EGGS
Eggs are a valuable food, containing a high proportion of nutrients in a form well suited to use in the body.
They are similar to milk in the high proportion of nutrients they contain and in their ready digestibility, but differ from milk in that they contain no carbohydrates, although their high percentage of fat supplies energy.
Eggs are valuable in supplementing the low iron content of milk. One egg contains nearly 30 times as much iron as one cup of milk. Nine eggs are equivalent in nutrition value to 1 lb beef.
Eggs are very easily and completely digested. Their digestibility varies somewhat according to the method of preparation. Raw egg whites, contrary to the usually accepted opinion, are less completely digested than those slightly cooked. Eggs cooked in different ways all seem to be completely digested, but vary in their ease of digestion. Eggs cooked just below boiling point seem more easily digested than those cooked at boiling point, and fried egg is much more difficult to digest than boiled egg.
If cooked below boiling temperature we get a softer and more palatable product. In an omelette a spongy texture is obtained by folding in the well-beaten egg white. These should be cooked slowly and evenly so as to set the air cells and retain the spongy texture. A slight browning of the outside develops flavor. In frying eggs flavor is developed at the expense of texture. The ease of digestion of hard-cooked eggs is increased by mincing.
Eggs should be kept in a cool, dry place. Do not wash until just before using, as they deteriorate rapidly after being washed.
EGGS A LA KING
4 hard-cooked eggs, 2 c cream or milk, 4 tbp flour, 2 tbp butter, 2 egg yolks, ½ can pimentos cut in stripes, ¼ c sauteed sliced mushrooms, 1 tsp salt.
Cut eggs in quarters and arrange on slices of toast. Melt butter, add dry ingredients, blend, and cook thoroughly. Add cream gradually. Cook until slightly thickened. Add remaining ingredients and pour over eggs.
SHIRRED EGGS (1)
Butter small cups such as are used for baked custards and drop an egg into each, being careful not to break the yolk. Set the cups in a pan of boiling water, and cook until the whites of the eggs are set. Put a bit of butter on each egg and a dash each of salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
SHIRRED EGGS (2)
Line a shallow buttered dish with hot boiled rice. Break 6 eggs and carefully drop them 1 by 1 into the rice. Cover with 1 c or more of white sauce to which ½ c of grated cheese and ½ c of bread crumbs have been added. Set baking dish in pan of hot water and cook in slow oven until the whites of the eggs are jellylike.
ITALIAN EGGS
Boil 5 eggs, then cut them (lengthwise) into sixths; add 1 c of cooked macaroni, ½ c grated cheese, and 1¾ c of white sauce; season with salt, onion juice, paprika, and anchovy essence; turn into a buttered baking dish, cover with ½ cup of buttered crumbs and brown in oven.
MEXICAN SCRAMBLED EGGS
Cook together, until tender, 2 tbp butter, 1 chopped onion, ½ each of chopped green pepper and chopped pimento, ¼ c rich milk, 1 tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper. Then add 6 eggs, stir constantly while cooking, and serve on toast.
EGGS A LA GOLDENROD
Separate whites and yolks of hard-cooked eggs, chop whites fine, add to white sauce, and when hot serve on toast and garnish with yolks run through a sieve or ricer. Season with salt and pepper. The eggs may be mixed with the white sauce poured into a baking dish, covered with buttered crumbs, and baked until crumbs are a delicate brown.
EGG BALLS
1 hard-boiled egg, ⅛ tsp salt, few grains cayenne, 1 tsp heavy cream, ¼ tsp finely chopped parsley.
Rub yolk through a sieve, add white finely chopped, and remaining ingredients. Add raw egg yolk to make mixture of right consistency to handle. Shape in small balls, and poach in boiling water or stock.
EGG CUSTARD
2 egg yolks, few grains salt, 2 tbp milk.
Beat eggs slightly, add milk and salt. Pour into small buttered cup, place in pan of hot water, and bake until firm; cool, remove from cup, and cut in fancy shapes with French vegetable cutters.
