Cut the egg plant into slices, season it with salt and pepper, dip in egg and bread crumbs and fry carefully in deep hot fat; put this on brown paper in the oven to dry. Broil the ham, cut it into squares sufficiently small to go neatly on top of each slice of egg plant.
Poach the eggs, and heat the other ingredients for the sauce. Dish the egg plant on a platter, put on the ham, and on each piece of ham an egg; baste with sauce and send to the table.
EGGS MONTE BELLO
6 eggs 2 level tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter 2 level tablespoonfuls of flour 1/2 pint of strained tomato 1 teaspoonful of onion juice 1/2 teaspoonful of salt 1 saltspoonful of pepper
Put about two quarts of water into a small deep saucepan; when boiling very hard drop in, one at a time, the eggs. In dropping them in, the white will fold over the yolk and make the eggs round. Push them to the back of the stove to stand for two minutes. Lift them with a skimmer, dip them in an egg beaten with a tablespoonful of water, dust them with bread crumbs and fry them in deep hot fat. You cannot use a frying basket. Just drop them in the fat, and as they are browned lift them out onto soft paper to drain. Rub the b.u.t.ter and flour together, add the tomato and seasoning; when boiling dish the eggs on a heated platter, pour around tomato sauce and send to the table.
EGGS A LA BOURBON
6 eggs 1/2 pint of stock 1 tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter 6 tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 teaspoonful of salt 1 dash of pepper
Put the stock in a small saucepan, poach the eggs in it, two at a time; lift them carefully and lay them on a hot granite or silver dish. When all are poached, dust over the cheese and stand them in the hot oven for just a moment until the cheese is melted. In the meantime boil the stock until it is reduced one-half, add the b.u.t.ter, baste it over the eggs and send to the table. This dish may be garnished with triangular pieces of toast.
EGGS BERNAISE
6 whole eggs 4 yolks of eggs 4 tablespoonfuls of stock 4 tablespoonfuls of olive oil 1 tablespoonful of chopped parsley 1 tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar 1 tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter 1 tablespoonful of flour 1/2 cupful of strained tomato 1 teaspoonful of onion juice 1/2 teaspoonful of salt
Put the stock, yolks of eggs and olive oil into a saucepan, stir over hot water until you have a thick, smooth sauce like mayonnaise; take from the fire, and when slightly cool stir in the tarragon vinegar and parsley. Rub the b.u.t.ter and flour together, add the tomato, and when boiling add a palatable seasoning of salt and pepper. Toast six halves of English m.u.f.fins or squares of bread. Heat a platter, b.u.t.ter the toast, put it on the hot platter, and poach the eggs. Put one poached egg on each slice of toast, fill the bottom of the dish with tomato sauce and put a tablespoonful of Bernaise sauce on top of each egg.
These may be garnished with a little chopped truffle, or a little chopped parsley.
EGGS A LA RORER
Toast rounds of bread, one for each person. b.u.t.ter them. Heat, in boiling water, the choke of a French artichoke, one for each slice of bread. Make sauce Hollandaise, and put one artichoke bottom on each slice of bread on a heated platter. Put in the center a poached egg and pour over the sauce Hollandaise. Garnish the dish with nicely cooked French or fresh green peas.
EGGS BENEDICT
Separate two eggs. Break the yolks, add a cupful of milk, a half teaspoonful of salt, one and a half cupfuls of flour and a tablespoonful of melted b.u.t.ter. Beat well, add two level teaspoonfuls of baking powder and fold in the well-beaten whites. Bake on a griddle in large m.u.f.fin rings. Broil thin slices of ham. Make a sauce Hollandaise. Chop a truffle. Poach the required number of eggs. Dish the m.u.f.fins, put a square of ham on each, then a poached egg and cover each egg nicely with sauce Hollandaise. Dust with truffle and serve at once.
TO HARD-BOIL EGGS
Put the eggs in warm water, bring the water quickly to the boiling point, then push the kettle to the back of the stove, where the water will remain at 200 degrees Fahrenheit, for twenty minutes. If these are to be used for made-over dishes, throw them at once into cold water, remove the sh.e.l.ls, or the yolks will lose their color.
EGGS CREOLE
Put two tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter and four of chopped onions into a saucepan, cook until the onion is soft, but not brown. Then add four peeled fresh tomatoes that have been cut into pieces, and three finely chopped green peppers. Cook this fifteen minutes, and add a level teaspoonful of salt. Have the eggs hard-boiled, and cut into slices.
Put them into a baking dish, pour over the sauce, re-heat in the oven, and serve with a dish of boiled rice.
CURRIED EGGS
Peel, and cut into slices, three large onions. Put them in a saucepan with two tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter. Stand over hot water and cook until the onions are soft. Add a teaspoonful of curry powder, a clove of garlic mashed, a saltspoonful of ground ginger, a half teaspoonful of salt and a tablespoonful of flour; mix thoroughly and add a half pint of water. Stir until boiling. Have ready six hard-boiled eggs, cut them into slices, arrange them over a dish of carefully boiled rice, on a hot platter, strain over the sauce, and send at once to the table. This dish is made more attractive by a garnish with sweet Spanish peppers, cut into strips.
