Tomatoes ‘con Uova.’
Choose round tomatoes of about equal size, and peel them. Cut off their tops, take out their insides, and drop a raw egg into each, replace the top as cover. Put the tomatoes into a baking-dish, and bake for about ten minutes (until the eggs have set). Serve up on the baking-dish very hot, with a sauce Béchamel (see Sauces, p. [119]), or some brown gravy.
Truffles in Champagne.
Wash and brush well twelve truffles in warm water, then rinse them in cold water and drain. Lay slices of bacon in the bottom of a stew-pan, and place the truffles on them. Put in a bouquet, sprinkle with a little salt, add some good stock, half a bottle of champagne, and boil. Cover the pan well, put fire above and below, and cook for one hour. See whether they are done (they should yield to the touch), then drain well, and serve in a folded napkin.
Truffles and Cheese.
Wash, brush, and clean eight ounces of truffles, and slice them. Meanwhile fry four ounces of butter with one or two tablespoonfuls of pure olive oil; put in the sliced truffles with four ounces of good Swiss cheese cut in fine slices. Mix well together over a brisk fire for ten minutes. Season with pepper and salt, and serve very hot with croûtons (fried bread).
Truffles (Maigre).
Wash, brush, and clean some truffles, cut them in slices, and put them in a stew-pan with some fish soup. Add a bouquet, season with pepper and salt, and stew over a small fire. When done thicken the sauce with a maigre roux, take out the bouquet, and serve hot.