Put a good lump of butter into the frying-pan, and when it hisses sharply, cook the eggs as directed in the last recipe. When done, dish and keep them hot over boiling water. Now put two more tablespoonfuls of butter into the pan; fry brown, then add one tablespoonful of vinegar and a little onion juice with pepper and salt. Boil the whole together for two minutes, pour it over the eggs, and serve.
Deviled eggs
Boil six eggs hard, cut carefully in half, and take out the yolks. Rub these to a paste with two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, one-half teaspoonful of Chili sauce, and a saltspoonful, each, of salt, pepper and French mustard. Form this mixture into balls that will fit into the halved whites. Set these halves on end on a hot platter, put a yolk-ball in each, and keep hot while you make the sauce to pour about them. To make this, cook together a teaspoonful of butter and one of flour, and pour over them a half pint of hot milk with a pinch of soda stirred in it. When this sauce is thick and smooth, add to it one beaten egg and a tablespoonful of finely minced parsley. Remove immediately from the fire and pour around the eggs.
Mince of tongue and eggs
Boil a fresh calf’s tongue, let it get cold, and mince fine. Heat a half-pint of soup stock, and cook together in a frying-pan a tablespoonful of butter and one of browned flour. On this pour the hot soup stock, and cook until you have a thick, brown sauce. Into this turn the chopped tongue, and toss and stir until smoking hot. Season with a teaspoonful of tomato catsup, a teaspoonful of onion juice, salt and pepper. Have ready slices of toast on a heated platter, pour the hot mixture over these; put a poached egg in the center of each slice of toast, and serve.
Kidneys are delicious cooked in this way.
Mince of ham and eggs
Prepare as above, but using cold boiled and minced ham in place of the tongue. A mixture of cold liver and ham is very palatable.
Savory eggs
Dissolve a pinch of soda in a cup of cream and heat the cream. In another vessel heat a pint of stock. Turn into the stock six beaten eggs, season to taste with salt, pepper and minced parsley; cook until the eggs begin to thicken, stirring all the time; add the cream and serve on slices of lightly buttered toast.
A curry of eggs
Put into a saucepan one tablespoonful of butter, and when this has melted, stir into it a tablespoonful of flour mixed with a teaspoonful of curry powder. When these are thoroughly blended with the butter pour slowly into the saucepan a cupful of veal, mutton or chicken stock, half a teaspoonful of onion juice, and season with salt. Stir until you have a smooth sauce, then lay in it six hard-boiled eggs cut into slices about half an inch thick. Cook until the eggs are thoroughly heated.
A simple omelet
(Contributed)
Beat the yolks and whites of six eggs separately, and stir three tablespoonfuls of milk into the yolks. Melt a tablespoonful of butter in a hot frying-pan. Stir the yolks and whites very lightly together; pepper and salt them, and turn the frothed mass into the frying-pan. Keep the omelet from sticking to the bottom and sides of the pan by frequently slipping a knife or cake-turner around the sides and under the bottom of the egg mixture. When the omelet is set, slip it off upon a hot platter, and, as you do so, fold it over quickly and lightly. Serve at once.
An English omelet
Break six eggs, and separate the yolks from the whites. Beat the yolks until they are thick. Add a saltspoonful of salt to the whites, and whip them until they are very stiff. Now, with quick strokes, lightly stir the whites into the yolks. Have a tablespoonful of butter melted in a frying-pan and turn the beaten eggs into this. With a knife keep the omelet loosened from the sides and bottom of the pan, and take care that it does not scorch on the bottom. When “set” slip the omelet upon a hot platter, and, as it leaves the pan, fold it over upon itself, sprinkle with salt, and send at once to the table.
Omelet with tomato sauce
Make what is known in cookery as a “white roux” by cooking in a saucepan a tablespoonful of butter and one of flour, and, when they bubble, pouring over them a cupful of strained and seasoned tomato juice. Keep this sauce hot while you make an omelet by the foregoing recipe; dish it, and after it is on the platter pour the tomato sauce over and around it.
A bread omelet (baked)
Soak three tablespoonfuls of stale crumbs in a cupful of milk for two hours. Beat six eggs—whites and yolks separately —very light. Into the yolks stir the soaked crumbs, and season the mixture with salt and pepper. Last of all, stir in with a few light strokes the stiffened whites. Butter a deep pudding dish, pour the mixture into this, set it on the lower grating of a quick oven and bake until light and brown. Sift brown crumbs over the top and serve the omelet as soon as it is removed from the oven.
