“What, all my pretty chickens”

CURRIED EGGS

• 6 hard cooked eggs
• 1 cupful plain boiled rice
• 1 onion
• 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) butter
• 1 heaping teaspoonful flour
• 2 teaspoonfuls curry powder
• 1 teaspoonful salt
• 1 teaspoonful lemon juice
• ½ pint (1 cup) stock or water

Chop the onion and fry it for a few minutes in the butter, add the flour, curry powder, salt, lemon juice, and water; allow to cook slowly for fifteen minutes in a casserole.

Add four of the eggs cut in quarters, and garnish with the other two eggs.

Serve in the casserole.

EGGS IN COCOTTES

• 4 eggs
• ½ teaspoonful onion juice
• ½ teaspoonful salt
• 1 saltspoonful white pepper
• ½ pint (1 cup) milk
• Some bread sauce

Break the eggs into a bowl, add the onion juice, salt, and pepper. Beat only until thoroughly blended, then add gradually the milk. Divide equally into six well-buttered cocottes or soufflÉ cases. Stand them in a pan half filled with hot water and bake in a moderate oven for twenty minutes, or until firm to the touch.

Serve with bread sauce.

EGG PUDDING

• 5 eggs
• 2 ozs. (¼ cup) sugar
• 2 ozs. (½ cup) flour
• 2 ozs. (¼ cup) butter
• 1 pint (2 cups) boiling milk
• 3 tablespoonfuls cold milk
• ½ teaspoonful vanilla extract
• Cream sauce

Mix the sugar and the flour with the cold milk, stir them into the boiling milk, and cook until thick and very smooth; remove from the fire and add the butter. Beat in the yolks of the eggs, the extract, and mix in gently the whites of the eggs stiffly beaten. Turn into a buttered fireproof dish and bake for about thirty-five minutes. Serve hot with cream sauce.

To make the sauce: Beat half a cupful of butter with one cupful of powdered sugar, then add two tablespoonfuls of cream and half a teaspoonful of vanilla extract.

EGG TARTLETS

• 5 eggs
• 6 tablespoonfuls chopped cooked ham
• 2 heaping tablespoonfuls white bread crumbs
• ½ gill (4 tablespoonfuls) milk
• 1 tablespoonful butter
• 3 tablespoonfuls browned bread crumbs
• Salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg

Chop the ham finely, put it into a basin, add the white bread crumbs, the milk, and seasoning of salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Butter some ramequins, sprinkle them with the browned bread crumbs, and line them neatly with the ham paste. Break an egg into each, put one or two small pieces of butter on the top, sprinkle over with a little pepper, and bake for twelve minutes.

Serve hot.

EGGS IN TOMATOES

• 4 eggs
• 4 firm tomatoes
• 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) butter
• 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley
• Salt, pepper, and dust of paprika

Wipe each tomato and cut a round piece from the stalk end. Remove enough pulp to leave room for one egg dropped carefully into each, first dusting the inside of the tomatoes with salt, pepper, and paprika.

Put a small piece of butter on the top of each egg; place the tomatoes in small well-buttered fireproof dishes and bake until the whites of eggs are lightly set.

Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and parsley.

Serve hot.

EGGS WITH SPINACH

• 4 or 5 eggs
• 3 heaping tablespoonfuls (3 ozs.) butter
• ½ peck spinach (2 lbs.)
• Salt and pepper

Wash the spinach carefully to remove all dirt and grit, then put it into a saucepan, put on the cover, and cook for ten minutes. Add the butter, salt, and pepper to taste; allow it to cook slowly for one hour in its own juices.

Divide it into buttered ramequins, making it into neat little nests. Drop an egg into each of these nests, and bake for eight minutes in a moderately heated oven.

The whites of the eggs should harden, but the yolks should be soft.

Serve very hot.

EGG SOUP

• 4 egg yolks
• ¼ lb. (½ cup) butter
• 1 onion
• 1 tablespoonful flour
• 1½ pints (3 cups) water
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
• Toast points

Chop the onion and fry it for a few minutes in the butter, stir in the flour, cook a minute, then add the water, bring to boiling point, and season with parsley, salt, and pepper.

Beat up the yolks of the eggs, add them off the fire, stirring till all is mixed.

Have the toast points in petites marmites, pour in the soup, and serve as quickly as possible.

