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EGGS
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When there is any doubt as to the freshness of eggs, they may be tested in various ways. Quite fresh eggs will sink in a strong brine, and as they become stale they remain suspended at different depths in the brine, until an absolutely stale egg will float. Successful preservation depends in a great measure upon the condition of the egg at the time of preserving. Different methods of preserving all aim at the same thing, namely, at coating the porous sh.e.l.l with some substance which will prevent the air entering and setting up decomposition. See page 30.
When used as food, eggs should be cooked at a low temperature--about 160 F., or if in the sh.e.l.l at about 180 F. The time varies with the size of the egg, from two and a half minutes for poaching a medium-sized egg to four and a half minutes for boiling a large one.
If too much cooked, or at too high a temperature, the white becomes tough, hard, and to many people, indigestible.
When required for salads, garnishing, etc., the eggs must be boiled from ten to twenty minutes, and if the yolks are to be powdered for sprinkling, they must be cooked for a longer time, or the centers will be somewhat tough and elastic, and useless for the purpose.
In beating eggs, a little salt added to the whites helps to bring them to a froth more quickly. When frothed whites are to be mixed with a heavier or more solid substance, great care must be taken not to break down the froth. The object of beating being to mix in air, rough handling afterwards would render the beating useless; the mixing must therefore be done very carefully. They should be folded or wrapped up in the other substance, but the mixing also must be thorough, for any pieces of white separated from the rest will toughen and taste leathery, besides failing in the special purpose of giving lightness to the mixture. After mixing lightly and perfectly all such preparations should be cooked at once. The white "speck" always should be removed from a broken egg, as it is easily distinguished after cooking, and in anything of a liquid nature, such as custards, sauces, etc., it would be hard and unpleasant.
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Baked Omelet
1 tablespoonful melted Crisco 4 eggs 8 tablespoonfuls milk 1/2 teaspoonful cornstarch 2 tablespoonfuls water Salt and pepper to taste
Beat eggs well, add milk and beat again, add Crisco, seasonings, and cornstarch mixed with water. Turn into a Criscoed fireproof dish and bake in moderate oven fifteen minutes. Serve hot.
Creole Eggs
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco 2 tablespoonfuls flour 8 hard-cooked eggs 2 cupfuls tomato pulp Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste 1 small chopped onion 1 bay leaf 1 blade mace 2 cloves 2 tablespoonfuls chopped parsley Pinch of powdered thyme Slices of cooked ham Breadcrumbs
Fry onion, pepper, and parsley in Crisco till tender; add cloves, thyme, bay leaf, and mace, cook three minutes, then stir in flour, and tomato pulp. Let mixture boil stirring all the time then strain.
Quarter the hard-cooked eggs. Put layer of tomato sauce in Criscoed baking dish, then layer of ham, then eggs sprinkled with salt, pepper, and paprika, then sauce, ham, and eggs, last layer being sauce. Cover with breadcrumbs, dot with Crisco and bake ten minutes in moderate oven.
Curried Eggs
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 6 hard-cooked eggs 1 small chopped onion 1 chopped sour apple 2 teaspoonfuls curry powder 1 lemon 4 chopped b.u.t.ternuts, or 6 chopped almonds 3 tablespoonfuls cornstarch 2 cupfuls milk 1/2 teaspoonful salt Croutons
Boil eggs till hard, peel and place in cold water until required.
Fry onion in Crisco a few minutes, add curry powder, apple, nuts, and cornstarch moistened with milk. Simmer fifteen minutes. Stir from time to time. If too thick add a little white stock or water. Cut eggs in halves, and lay them in the sauce with the salt to get thoroughly hot through. Put eggs into deep hot dish, strain sauce over them, garnish with croutons and lemon slices.
Egg Croquettes
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 2 tablespoonfuls flour 3/4 cupful milk 6 hard-cooked eggs 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley 1/2 cupful chopped cooked tongue or ham Salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to taste 1 egg Breadcrumbs
Chop eggs and mix them with ham, parsley, and seasonings. Melt Crisco, stir in flour, then add the milk and boil three minutes stirring all the time. Now add egg mixture and if required add more seasoning. Cool mixture then divide it into nine portions and make each into a neat croquette; brush over with the egg beaten with a tablespoonful of water, roll in breadcrumbs and fry in hot Crisco. Drain and garnish with fried parsley. Crisco should be hot enough to brown breadcrumb in forty seconds.
Sufficient for nine croquettes.
Eggs with Cuc.u.mber
1 tablespoonful Crisco 3 eggs 1 large cuc.u.mber 1/2 cupful stock 1 tablespoonful tomato pulp Salt and pepper to taste 1 cupful tomato sauce
Peel cuc.u.mber, cut off ends and divide rest into two-inch pieces.
Remove center portion of each with a cutter or small spoon. Place them in a Criscoed pan with stock; cover with greased paper and cook in oven till just tender. Great care must be taken so as not to break the shapes. Break eggs into saucepan, add Crisco and tomato pulp; season nicely and stir over fire until creamy and just set. Place cuc.u.mbers on hot platter and fill cavities with eggs. Cover with thick tomato sauce, and serve hot.
Sufficient for five pieces.
Eggs with Tomatoes
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco 4 even-sized tomatoes 8 rounds b.u.t.tered toast 3 eggs 2 tablespoonfuls cream 1 tablespoonful chopped pimiento Salt and pepper to taste Parsley
Select ripe tomatoes but do not have them too large; remove stems and cut each in halves crossways; remove cores and pips, and fry lightly in two tablespoonfuls Crisco. Have rounds of b.u.t.tered toast a little larger than tomatoes. Beat eggs in small saucepan, add cream, pimientoes, rest of Crisco, seasonings, and stir over fire until creamy and just setting. Place each half tomato on round of toast, divide egg mixture into tomatoes, garnish with parsley and serve hot.
Savory Eggs
Crisco 6 eggs 4 tablespoonfuls chopped cooked chicken, ham or tongue Salt and pepper to taste 2 tablespoonfuls chopped parsley 6 rounds fried toast
Crisco six small molds. Mix ham, parsley, and seasonings together, throw a little into each mold, shake it well round sides; break into each mold one egg, taking care not to break yolk, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dot with Crisco. Steam four or five minutes, or until set. Turn out on rounds of fried toast and serve at once.
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CANDIES
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It is well to have a confectioner"s thermometer for candy making, so that the syrup may be removed from the fire at exactly the right degree. Such thermometers are made of wood, bra.s.s, or copper, and the degrees on them should mark not less than 350. A thermometer always should be gently lowered into the boiling sugar. When not in use, it should be kept hanging on a nail or hook. When required for candy making, place thermometer in pitcher of warm water, so that it may rise gradually, and return it to the warm water on removing it from the hot candy. This dissolves the clinging candy and protects the tube from breaking. The wooden thermometer can be used to stir with, and is very easy to keep clean.
If there is no thermometer handy it is better to make a list of the various stages in sugar boiling, and learn how to test the sugar.
First there is the "thread" (216 F. to 218 F.) This is reached when, on dipping the finger and thumb first into cold water and then into the syrup, you can draw them apart, and an unbroken thread is formed, which gradually can be drawn wider apart on further testing as the degree of boiling is completed.