Omelets
The procedure for omelets is at once very simple and very difficult, for tastes differ considerably in respect of their preparation. Some like them well done, others insist upon their being just done, while there are yet others who only enjoy them when they are almost liquid.
Nevertheless, the following conditions apply to all—namely, that there should be homogeneity of the egg-molecules; that the whole mass should be smooth and soft; and that it should be borne in mind that an omelet is in reality scrambled eggs enclosed in a coat composed of coagulated egg.
I take as my standard an omelet consisting of three eggs, the seasoning of which comprises a small pinch of table-salt and a little pepper, and which requires one-half oz. of butter for its preparation. The quantities of garnishing ingredients given below, therefore, are based upon this standard.
[186]
][492—THE PREPARATION OF OMELETS]
Heat the butter in the omelet-pan, until it exhales the characteristic nutty smell. This will not only lend an exquisite taste to the omelet, but the degree of heat reached in order to produce the aroma will be found to ensure the perfect setting of the eggs.
Pour in the beaten and seasoned eggs, and stir briskly with a fork, in order to heat the whole mass evenly. If the omelet is to be garnished inside, this ought to be done at the present stage, and then the omelet should be speedily rolled up and transferred to a dish, to be finished in accordance with the nature of its designation.
When the omelet is on the dish, a piece of butter may be quickly drawn across its surface, to make it glossy.
[493—AGNÈS[!-- TN: grave invisible --] SOREL OMELET]
Stuff the omelet with one tablespoonful of mushrooms, minced and [sautéd] in butter. Roll it up, and transfer it to a dish.
Then lay eight small slices of very red tongue upon it, letting their edges overlap; surround with a thread of veal gravy.
[494—OMELET A LA BRUXELLOISE]
Stuff the omelet with two tablespoonfuls of braised endives, [ciseled] and thickened with cream. Surround with a thread of cream sauce.
[495—OMELET WITH CÈPES]
Finely mince two oz. of [cèpes]; toss them in butter in an omelet-pan until they have acquired a brown colour; add thereto a pinch of chopped shallots, and toss them again for a moment.
Pour the eggs into the omelet-pan; make the omelet; dish up, and surround with a thread of half-glaze.
[496—OMELET WITH MUSHROOMS]
Mince two oz. of raw mushrooms; toss them in butter in an omelet-pan; add the eggs thereto, and make the omelet. Transfer it to a dish, lay three little cooked and grooved mushrooms upon it, and surround with a thread of half-glaze.
[187]
][497—OMELET A LA CHOISY]
Stuff the omelet with two tablespoonfuls of braised lettuce; the latter should have been [ciseled] and cohered by means of cream sauce.
Roll and dish the omelet, and surround it with a thread of cream sauce.
[498—OMELET A LA CLAMART]
Stuff the omelet with two tablespoonfuls of fresh peas, bound by means of butter and combined with a portion of the lettuce used in cooking them, finely [ciseled]. Roll and dish the omelet, make an opening lengthwise in the centre, and fill the interspace with a tablespoonful of fresh peas.
[499—OMELET WITH CRUSTS]
Combine with the beaten and seasoned eggs two tablespoonfuls of small crusts, cut into dice, fried in clarified butter, and very hot.
Make the omelet very quickly.
[500—OMELET WITH SPINACH]
Stuff the omelet with two tablespoonfuls of spinach with cream, and surround with a thread of cream sauce.
[501—OMELET A LA FERMIÈRE]
Add to the beaten and seasoned eggs one tablespoonful of very lean, cooked ham cut into dice. Pour the eggs into the omelet-pan, and cook them quickly, taking care to keep them very soft. Let the outside harden slightly; tilt into the dish after the manner of a pancake, and besprinkle the surface with a pinch of chopped parsley.
[502—OMELET AUX FINES HERBES]
Add to the eggs one tablespoonful of parsley, chervil, chive, and tarragon leaves, all to be finely chopped and almost equally apportioned.
Make the omelet in the usual way.
[503—OMELET WITH VEGETABLE MARROW FLOWERS]
Add to the eggs one and one-half oz. of the calices of freshly-plucked and young vegetable-marrow flowers; [cisel] and [188] ]stew them, and add thereto a pinch of chopped parsley. Surround the omelet with a thread of tomato sauce.
N.B.—This omelet may be made with oil, as well as with butter.