• 3 hard cooked eggs
• ¼ lb. mushrooms
• 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) butter
• 1 pint (1 cup) stock
• 1 teaspoonful flour
• Salt and pepper
• Little chopped parsley

Peel the mushrooms and fry them for a minute in the hot butter in a fireproof dish, add the flour, stock, salt, and pepper. Boil for three minutes, add two of the eggs cut lengthways.

Garnish with the other egg and the parsley.

EGGS IN RAMEQUINS

• 5 hard cooked eggs
• ¼ lb. mushrooms
• 3 tablespoonfuls butter
• 1 pint (2 cups) white sauce
• ½ cupful cooked chopped ham
• A few bread crumbs
• ? cupful melted butter
• Salt and pepper to season

Peel the mushrooms and cut them into small pieces; cook them in the three tablespoonfuls of butter till the butter is absorbed, then add the white sauce and allow to simmer for a quarter of an hour. Add the ham and the cooked eggs, cut in slices; season nicely, and turn into well-buttered ramequins, cover with some bread crumbs mixed with the melted butter, and heat thoroughly in the oven.

Serve hot.

• 6 eggs
• ½ pint (1 cup) cream
• Salt and pepper
• ¼ lb. thinly cut bacon
• 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) butter

Spread the butter on the bottom of a shallow fireproof dish, pour in the cream, sprinkle in a little salt and pepper, break the eggs carefully into the dish; partly cook the bacon in front of the fire, then place it on the top of the eggs.

Bake for ten minutes and serve hot.

This dish may be prepared in small casseroles, allowing one egg to each dish.

EGGS WITH MACARONI

• 4 hard cooked eggs
• ¼ lb. spaghetti
• 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) butter
• 2 heaping tablespoonfuls (1 oz.) grated cheese
• ½ pint (1 cup) white sauce
• 1 tablespoonful finely chopped parsley
• Salt and pepper

Break the spaghetti into a saucepan of fast boiling water, add one teaspoonful of butter, and cook it until tender, then drain. Thickly butter a fireproof dish, put in a layer of spaghetti, then a layer of sliced hard cooked eggs; dust these with a little salt and pepper.

Next put in more spaghetti, then more slices of egg, and so on until the dish is full, ending with the spaghetti. Pour the white sauce over this and sprinkle the cheese on it. Put the rest of the butter in little lumps on the top.

Bake in a quick oven for ten minutes. Decorate with the chopped parsley and sliced eggs.

EGG AND POTATO PIE

• 5 hard cooked eggs
• ½ pint (1 cup) white sauce
• 10 boiled potatoes
• 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) butter
• 3 tablespoonfuls hot cream
• Seasoning salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg
• Chopped parsley

Shell the eggs and cut them into slices not too thin. Mash the potatoes and mix them with the butter and the cream. Season with salt, pepper, and a very little nutmeg.

Line the bottom of an earthenware dish with this and place in it a layer of the sliced eggs, scatter some chopped parsley over them, and cover with the white sauce. Continue alternate layers of potato, egg, sauce, and parsley until the quantities are used.

Cover the top with the mashed potatoes; smooth carefully over and mark with a fork; brush with beaten egg; bake for half an hour in a moderately hot oven.

• 6 hard cooked eggs
• 2 tablespoonfuls grated cheese
• 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) flour
• 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) butter
• ½ pint (¼ cup) milk
• 3 tablespoonfuls cream
• Salt, red pepper, and white pepper to taste
• 2 raw egg yolks
• Toast points

Divide the eggs into halves lengthways and place them in a buttered gratin dish. Melt the butter, stir in the flour, add the milk, stir till boiling, then add one tablespoonful of the cheese and the seasonings. Cook for five minutes, remove from the fire, add the yolks of eggs, mix well, and pour over the hard cooked eggs. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese and brown in the oven.

Garnish with the toast points and serve hot.

EGGS AND BACON

• ¼ lb. bacon
• ¼ lb. mushrooms
• 4 poached eggs
• 1 tablespoonful finely chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoonfuls bread crumbs
• 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) butter
• Salt and pepper

Fry the bacon, then chop it and put it into a gratin dish. Peel the mushrooms and fry them lightly in butter, chop them, and lay them on the top of the bacon, sprinkle in a little salt and pepper. Poach and drain the eggs, and lay them on the top of the mushrooms. Put the parsley, butter, and bread crumbs on the top and bake for six minutes.

