EGGS, Poached, with Cream.
Ingredients.—1 pint of water, 1 teaspoonful of salt, 4 teaspoonfuls of vinegar, 4 fresh eggs, ½ gill of cream, salt, pepper, and pounded sugar to taste, 1 oz. of butter. Mode.—Put the water, vinegar, and salt into a frying-pan, and break each egg into a separate cup; bring the water, &c., to boil, and slip the eggs gently into it without breaking the yolks. Simmer them from 3 to 4 minutes, but not longer, and, with a slice, lift them out on to a hot dish, and trim the edges. Empty the pan of its contents, put in the cream, add a seasoning to taste of pepper, salt, and pounded sugar; bring the whole to the boiling-point; then add the butter, broken into small pieces; toss the pan round and round till the butter is melted; pour it over the eggs, and serve. To insure the eggs not being spoiled whilst the cream, &c. is preparing, it is a good plan to warm the cream with the butter, &c. before the eggs are poached, so that it may be poured over them immediately after they are dished. Time.—3 to 4 minutes to poach the eggs, 5 minutes to warm the cream. Average cost for the above quantity, 9d. Sufficient for 2 persons. Seasonable at any time.
EGGS, Scotch.
Ingredients.—6 eggs, 6 tablespoonfuls of forcemeat, hot lard, ½ pint of good brown gravy. Mode.—Boil the eggs for 10 minutes; strip them from the shells, and cover them with forcemeat, or substitute pounded anchovies for the ham. Fry the eggs a nice brown in boiling lard, drain them before the fire from their greasy moisture, dish them, and pour round from ¼ to ½ pint of good brown gravy. To enhance the appearance of the eggs, they may be rolled in beaten egg and sprinkled with bread-crumbs; but this is scarcely necessary if they are carefully fried. The flavour of the ham or the anchovy in the forcemeat must preponderate, as it should be very relishing. Time.—10 minutes to boil the eggs, 5 to 7 minutes to fry them. Average cost, 1s. 4d. Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons. Seasonable at any time.
EGGS, Snow, or Œufs à la Neige (a very pretty Supper Dish).
Ingredients.—4 eggs, ¾ pint of milk, pounded sugar to taste, flavouring of vanilla, lemon-rind, or orange-flower water. Mode.—Put the milk into a saucepan with sufficient sugar to sweeten it nicely, and the rind of ½ lemon. Let this steep by the side of the fire for ½ hour, when take out the peel; separate the whites from the yolks of the eggs, and whisk the former to a perfectly stiff froth, or until there is no liquid remaining; bring the milk to the boiling-point, drop in the snow a tablespoonful at a time, and keep turning the eggs until sufficiently cooked. Then place them on a glass dish, beat up the yolks of the eggs, stir to them the milk, add a little more sugar, and strain this mixture into a jug; place the jug in a saucepan of boiling water, and stir it one way until the mixture thickens, but do not allow it to boil, or it will curdle. Pour this custard over the eggs, when they should rise to the surface. They make an exceedingly pretty addition to a supper, and should be put in a cold place after being made. When they are flavoured with vanilla or orange-flowered water, it is not necessary to steep the milk. A few drops of the essence of either may be poured into the milk just before the whites are poached. In making the custard, a little more flavouring and sugar should always be added. Time.—About 2 minutes to poach the whites; 8 minutes to stir the custard. Average cost, 8d. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons. Seasonable at any time.
EGGS, to keep Fresh for several Weeks.
Have ready a large saucepan, capable of holding 3 or 4 quarts, full of boiling water. Put the eggs into a cabbage-net, say 20 at a time, and hold them in the water (which must be kept boiling) for 20 seconds. Proceed in this manner till you have done as many eggs as you wish to preserve; then pack them away in sawdust. We have tried this method of preserving eggs, and can vouch for its excellence. They will be found, at the end of 2 or 3 months, quite good enough for culinary purposes; and although the white may be a little tougher than that of a new-laid egg, the yolk will be nearly the same. Many persons keep eggs for a long time by smearing the shells with butter or sweet oil: they should then be packed in plenty of bran or sawdust, and the eggs not allowed to touch each other. Eggs for storing should be collected in fine weather, and should not be more than 24 hours old when they are packed away, or their flavour, when used, cannot be relied on. Another simple way of preserving eggs is to immerse them in lime-water soon after they have been laid, and then to put the vessel containing the lime-water in a cellar or cool outhouse. Seasonable.—The best time for preserving eggs is from April to September.
EGGS, à la Tripe.
Ingredients.—8 eggs, ¾ pint of Béchamel sauce, dessertspoonful of finely-minced parsley. Mode.—Boil the eggs hard; put them into cold water, peel them, take out the yolks whole, and shred the whites. Make ¾ pint of Béchamel sauce; add the parsley, and, when the sauce is quite hot, put the yolks of the eggs into the middle of the dish, and the shred whites round them; pour over the sauce, and garnish with leaves of puff-paste or fried croûtons. There is no necessity for putting the eggs into the saucepan with the Béchamel; the sauce, being quite hot, will warm the eggs sufficiently. Time.—10 minutes to boil the eggs. Average cost, 1s. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons. Seasonable at any time.