[504—OMELET WITH CHICKEN’S LIVER]
Stuff the omelet with two tablespoonfuls of chicken’s liver, which should be cut into dice or finely sliced, seasoned, quickly [sautéd] in butter, and cohered with half-glaze. Dish the omelet, make an opening lengthwise in the centre, and place one tablespoonful of chicken’s liver, prepared as above, in the interspaces. Besprinkle with chopped parsley, and surround the omelet with a thread of half-glaze.
[505—OMELET WITH ARTICHOKE-BOTTOMS]
Finely mince two small artichoke-bottoms (raw if possible), season them, and slightly colour them in butter. Add the beaten and seasoned eggs, and make the omelet in the usual way.
[506—OMELET WITH YOUNG SHOOTS OF HOPS]
Stuff the omelet with two tablespoonfuls of young shoots of hops, cohered with cream, and finish it in the usual way. Open it slightly along the top, and garnish with a few young shoots of hops put aside for the purpose.
The omelet may be surrounded with a thread of cream sauce, but this is optional.
[507—OMELET A LA LYONNAISE]
Finely mince half an onion, and cook it with butter in an omelet-pan, letting it brown slightly. Add the eggs, with which a large pinch of chopped parsley has been mixed, and make the omelet in the usual way.
[508—OMELET MAXIM]
Make the omelet in the usual way. Lay upon it alternate rows of crayfish tails and slices of truffle. Surround the omelet with a fine border of frogs’ legs “[sautéd] à la Meunière,” i.e., seasoned raw, rolled in flour, and [sautéd] in butter until quite cooked and well [gilded].
[189]
][509—OMELET WITH MORELS]
Mince and toss in butter two oz. of very firm morels. Two should be put aside, which, after having been cut in two, lengthwise, and [sautéd] with the others, should be placed on a dish when the omelet is about to be made. Having dished the latter, place the four [sautéd] and reserved pieces of morels upon it, and surround it with a thread of half-glaze.
[510—OMELET MOUSSELINE]
Beat the yolks of three eggs in a bowl with a small pinch of salt and a tablespoonful of very thick cream. Add thereto the three whites, whisked to a stiff froth, and pour this preparation into a wide omelet-pan containing one oz. of very hot butter. [Sauté] the omelet, tossing it very quickly, and taking care to turn the outside edges of the preparation constantly towards the centre; when the whole mass seems uniformly set, roll the omelet up quickly, and dish it. This omelet should be sent to the table immediately.
[510a—OMELET WITH MOUSSERONS]
Mince two oz. of very fresh [mousserons]; toss them in butter in the omelet-pan; add thereto the eggs mixed with a pinch of chopped parsley; make the omelet, dish it, and surround it with a thread of half-glaze.
[511—OMELET A LA NANTUA]
Add to the omelet six little crayfishes’ tails, each of which must be cut into three, and the whole mixed with a little Nantua sauce. Put two fine crayfishes’ tails on the omelet, making them touch at their thicker ends, and surround with a thread of Nantua sauce.
[512—OMELET PARMENTIER]
Add a pinch of chopped parsley to the eggs, and, when about to pour the latter into the omelet-pan, add two tablespoonfuls of potato cut into dice, seasoned, [sautéd] in butter, and very hot. Make the omelet in the usual way.
[513—OMELET A LA PAYSANNE]
Frizzle with butter, in the omelet-pan, two oz. of breast of bacon cut into dice. Add to the eggs one tablespoonful of finely-sliced potatoes [sautéd] in butter, one-half tablespoonful of [ciseled] sorrel stewed in butter, and a pinch of [concassed] chervil.
Pour the whole over the bacon-dice; cook the eggs quickly, [190] ]keeping them soft; turn the omelet after the manner of a pancake, and tilt it immediately on to a round dish.
[514—OMELET WITH ASPARAGUS-TOPS]
Add one and one-half tablespoonfuls of [blanched] asparagus-tops, stewed in butter, to the omelet. Having dished the omelet, open it along the middle, and lay a nice little faggot of asparagus-tops in the interspace.
[515—OMELET A LA PROVENÇALE]
Rub the bottom of the omelet-pan lightly with a clove of garlic; put two tablespoonfuls of oil into the utensil, and heat it until it smokes.