Omelet aux fines herbes
Chop finely parsley, thyme, summer savory, chives, or any green herbs you fancy; make two tablespoonfuls in all; season with paprika and celery salt. Make an omelet in the usual way, pour into the pan, and, before it forms, sprinkle the herbs over the surface, stirring gently to mix them. Cook then as you would a plain omelet. A parsley omelet is made according to this recipe, using no herbs except parsley.
Oyster omelet
Before putting your omelet over the fire, have ready the filling. Chop a dozen oysters into tiny bits. Stir together over the fire a large spoonful of butter and one of flour. When smooth and bubbling draw to the side of the range and add gradually three tablespoonfuls of cream (with a pinch of soda), and the same quantity of strained oyster liquor. Set back over the fire and stir until it boils. Season with paprika and salt; add the chopped oysters, and bring again to a boil. Set in boiling water while you make the omelet. When this is ready to fold over, cover with the cooked oysters, fold, and turn out upon a very hot dish.
Clam omelet is made in the same way.
Baked mushroom omelet
Peel and cut into quarters a dozen fresh mushrooms and put them into a saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter, pepper and salt to taste, and a few drops of lemon juice. Cover the pan and simmer slowly for ten minutes. Add one cupful of thickened chicken or veal stock, and cook slowly ten minutes longer. Then stir in six eggs, well-beaten, turn into a buttered bake-dish, sift browned crumbs over the top, and set upon the upper grating of a quick oven until the eggs are “set.” Five minutes should be enough. Serve at once in the bake-dish.
Daffodils
Chop the whites of six hard-boiled eggs fine, then run through a vegetable press. Have ready a cup of drawn butter, seasoned with pepper, salt and onion juice. Mix the whites with this, and keep hot over boiling water. Have ready eight rounds of toast, buttered and slightly moistened with gravy—chicken, veal or turkey. Arrange on a hot platter and cover each round with the white mixture, flattening it on top.
Run the yolks through the press, reducing them to a yellow powder, season with salt and pepper, and put a spoonful in the center of each white round.
Nesting eggs
Boil six eggs hard, and throw into cold water. When cold, strip off the whites and shred them into long straws. Heat a flat dish—one that will bear fire—and arrange the shreds around the inner edge. Have ready a handful of celery (shredded like the eggs), which has been stewed tender in a little milk, then seasoned. Lay this inside of the lines of white shavings, and put a few spoonfuls of melted butter over both. Set in the oven until very hot.
Pick to pieces a cupful of cold boiled or baked fish, and run the yolks of the eggs through the colander or vegetable press. Mix with the fish, moisten with drawn butter, and mold into egg-shaped balls. Dispose these neatly within the “nest,” and pour over them a cupful of drawn butter to give the desired whiteness. Shut up in the oven for a few minutes to get them heated through, and serve.
This is a less elaborate dish than would seem at first reading.
SCALLOPED OYSTERS
CHICKEN OMELET
If you have stewed celery left from yesterday’s dinner, and cold fish, the rest is easy enough.
Chicken or other meat may be substituted for the fish.
Cheese omelet
Make a plain omelet, and when nearly done, strew powdered Parmesan cheese over it. Fold, transfer to a hot dish, strew more cheese on top, and hold a red-hot shovel near enough to scorch the cheese.
Baked soufflé of eggs (No. 1)
Scald a cup of milk, putting in a tiny pinch of soda. Beat the yolks of six eggs until light and creamy, and the whites till stiff enough to stand alone. Add one-half teaspoonful of salt, a dash of pepper and one rounded tablespoonful of butter to the milk and stir it into the yolks; then beat in the whites very quickly. Pour into a deep, buttered pudding dish and bake in a moderate oven ten minutes, or to a delicate brown. Serve immediately in the bake-dish.
Baked eggs soufflé (No. 2)
Beat six eggs light, whites and yolks separately. Heat one cupful of milk, add one teaspoonful of corn-starch, one-half teaspoonful of salt, and the whipped yolks of the eggs. Cook in a saucepan until as thick as cream, add the whites, beaten stiff, put into a well-buttered frying-pan, set in a hot oven and bake well until browned slightly, then slide off upon a hot platter.