CREAMED EGGS
Prepare white sauce and add hard-cooked eggs, cut in halves, slices, or chopped, and when hot serve on toast. A little cheese may be added for seasoning if desired.
SCALLOPED EGGS
Slice hard-boiled eggs in rings. Butter a baking dish and cover the bottom with fine bread crumbs; put in a layer of eggs, bits of butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Alternate layers of eggs and crumbs in this way until the dish is filled. A layer of bread crumbs must be on top. Pour on two tbp rich milk or cream, and bake in a moderate oven.
BAKED EGG SOUFFLE
Beat yolks and whites of 6 eggs separately. Add 1 tsp cornstarch to 1 c of hot milk, then add ½ tsp salt and the whipped yolks of the eggs. Cook in a saucepan until of the thickness of cream, then add stiffly beaten whites. Put mixture into a well-buttered frying pan and set in a hot oven, and bake until slightly browned.
FRIED EGGS
Break each egg separately into a saucer. In this way, if one is not fresh, it will be discovered before the rest are spoiled. Fry in a tbp of lard and butter already mixed and hot in the frying pan. Fry for approximately 3 min, dipping the hot fat over the yolk or turning the egg carefully if it is desired fried on both sides.
SCRAMBLED EGGS
Beat 5 eggs slightly with a silver fork, add ½ tsp of salt, ⅛ tsp pepper and ½ c milk. Heat a frying pan, melt in it 2 tbp butter, and when melted, turn in the eggs. Cook, stirring constantly, until they are of creamy texture. Take care that the mixture does not stick to the bottom and sides of the pan and burn.
Variation: Add to the scrambled eggs shredded bits of dried beef or small pieces of cooked ham or bacon.
SWISS EGGS
1 level tbp butter, 2 level tbp grated cheese, 4 very thin slices of cheese, 4 eggs, 3 tbp cream, salt and pepper to taste.
Melt the butter in a shallow baking dish; cut the slices of cheese in pieces of convenient size to cover the bottom of the dish. Break the eggs and drop them into the dish over the cheese, season to taste, and pour the cream over the eggs; sprinkle the grated cheese on top and bake in a moderate oven till the eggs are set and the cheese a delicate brown.
FOAMY OMELET
Separate yolks of 4 eggs from whites; beat whites until stiff; beat yolks in a bowl with a beater until thick; add ½ tsp salt and ⅛ tsp pepper, and 4 tbp water. Cut and fold the yolks into the whites until the mixture is blended. Melt 1 tbp butter in the omelet pan and when moderately hot, turn in mixture; spread evenly, a little thinner in the center where fold will come; place on range where it will cook slowly (about 12 min). Keep the temperature low until the last min, when it may be raised to brown the bottom. When well puffed put pan in a moderate oven to cook the top; that is, until omelet is firm to the touch. Crease across top and fold. Serve at once.
CREOLE OMELET
Melt 3 tbp butter; add 2 thinly sliced tomatoes, 2 finely chopped onions, ½ tsp sugar, ⅛ tsp pepper, and ½ tsp salt. Cook 20 min. Spread half the mixture over half a foamy omelet. Fold, place on platter, and garnish with the remainder of the tomato and onion mixture.
ORANGE OMELET
Take the juice of a half a small orange, a small quantity of the grated peel, and 2 tbp of powdered sugar, and add to the recipe for foamy omelet. Before serving, sift powdered sugar lightly over the omelet.
OYSTER OMELET
Add 6 cooked oysters, chopped into small bits, to the mixture for foamy omelet.
MEXICAN OMELET
Mix 1 tbp butter and 1 of browned flour in a deep frying pan, heat, and stir to a cream. When very hot stir in 1 c canned tomatoes, ½ c canned mushrooms which have been sliced fine, ½ c minced, cooked ham (or chicken). Season with salt, paprika, and onion juice to taste. Let mixture simmer 8 min, or slightly less, then stir in 4 well-beaten eggs. Stir the mixture carefully as it thickens. Serve, when the eggs are set, on buttered toast.