Serve hot.

GOLDEN EGGS

• 4 hard cooked eggs
• 1 tablespoonful vinegar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) butter
• 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) flour
• ½ pint (1 cup) milk
• Salt and pepper
• Some croÛtons

Put the vinegar into a casserole and boil it till it almost evaporates, then add the butter and the flour, mix well, add the milk, stir till it boils, and cook for five minutes, stirring all the time; then add the raw yolk of egg, salt and pepper to taste, stir for a few minutes longer. Cut the whites of hard boiled eggs in strips, add them to the mixture. Turn out on to a shallow earthenware dish, rub the yolks through a sieve on the top. Put the croÛtons round the edge.

SCOTCH WOODCOCK

• 3 hard cooked eggs
• 3 tablespoonfuls grated cheese
• 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) flour
• 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) butter
• 1 gill (½ cup) milk
• 1 gill (½ cup) stock
• ½ teaspoonful anchovy extract
• Salt, pepper, and red pepper
• 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley
• 2 rounds buttered toast

Place one round of toast in a buttered fireproof dish. Chop the whites of the eggs and mix them with one tablespoonful of the cheese and seasoning of salt, pepper, and red pepper; place the other round of toast on the top, put in the oven to keep hot.

Blend the butter and flour in a saucepan over the fire; stir in the milk, stock, anchovy, the remainder of the cheese, and seasoning. Cook for a few minutes and pour over the toast.

Divide the toast into squares, garnish with the chopped parsley and the yolks of eggs rubbed through a sieve.

Serve hot.

SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH MUSHROOMS

• 4 eggs
• 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) butter
• 8 small mushrooms
• 1 tablespoonful cream
• 1 slice buttered toast
• Salt, pepper, and red pepper

Wash and peel the mushrooms, chop them finely, and fry them in a little melted butter. Beat up the eggs, and pour them into a saucepan; add the cream, mushrooms, butter, and seasonings. Stir over a quick fire until the eggs are lightly set.

Have the toast neatly trimmed ready on a hot fireproof dish, put the egg mixture on the top of it, and serve immediately.

• 6 eggs
• 18 large picked shrimps
• 3 heaping tablespoonfuls finely chopped cooked tongue
• 1 tablespoonful cream
• 2 tablespoonfuls sherry wine
• 1 pint (2 cups) good thick gravy
• A few drops red coloring
• Some parsley
• Salt and pepper

Butter some small casseroles and break into each an egg; put into the oven and let cook, but they must not harden. Put the gravy into a saucepan, add the sherry wine, the tongue, and the shrimps, simmer for ten minutes, but do not allow it to boil.

Season nicely, add the cream and red coloring; pour over the eggs, place a sprig of parsley in the center of each, and serve at once.

SOUFFLÉ OMELET

• 6 eggs
• 3 heaping tablespoonfuls (3 ozs.) sugar
• 1 tablespoonful cornstarch
• ½ teaspoonful rose extract
• Some raspberry preserves

Beat the yolks of the eggs and the sugar thoroughly together; then add the cornstarch and the rose extract. Add a pinch of salt to the whites of eggs and beat them up stiffly. Mix them carefully with the yolks and sugar. Turn half of the mixture into a buttered fireproof dish, spread over with raspberry preserves, then put the remainder of the mixture on the top, smooth over with a knife, dredge with sugar, and make a few incisions with the point of a knife, so as to form a pretty design.

Bake in a moderately hot oven for twenty-five minutes.

Place the dish on a folded napkin and send to table at once.

SWISS EGGS

• 6 eggs
• 3 tablespoonfuls butter
• 1 gill (½ cup) cream
• Salt and pepper
• Swiss cheese

Melt the butter in a fireproof baking dish, break into it the eggs, cover them with very thin slices of Swiss cheese, and sprinkle over a little salt and pepper.

Bake in a moderate oven till the eggs are set and the cheese melted.

VENETIAN EGGS

• 3 eggs
• ½ pint (1 cup) strained tomato juice
• Salt and pepper
• 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) butter
• ½ pint (1 cup) grated cheese

Melt the butter in a casserole, add the grated cheese, and stir until melted. Pour in the tomato juice, and when this begins to thicken, add the eggs, which have been lightly beaten.

Season with salt and pepper and serve on hot toasted crackers.