Eggs and tomatoes
Cook a tablespoonful of butter and one of flour together in a saucepan until smooth and hot. Add a cupful of tomatoes, canned or raw, chopped fine, and strained from the juice. Season with paprika, celery salt, a half teaspoonful of sugar, and a teaspoonful of onion juice. Cook five minutes. Have ready on a bowl six eggs, beaten—whites and yolks together; take the saucepan from the fire and add the contents gradually to the eggs. Set back over the fire, stir for one minute, or until the eggs are set, and serve in a hot, deep dish.
Olla podrida omelet
Make a roux of one tablespoonful of butter and the same of browned flour in a deep frying-pan. When hissing hot stir in one cupful of canned tomato, one-half cupful of canned mushrooms, sliced fine, the same quantity of minced ham, tongue or chicken. Season with onion juice, paprika and salt to taste. Let it simmer five or eight minutes, then stir in four beaten eggs. Stir carefully as it thickens, and when the eggs are set serve on buttered toast.
Scrambled eggs with cheese
(Contributed)
Break ten eggs and slip them into a saucepan. Beat them with one-fourth of a pound of butter, one-fourth of a pound of grated cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Butter a saucepan and when hot, pour in the mixture and allow it to cook for five minutes over a light fire, stirring all the while. When the mixture becomes quite thick, pour into a deep dish, and serve with fried toast.
Scrambled eggs with asparagus tops
(Contributed)
Cut the tender tops of asparagus into pieces one-half inch long. Cook them in salted water for about ten minutes, then let them drain. Scramble the eggs and when they are cooked add the asparagus tops and serve on toast. Lobsters, cooked and cut into dice, may be substituted for the asparagus tops.
Rice omelet
(Contributed)
To one cupful of cold boiled rice add one cupful of warm milk, one tablespoonful of melted butter, one teaspoonful of salt and a dash of pepper; mix well and add three well-beaten eggs. Heat a tablespoonful of butter in a frying-pan and when hot pour in the omelet and set the pan in a hot oven. When it is thoroughly cooked fold it double, turn out on a hot dish and serve at once.
Fish omelet
(Contributed)
Make about a half pint of white roux, add a piece of butter about the size of an egg, twelve shelled and cooked shrimps; season with salt and pepper; let it cook for two or three minutes, stirring all the time, then add half of a green sweet pepper, chopped fine, and cook for one minute. Make an omelet of six eggs; when brown, turn up and fill with this mixture. Serve at once on a hot platter.
Frizzled beef and eggs
(Contributed)
To every half pound of chipped beef allow half a pint of milk, one tablespoonful of butter and one tablespoonful of flour. Put the butter into a frying-pan; when hot add the beef and stir for about two minutes, or until the butter begins to brown, then dredge in the flour. Stir well, add the milk and a little pepper, and just before taking from the fire whip in two well-beaten eggs.
Ham omelet
(Contributed)
Make an omelet in the usual way; pour into an omelet pan and before the egg sets sprinkle over the top one teacupful of finely minced, cold, cooked ham.
Egg croquettes
(Contributed)
Cut hard-boiled eggs into one-quarter inch dice. Add one-fourth as many chopped mushrooms and turn into a thick white sauce. When cold, mold into croquettes, dip into egg, then in bread crumbs and fry in deep fat.
Eggs in cases
(Contributed)
Make little paper cases of buttered writing paper; put a small piece of butter in each and a little chopped parsley or onion; pepper and salt. Put the cases upon a gridiron over a moderate fire of bright coals, and when the butter melts break a fresh egg into each case. Strew over them a few buttered bread-crumbs, and when almost done glaze the tops with a hot shovel.
Minced eggs
(Contributed)
Chop up, but not too fine, four or five hard-boiled eggs. Put over the fire, in a saucepan, one tablespoonful of butter, and when it begins to bubble, stir into it one tablespoonful of flour; cook one minute, then add one cupful of hot milk. When it cooks thick like cream, put in the minced eggs. Stir it for a few minutes, and serve garnished with sippets of toast.
Scalloped eggs
(Contributed)
Slice in rings twelve hard-boiled eggs. Cover the bottom of a well-buttered baking dish with fine bread-crumbs; over this put a layer of eggs, some small pieces of butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Alternate in this way until the dish is filled, being careful to have bread-crumbs on top. Add two tablespoonfuls of rich milk or cream and bake in a moderate oven.
Shirred eggs
Butter small “nappies” and drop an egg carefully into each, taking care not to break the yolk. Set the nappies in a pan of boiling water on the range, and cook until the white is set. Put on each egg a bit of butter, and a dash each of pepper and salt. Serve at once.