There are many ways of doing this, viz.:—
(1) On rusks of bread-crumb, slightly hollowed, ornamented according to taste (i.e., indented by means of the point of a small knife) and fried in clarified butter. Their shape is oval for poached eggs, and round for soft-boiled eggs, the latter being generally dished upright.
(2) On little, oval [feuilletés] for poached eggs, on [feuilletés] in the shape of indented crowns, or in small patties for soft-boiled eggs.
(3) In borders of forcemeat or other preparations, the kind of which is indicated by the name of the particular egg-preparation. These borders are laid on the dish by means of a piping-bag or by hand; they are either oval or round, plain or indented, poached or oven-browned, according to the nature of the preparation used.
(4) On tartlet-crusts which are garnished so as to be in keeping with the method of dressing the eggs.
[169]
]Remarks.—(1) Poached or soft-boiled eggs, when dished upon fried rusks, [feuilletés], or tartlets, should, before being placed on the latter, be covered with sauce. Also before being treated with sauce they should be well drained.
(2) Having given the general outlines of the procedure, I shall now pass on to the particular recipes, stating them briefly, and reminding the reader that all of them apply equally to poached and soft-boiled eggs. Thus “Poached Eggs Mireille” stands for “Poached or Soft-boiled Eggs Mireille.”
[414—POACHED EGGS ARGENTEUIL]
Garnish the bottom of some tartlet-crusts with asparagus cut into pieces and cooked, and six green asparagus-heads, about one and one-half inches in length, arranged like a star. Place an egg, coated with cream sauce mixed with half its volume of asparagus purée, upon each tartlet.