In Matelote.—Put a bottle of claret wine in a stewpan and set it on a good fire; add to it two sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, a clove of garlic, a middling-sized onion, a clove, a bay-leaf, salt, and pepper; boil fifteen minutes; then take all the seasonings out and have your wine boiling gently; break one egg in by letting it fall gently in order to have it entire, and then take it out immediately with a skimmer, and place it on a dish; do the same with eight eggs; keep them in a warm (but not hot) place. After which put in the wine, without taking it from the fire, four ounces of butter kneaded with a tablespoonful of flour; boil till reduced to a proper thickness, pour it on the eggs, and serve.
With Onions.—Cut in dice three middling-sized onions and put them in a saucepan with four ounces of butter; set it on a moderate fire and stir now and then till the onions are turning yellow, then sprinkle on them a teaspoonful of flour, salt, and pepper; add a pint of warm water and boil gently till rather thick, but not too much so. Put into the saucepan half a dozen hard-boiled eggs cut in four pieces each, lengthwise, boil gently two or three minutes longer, and serve warm.
With Green Peas.—Proceed as for eggs with asparagus, except that you boil a gill of peas instead of asparagus; prepare and serve in the same way.
With Cauliflowers.—Blanch the cauliflowers and proceed as for the above. Eggs are prepared as above, with celery, lettuce, etc.
A la Tripe.—Proceed exactly the same as for eggs with onions, except that you use milk or broth instead of water.
A la Neige, or Floating Island.—Beat four (or more) whites of eggs to a stiff froth. Put in a tin saucepan one pint of milk and one ounce of sugar, set on the fire, and as soon as it rises put lumps of the whites into it with a skimmer, turn the lumps over after having been in about half a minute, leave them in another half minute, take them off with a skimmer also, place them on a sieve to allow the milk that may be around the lumps to drop. Put in a tin saucepan four yolks of eggs, two ounces of sugar, and mix well; add the milk that has been used to cook the whites, after having strained it, and mix again. Set on the fire, stir, give one boil, take off, add a few drops of essence to flavor; turn into a dish; place the lumps of whites gently on the liquor and they will float, and serve cold. If the liquor is desired thicker, use only half of the milk.
To poach Eggs.—Set cold water on the fire in a frying-pan, with salt and vinegar in it, a tablespoonful of vinegar to a quart of water. As soon as it boils, break a fresh egg in the water or in a small plate, and slide it gently into the water. Then with a skimmer turn the white gently and by degrees over the yolk, so as to envelop the latter in the former, giving the eggs an elongated shape. They may be poached hard or soft—hard when the yolk is cooked hard; soft when the yolk is still in a soft state.
Fondue of Eggs.—Beat well six eggs, and put them in a stewpan with two ounces of Gruyère, well grated, and about one ounce of butter; set on a brisk fire, and leave till it becomes rather thick, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon; take from the fire, add pepper, and stir a little; turn over on a warm dish, and serve. This is a very favorite dish in Italy, and also in Switzerland, where it originated.
To beat Whites of Eggs.—Have a convenient basin; break the eggs gently; allow the whites to fall in the basin and retain the yolks in the shell. This is very easily done by breaking the shell about the middle, opening slowly so as to let the white fall, and at the same time retain the yolk in one of the halves of the shell; if some white remains, turn the yolk from one half into the other, and vice versa, till the whole of it has fallen. Then add a very small pinch of salt to prevent the curdling of the eggs; commence by beating slowly; beat faster and faster, till they form a stiff froth. They are well beaten when, placing a twenty-five and a ten-cent silver piece on the top, they are firm enough to bear them. If the pieces sink, beat again. Always beat eggs in a cool place, they will rise better and faster. (See Egg-beater.)