Throw into the oil a fine, peeled, pressed, and pipped tomato, cut into dice and besprinkled with a pinch of [concassed] parsley. Cook it quickly, tossing it the while, and add it to the beaten and seasoned eggs. Make the omelet in the usual way.
N.B.—The nature of this preparation demands the use of oil in treating the tomato, but, failing oil, clarified butter may be used.
[516—OMELET WITH KIDNEYS]
Add to the omelet a tablespoonful of calf’s or sheep’s kidney, cut into dice, seasoned with salt and pepper, [sautéd] quickly in butter, and cohered by means of half-glaze. Having dished the omelet, divide it down the middle, lay some reserved kidney-dice in the interspace, and surround with a thread of half-glaze.
[517—OMELET A LA ROSSINI]
Add to the beaten and seasoned eggs one dessertspoonful of cooked foie gras and as much truffle, cut into small dice. Having dished the omelet, place in the middle thereof a small rectangular piece of heated foie gras, and two slices of truffle on either side of the latter. Surround it with a thread of half-glaze flavoured with truffle essence.
[518—OMELET WITH TRUFFLES]
Add to the omelet one tablespoonful of truffles, cut into dice. Make the omelet, dish it, and lay a row of fine slices of truffles upon it. Surround it with a thread of melted meat-glaze.
[191]
][519—HOT LAPWINGS’ AND PLOVERS’ EGGS]
Note.—In the chapter on hors-d’œuvres, where recipes were given which deal with lapwings’ eggs, I made a few remarks relative to their freshness, and indicated the procedure for boiling them soft and hard.
[520—SCRAMBLED LAPWINGS’ EGGS]
Proceed as for ordinary scrambled eggs, all the recipes given for the latter being perfectly applicable to lapwings’ eggs. They require, however, very great care in their preparation, and it should be borne in mind that one ordinary hen’s egg is equal to about three lapwings’ eggs.
[521—LAPWINGS’ EGGS A LA DANOISE]
Poach the eggs as directed in the recipe dealing with the process, and dish them up in tartlet-crusts garnished with a purée of smoked salmon.
[522—OMELET OF LAPWINGS’ EGGS]
Proceed as for other omelets, but one ordinary hen’s egg is generally added to every six lapwings’ eggs in order to give more body to the preparation. All the omelet recipes already given may be applied to lapwings’ eggs.
[523—LAPWINGS’ EGGS A LA ROYALE]
Garnish as many small tartlet moulds as there are eggs with chicken-forcemeat. Poach, turn out the moulds, and hollow out the centres of the tartlets in such wise as to be able to set an egg upright in each.
Place a soft- or hard-boiled egg on each forcemeat tartlet, coat the eggs with a light purée of mushrooms, besprinkle with chopped truffles, and arrange in a circle on a dish.
[524—LAPWINGS’ EGGS AU TROUBADOUR]
Select as many large morels as there are eggs. Remove the stalks, and widen the openings of the morels; season them, and stew them in butter. Boil the lapwings’ eggs soft.
Garnish each stewed morel with an egg; set them on little tartlet-crusts garnished with a light, foie-gras purée, and arrange them in a circle on a dish.
[192]
]Cold Eggs
The preparation of cold eggs is not limited by classical rules; it rests with the skill and artistic imagination of the operator, and, since fancifulness and originality are always closely allied to artistic imagination, it follows that the varieties evolved may be infinite.
Indeed, so various and numerous are the recipes dealing with this kind of egg-preparations that I must limit myself to a selection only of the more customary ones, culled as far as possible from my own repertory.
[525—COLD EGGS ALEXANDRA]
Take some cold, well-trimmed, poached eggs; dry them and cover them with a white chaud-froid sauce. Place a fine indented slice of truffle in the centre of each, and sprinkle with a cold, white, melted aspic jelly until they are thinly coated therewith. Slip the point of a small knife round each egg with the view of moving them more easily, and transfer them to oval tartlet-crusts made from puff-paste trimmings, baked without colouration.
Lay a border of caviare round the eggs; dish them in the form of a crown, and put some chopped jelly in the centre.
[526—COLD EGGS A L’ANDALOUSE]
Cover some cold, well-dried, poached eggs with a tomato purée combined with a full third of its volume of Soubise purée and one-half pint of melted aspic jelly per pint of sauce. Cut some pimentos, [marinaded] in oil, into very thin strips, and lay these, after the manner of a lattice, upon each egg.