OMELET CELESTINE
Prepare the omelet exactly as for orange omelet, omitting the oranges, and in their place spread the omelet, after it is dished, with peach preserve or marmalade, then with finely chopped, blanched almonds, and cover with whipped cream.
SCOTCH EGGS
6 hard-cooked eggs, ½ c stale bread crumbs, 1 c minced ham or other meat, salt and pepper to taste, ⅔ c milk, egg and bread crumbs, frying fat.
Cook eggs 20 min in water just below boiling point, stand in cold water for ½ hr, then remove shells and wipe eggs quite dry.
Cook the half c bread crumbs in the milk till thick, add the seasoning and meat and mix all together to form a rather stiff paste. Take a portion of this and press around one of the eggs smoothly with the hand, having the paste of equal thickness all over, and continue till the eggs are covered. Take a raw egg with 1 tbp water and beat lightly; dip each of the prepared eggs into this and cover every particle with the raw egg. As soon as covered, drop onto a paper containing stale bread crumbs, coat with these and fry in deep fat till golden brown. Cut in halves, stand cut side up, and serve plain or with white or tomato sauce or gravy.
JAPANESE EGGS
1½ c boiled rice, 6 hard-cooked eggs, 1½ c white sauce, 1 tsp onion juice, 1 tsp parsley, 1 tsp soy or Worcestershire sauce.
Pile the hot, cooked rice on a platter; cut the eggs in quarters and imbed in the rice; pour over them the sauce flavored with the onion juice and the soy or Worcestershire sauce, and sprinkle the chopped parsley over the top.
Note: Soy is a sauce to be found in some stores where Japanese and Chinese products are sold. Its principal ingredient is the soy bean.
EGGS, WALDORF STYLE
Arrange poached eggs on circular pieces of buttered toast, surround with brown mushroom sauce, and place a broiled mushroom cap on each egg.
DROPPED EGGS (Poached)
Have ready a frying pan ⅔ full of boiling salted water, allowing ½ tbp salt to 1 qt water. Put 2 or 3 buttered muffin rings in the water. Break each egg separately into a saucer, and carefully slip into a muffin ring. The water should cover the eggs. When there is a film over the top, and the white is firm, carefully remove with a buttered skimmer to circular pieces of buttered toast, and let each person season his own egg with butter, salt, and pepper. If cooked for an invalid, garnish with 4 toast points and a bit of parsley. An egg-poacher may be used instead of muffin rings.
BAKED EGGS
Break eggs into a buttered platter or shallow baking dish. Sprinkle cracker crumbs and grated cheese over the top; then moisten with a few tbp cream. Bake in a moderate oven until the egg white is done but tender.
EGGS IN PRISON
2 c cold, cooked meat, 4 eggs, stale browned bread crumbs, seasoning and flavoring to suit the meat.
Grease thoroughly 4 small c or molds and sprinkle thickly with the browned crumbs. Season and flavor meat rather highly, and line the molds with it, leaving a hollow in the center of each mold; the meat may be moistened with stock or gravy if too dry; break a raw egg into the hollow left for the purpose in each c, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake in a moderate oven till the eggs are set. Turn out and serve with or without sauce or gravy.
PLAIN OMELET
4 eggs, 4 tbp water, ¼ level tsp salt, ⅛ level tsp pepper, 2 level tbp butter.
Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them lightly, yolks and whites together, add the salt, pepper and water, and mix all well; melt the butter in a clean omelet pan and allow it to become quite hot without browning. Pour the eggs into the pan, mix and stir them gently till they begin to set. Now push the omelet down to one side of the pan that it may be thick and puffy, tilting the pan so as to keep it at one side. Cook till just set in the center and golden brown on the surface next to the pan. Turn onto a dish, brown side up, and serve plain or with tomato or other sauce.
JELLY OMELET
Mix and cook plain omelet, omitting pepper and ½ the salt, and adding 1 tbp sugar. Spread before folding with jam, jelly, or marmalade. Fold, turn, and sprinkle with sugar.