EGGS BEAUREGARD
Hard-boil five eggs. Separate the whites from the yolks. Put the yolks through a sieve. Put the whites either through a vegetable press, or chop them very fine. Make a half pint of cream sauce, season it and add the whites. Have ready a sufficient amount of toast, carefully b.u.t.tered. Put this on a heated platter, cover over the cream sauce and the whites, dust the tops with the yolks, then with salt and pepper.
Garnish the edge of the dish with finely chopped parsley, and send at once to the table.
EGGS LAFAYETTE
Hard-boil six eggs, chop them, but not fine. Make a half pint of curry sauce. Put the chopped eggs over a bed of carefully boiled rice, cover with the curry sauce, garnish with strips of Spanish pepper and serve.
This dish may be changed by using tomato sauce in place of the curry sauce.
EGGS JEFFERSON
Select the desired number of good-sized tomatoes, allowing one to each person. Cut off the blossom end, scoop out the seeds, stand the tomatoes in a baking pan in the oven until they are partly cooked. Put a half teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter and a dusting of salt and pepper into the bottom of each, and break in one egg. Put these back in the oven until the eggs are "set." Have ready a round of toasted bread for each tomato, stand the tomato in the center of the bread, fill the bottom of the dish with cream sauce, and send to the table.
EGGS WASHINGTON
Add a half pint of crab meat to a half pint of cream sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Have ready either bread pates or pates made from puff paste. Put a tablespoonful of the crab mixture in the bottom of each. Break in an egg. Stand in the oven until the egg is "set." Or you may poach the eggs and slide them into the pate. Pour over the remaining quant.i.ty of crabmeat sauce, and send at once to the table.
EGGS AU GRATIN
Make a pint of cream sauce. Hard-boil six eggs. Cut them into slices.
Put them in the baking dish and cover with the cream sauce. Dust thickly with cheese, and brown quickly in the oven.
DEVILED EGGS
Hard-boil twelve eggs. Remove the sh.e.l.ls. Cut the eggs into halves, crosswise. Take out the yolks without breaking the whites. Press the yolks through a sieve. Add four tablespoonfuls of finely chopped chicken, tongue or ham. Add a half teaspoonful of salt, a saltspoonful of pepper and two tablespoonfuls of melted b.u.t.ter. Rub the mixture.
Form it into b.a.l.l.s the size of the yolks and put them into the places in the whites from which the yolks were taken. Put two halves together, roll them in tissue paper that has been fringed at the ends, giving each a twist. If these b.a.l.l.s are made the size of the yolk, and put back into the whites, they may be placed on a platter, heated, and served on toast, with cream sauce; then they are very much like the eggs Bernhardt.
EGGS A LA TRIPE
Hard-boil eight eggs. Remove the sh.e.l.ls, cut eggs crosswise in rather thick slices. Cut three small onions into very thin slices. Separate them into rings, cover them with boiling water and boil rapidly ten minutes; drain, then cover them with fresh water and boil until they are tender; drain again, but save the water. Now mix the eggs and onions carefully, without breaking. Put two level tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter and two of flour into a saucepan. Mix. Add a grating of nutmeg, a saltspoonful of black pepper, the juice of a lemon, and a half-pint of the water in which the onions were boiled. Bring to the boiling point, add two tablespoonfuls of cream; then add the eggs and onions.
When thoroughly hot, dish them in a conical form, garnish with triangular pieces of toast, and serve.
EGGS A L"AURORE
Hard-boil six eggs, cut them into halves lengthwise, take out the yolks, keeping them whole. Cut the whites into fine strips. Make a cream sauce. Add to it two tablespoonfuls of finely chopped sardines or finely chopped lobster or crab, a tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar. Add the whites of the eggs, and, when quite hot, add the yolks, without breaking them. Turn this at once into a heated dish, garnish the dish with triangular pieces of toast, and send to the table. Or, if you like, make the sauce, season it and put a layer into the bottom of the baking-dish, then a layer of Parmesan cheese, then a layer of the yolks, pressed through a sieve, and so on, alternating, having the last layer of the yolks of the eggs. Dust over a few bread crumbs, put here and there bits of b.u.t.ter, and brown quickly in the oven.
EGGS A LA DAUPHIN
Remove the sh.e.l.ls from six hard-boiled eggs, cut them into halves, lengthwise, take out the yolks, press them through a sieve. Add four level tablespoonfuls of melted b.u.t.ter, and half a teaspoonful of salt, a grating of nutmeg and two tablespoonfuls of Parmesan cheese. Add half a cupful of cream to a half cupful of sifted bread crumbs. Mix this with the yolks, rub until smooth, then add one well-beaten egg, and the yolk of one egg. Cover the bottom of the baking dish with the mixture forming it in a pyramid and cover with the chopped whites.