Now garnish as many oiled, oval tartlet-moulds as there are eggs with tomato purée, thickened with jelly, and let the garnish set on ice. Turn out the moulds, and put an egg upon each of the tomato tartlets; arrange the latter in a circle on a dish surrounded with a chain composed of linked rings of onion, and garnish the centre with chopped, white jelly.
[527—COLD EGGS ARGENTEUIL]
Coat some well-dried, soft-boiled eggs, slightly cut at their base to make them stand, with a white chaud-froid sauce combined with a good third of its volume of asparagus-tops purée. Sprinkle repeatedly with cold, melted, white jelly, until a glossy coating is obtained.
[193]
]Garnish the centre of a dish with a salad of asparagus-tops; surround this with fine slices of cold potato, cooked in water and cut up with an even fancy-cutter, one inch in diameter, and arrange the eggs all round.
[528—COLD EGGS CAPUCINE]
Carefully dry some cold, poached eggs, and half-coat them lengthwise with a white chaud-froid sauce; complete the coating on the other side with a smooth purée of truffles, thickened with jelly. Leave these two coats to set, placing the eggs in the cool or on ice for that purpose.
Garnish the centre of a round dish with a small pyramid of cold, truffled [Brandade] of [morue], and set the eggs round the latter.
[529—COLD EGGS CARÊME[!-- TN: original reads "CARÈME" --]
Cook the eggs on the dish, leave them to cool, and trim them with an even fancy-cutter, oval in shape. Place each egg on an oval tartlet-crust, garnished with dice of cooked salmon, cohered with mayonnaise.
Surround with a thread of caviare, and lay a thin slice of very black truffle on each egg.
[530—COLD EGGS COLBERT]
Garnish some small, oval moulds in [Chartreuse fashion], i.e., like a draught-board. Put a small, cold, poached egg into each mould, fill up with melted, white jelly, and leave to set. Garnish the centre of a dish with a heaped vegetable salad; arrange the eggs taken from their moulds around this, and surround with a little chopped jelly.
[531—COLD EGGS COLINETTE]
Let a thin coat of white jelly set upon the bottom and sides of some small, oval moulds. Garnish the latter with some small dice, consisting of white of egg and truffles, placing them so as to simulate a draught-board; now insert a very small, cold, poached egg into each mould, and fill up with a melted jelly.
Garnish the centre of a dish with a “Rachel” salad, encircled by a ring of sliced, cold potatoes, cooked in water, and place the eggs, removed from their moulds, all round. Border the dish with indented crescents of white jelly.
[532—COLD EGGS WITH TARRAGON]
Mould these in [baba-moulds], or in porcelain cocottes; sometimes they may simply be dished up on small tartlet-crusts.
[194]
]The preparation consists of poached or soft-boiled eggs, garnished with [blanched] tarragon leaves, or coated or moulded with a very fine tarragon jelly.
[533—COLD EGGS, FROU-FROU]
Select some very small poached eggs of equal size, cover them with a white chaud-froid sauce combined with about a third of its volume of a purée of hard-boiled egg-yolks.
Garnish the top of each egg with an indented ring of very black truffle, and surround the base of the eggs with a narrow ribbon composed of chopped truffles. Glaze with jelly, and leave to set on ice.
Prepare a salad of green vegetables (peas, French beans cut into dice or lozenges, asparagus-tops); thicken it with a very little mayonnaise mixed with melted jelly. Pour this preparation into an oiled mould, and leave it to set. For dishing, turn out the salad in the middle of a dish; surround the base with a line of chopped jelly; encircle the whole with the eggs, letting them rest on the jelly, and garnish the dish with a border of dice cut in very clear, white jelly.
[534—COLD EGGS MOSCOVITE]
Slightly level both ends of some shelled, hard-boiled eggs. Surround the tops and the bases with three little anchovy fillets, and place a bit of truffle just half-way along each egg. Eggs prepared in this way resemble little barrels, whereof the anchovy fillets imitate the iron hoops, and the bits of truffle the bungs. By means of a tubular cutter empty the eggs with care; garnish them with caviare, and shape the latter to a point, outside the edges of the egg.
Lay each egg in an artichoke-bottom, cooked white, and garnished with finely-chopped jelly, and arrange them in a circle on a dish with chopped jelly in the centre.