CASSEROLE EGGS
Chop cooked spinach very fine and season with salt and butter. Put 1 tbp this into individual, buttered, casseroles, and sprinkle with 1 tbp grated cheese, and carefully break 1 egg into each casserole. Cover each egg with 1 tbp of sauce, and ½ tbp grated cheese. Bake until eggs are set. These should be served immediately.
SCRAMBLED EGGS
6 eggs, 3 level tbp butter, 6 tbp cream or milk, ½ level tsp salt, ⅙ level tsp pepper.
Beat the eggs lightly, whites and yolks together, add the seasoning and cream or milk, and place with the butter in a saucepan. Stir the mixture constantly with a wooden spoon till it begins to thicken, then remove the saucepan to a cooler part of the stove and continue the cooking till the eggs are set. Serve either on buttered toast or garnished with points of toast.
A little grated cheese, a few green peas or mushrooms (cooked), or a few asparagus tips are sometimes added to the scrambled eggs just before removing them from the fire.
EGGS AND TOMATOES
Select well-shaped tomatoes and cut off the stem end; take out enough of the pulp so that each shell will hold an egg. Drop in the egg carefully, sprinkle with pepper and salt, put a bit of butter on top of each; put the tomatoes in a baking dish and put water around them. Put in oven and cook until the eggs are set and the tomatoes soft. Serve on slices of buttered toast.
DUTCH EGGS
Cut 5 hard-boiled eggs into small pieces and fold into thick, richly seasoned milk gravy. Halve 6 green peppers (lengthwise), removing the seeds and all the interior portions so as to leave the shells; fill these shells with the gravy and egg mixture, then sprinkle thickly with grated cheese and dots of butter, then brown in the oven, Serve on a hot dish garnished with watercress or parsley, and eat with toast.
CURRIED EGGS
6 hard-cooked eggs, 1 very small onion, 2 level tbp butter or drippings, 2 level tbp flour, ½ sour apple or a tsp lemon juice, ½ level tsp salt, 1 ½ c water, stock or milk, 1 level tbp curry powder.
Hard cook the eggs, remove the shells and cut the eggs in slices. Melt the butter or drippings and cook in it the onion, peeled and finely minced; next, put in the flour and curry powder and cook 3 min. Add the stock, water or milk slowly, and stir till the sauce boils; put in the apple or lemon juice and simmer gently for 20 min. Add salt, and heat the slices of egg in the hot sauce.
SHRIMP OMELET
Mix together butter and flour in quantities sufficient to make ½ pt of sauce when heated and creamed together; to this add another piece of butter about the size of an egg and 12 shelled and cooked shrimps. Season with salt and pepper, cook for 3 min, stirring constantly, then put in ½ of a finely chopped sweet green pepper, and cook for 1 min longer. Make a foamy omelet, fill with this mixture just before folding. Serve at once on a hot plate.
CHEESE OMELET
3 eggs, 3 tbp water, 2 tbp mild grated cheese, ⅛ tsp pepper, 2 tbp butter, salt, if needed.
Beat the eggs lightly, yolks and whites together, add the water and seasoning. Melt the butter in an omelet pan, pour in the eggs and stir and mix lightly till they begin to set. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top, then scrape and push the omelet to one side of the pan. Cook about 1 min, then either turn in the pan by slipping a knife under the omelet, or hold the pan for a moment in front of the fire or under the flame of the gas range. Turn onto a hot dish, and serve at once.
OMELET SOUFFLE
6 eggs, ½ c sugar, ½ tsp any desired flavoring, a pinch of salt.
Separate the whites and yolks of the eggs and beat the whites to a stiff froth; add the sugar and salt to the yolks and beat till thick. Mix whites and yolks lightly together and add the flavoring; turn into a buttered pudding dish, and bake in a hot oven from 12 to 14 min. Serve, as soon as set, in the dish in which it was cooked. Do not keep the souffle waiting before serving, as it very quickly falls.