[535—COLD EGGS A LA NANTUA]
Prepare some hard-boiled eggs to resemble little barrels, after the manner described above. For every six eggs keep ready and cold eighteen crayfish cooked à la Bordelaise. Shell the tails, put two aside for each egg, and cut the remainder into dice; finely pound the bodies and remains, add thereto three [195] ]tablespoonfuls of thick cream, and rub through tammy. Add to this cullis one tablespoonful of thick mayonnaise.
Bind the crayfish tails, cut into dice, with a few tablespoonfuls of this sauce, and garnish the eggs, emptied by the method indicated above, with the preparation of dice, making it stand out of the eggs in the shape of a small dome. Garnish each dome with a rosette composed of four halved crayfish tails and four truffle lozenges.
Glaze well with jelly; set the eggs upon artichoke-bottoms garnished with a mayonnaise with crayfish cullis, and arrange in a circle on a dish.
[536—COLD EGGS POLIGNAC]
Prepare some eggs à la Polignac, as explained under “Moulded Eggs,” and leave them to cool. Select some moulds a little larger than those used in the cooking of the eggs; pour into each half a tablespoonful of melted, white jelly, and leave to set. Then put an egg into each mould, and fill up the space around the eggs with melted, white jelly.
Leave to set, turn out the moulds, arrange the mouldings on a dish, and surround them with dice of faintly coloured jelly.
[537—COLD EGGS A LA REINE]
Prepare some soft-boiled eggs, and leave them to cool. Take as many cottage brioches as there are eggs; trim them to the level of the fluting, and remove the crumb from the inside, so as to form little [croustades] of them. Garnish the bottom and the sides of these [croustades] with a fine mince of white chicken-meat, thickened with mayonnaise, and season moderately with cayenne. Place a shelled, soft-boiled egg in each [croustade]; coat thinly with mayonnaise slightly thickened by means of a jelly; lay a fine piece of truffle on each egg, and, when the sauce has set, glaze with jelly, using a fine brush for the purpose.
Dish up on a napkin.
[538—COLD EGGS, RUBENS]
Season some cooked young shoots of hops with salt and freshly-ground pepper; add thereto some chopped parsley and chervil, and a purée of plainly-cooked tomatoes combined with just sufficient jelly to ensure the cohesion of the hops. Mould in oiled tartlet-moulds.
[196]
]Coat some well-dried, cold, poached eggs with white chaud-froid sauce; garnish with pieces of tarragon leaves, and glaze with jelly.
Turn out the tartlet-moulds; set an egg on each of the mouldings, and arrange them in a circle on a dish, placing between each egg a piece of very clear jelly, cut to the shape of a cock’s comb.
Garnish the centre of the dish with chopped jelly.
[197]
]CHAPTER XIII
SOUPS
Soups are divided into two leading classes, viz.:—
1. Clear soups, which include plain and garnished consommés.
2. Thick soups, which comprise the Purées, Veloutés, and Creams.
A third class, which is independent of either of the above, inasmuch as it forms part of plain, household cookery, embraces vegetable soups and Garbures or [gratined] soups. But in important dinners—by this I mean rich dinners—only the first two classes are recognised.
When a menu contains two soups, one must be clear and the other thick. If only one is to be served, it may be either clear or thick, in which case the two kinds are represented alternately at different meals.
In Part I. of this work I indicated the general mode of procedure for consommés and thick soups; I explained how the latter might be converted from plain purées into veloutés or creams, or from veloutés into creams; and all that now remains is to reveal the recipes proper to each of those soups.
Remarks.—In the course of the recipes for consommés, given hereafter, the use of Royales (Nos. [206] to [213]) and of Quenelles, variously prepared (Nos. [193] to [195] and [205]), will often be enjoined. For the preparation of these garnishes, therefore, the reader will have to refer to the numbers indicated.
The quantities for the clear soups that follow are all calculated to be sufficient for a standard number of six people, and the quantity of Royales is always given in so many [dariole-moulds], which contain about one-eighth pint, or [baba-moulds], which hold about one-fifth pint.
Of course, it will be understood that the poaching need not necessarily have been effected in these moulds, for very small “Charlotte” moulds would do quite as well. But I had recourse to the particular utensils mentioned above, in order that [198] ]there might be no sort of doubt as to the exact quantity of royale it would be necessary to prepare for any one of the soups.