STUFFED EGGS (1)
Cut 4 hard-boiled eggs in ½ crosswise; remove yolks, mash, and add 2 tbp grated cheese, 1 tsp vinegar, ¼ tsp mustard, and salt and cayenne to taste. Add enough melted butter to make mixture of the right consistency to shape. Make in balls size of original yolks, and refill whites. Arrange on a serving dish, pour around 1 c white sauce, cover, and reheat.
STUFFED EGGS (2)
Cut hard-boiled eggs in ½ lengthwise. Remove yolks, and put whites aside in pairs. Mash yolks, and add half the amount of devilled ham and enough melted butter to make of consistency to shape. Make in balls size of original yolks, and refill whites. Form remainder of mixture into a nest. Arrange eggs in the nest, and pour over 1 c white sauce. Sprinkle with buttered crumbs, and bake until crumbs are brown.
EGGS WITH SARDINES
4 tbp butter, ¼ c soft, stale bread crumbs, 1 c thin cream or top milk, 2 hard-boiled eggs, 1 half-box sardines, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp paprika, ⅛ tsp pepper.
Melt butter, add bread crumbs and cream, and bring to the boiling point; then add eggs, finely chopped, sardines freed from skin and bones, and seasonings. Again bring to the boiling point and serve at once.
EGGS SUSETTE
Wash and bake 6 large potatoes, cut slice from top of each, scoop out inside, and mash. To 3 c mashed potato add 6 tbp finely chopped ham, 2 tbp finely chopped parsley, whites of 2 eggs well beaten, 3 tbp butter, 4 tbp cream, and salt and pepper. Line potato shells with mixture, place in each cavity a poached egg, cover with potato mixture, and bake until browned. Care must be taken to have eggs delicately poached.
PRESERVING EGGS
To preserve 15 doz eggs in water glass:
1. Select a 5-gal crock (earthen or stone) and clean it thoroughly, then scald and allow to dry.
2. Heat 10 to 12 qt of water to the boiling point and allow it to cool.
3. When cool, measure out 9 qt of water, place in the crock and add 1 qt of sodium silicate (commonly called water glass), which can be purchased at almost any drug store. Stir well so that the solution becomes thoroughly mixed.
The solution thus prepared is ready for the eggs, which may be put in all at once or from time to time as they are obtainable. Care should be taken in putting them in the jar not to crack or break the shells; also make sure that the solution covers the eggs by at least 2 inches at all times.
Put the crock containing the preserved eggs in a cool, dry place and cover with a tight lid or waxed paper to prevent evaporation.
To preserve a smaller or larger number of eggs, the solution should be mixed and prepared in the same proportion.
If water glass is not obtainable, lime may be used. It is not considered as good as water glass, as in some instances eggs preserved by this method have tasted slightly of lime, although at other times limewater has proved entirely satisfactory.
To preserve with lime, dissolve 2 lb of unslacked lime in a small quantity of water and dilute with 5 gal of water that has previously been boiled and cooled. Allow the mixture to stand until the lime settles, then pour off and use the clear liquid. Place clean, fresh eggs in a clean earthenware crock or jar and pour the clear limewater into the vessel until the eggs are covered. At least 2″ of the solution should cover the top layer of eggs.
If best results are to be obtained the eggs should be fresh and clean and preferably infertile. For this reason it is always best when possible to candle the eggs carefully before preserving them unless they are known to be strictly fresh. If an egg is only slightly soiled a cloth dampened with vinegar may be used to remove the stains, but eggs should not be washed with water, as water removes the protective coating that is on the shell and may tend to cause the contents to spoil. Under no circumstances should badly soiled or cracked eggs be used for preserving, as 1 or more such eggs in a jar may spoil all the others.
Fresh Egg Tests: Hold in front of candle flame in dark room, and the center should look clear. Place in basin of cold water, and they should sink. Place large end to the check, and a warmth should be felt. They have rough shells.
USING PRESERVED EGGS
Fresh eggs preserved according to these directions will usually keep from 6 to 10 months and can be used satisfactorily for all purposes in cooking and for the table. If, however, preserved eggs are to be boiled, a small hole should be made with a pin in the larger end of the shell before placing them in the water, to allow the air in the egg to escape when heated and thus prevent cracking.