Cookery for every household

For garnishes for sweet dishes, see under Puddings and Cakes. Various vegetable garnishes are also given in the section on vegetables. The egg is one of our most useful foods ; not only does it contain nourishment in a concentrated and easily-digested form, but it is esteemed and liked by most people. Eggs to be good must be perfectly fresh, in fact unless they are so they are not worth using. They are most easily digested when raw, simply cooked they can generally be taken without difficulty, but when hard-boiled they should be shunned by those who have a weak digestion. The egg is also valuable because it lends itself so readily to different modes of treatment, and the only thing to be deplored is that there is such a lack of variety in egg dishes as they appear on our tables. There is scarcely anything in the way of scraps that cannot be utilised in some little egg dish, the remains of fish, meat, game, poultry, and even vegetables and sauces can all be requisitioned, and will only help to make the dish more tasty and appetising. It is to be hoped that the following recipes will give one a fair idea of how the simple poached egg, boiled egg, scrambled egg, &c., can be varied, and that personal ingenuity will invent many other tempting and savoury dishes. A few fireproof china dishes and little egg cocottes will assist materially in presenting these egg dishes in a dainty form. EGG DISHES SIMPLE METHODS OF COOKING EGGS 1319. Boiled Eggs (CEufs a la Coque) Choose the freshest eggs possible. A fresh egg should feel heavy, and when held to a bright light should show no dark specks. Soft-boiled eggs should have the white part set and creamy, but not hard. There are several methods of boiling eggs. 1. Slip the eggs gently, one by one, and with a spoon, into a saucepan with enough boiling water to cover them. If only half the egg is immersed in the water, it will not cook equally. Keep the water slowly boiling all the time, and allow three minutes for an egg with a creamy white, or half to one minute more if to be set pretty firm. This depends upon individual taste. 2. Place the eggs in boiling water as above. Put the lid on the pan, and when the water reboils, place the pan by the side of the fire where the water will cease to boil, but at the same time keep its heat. Stand for ten minutes, and then lift out the eggs. The white will be found to have set without being tough, and the yolk will be creamy. 3. Place the eggs in cold water over the fire, and remove them as soon as the water boils. Notes. — Soft-boiled eggs can be reheated by standing them for three or four minutes in hot (not boiling) water, as when once cooked and lifted from the fire no amount of subsequent recooking will harden them. If an egg is cracked, rub it over with a cut lemon the moment before it is put in the water, or cover the crack with a piece of gummed paper. The paper will come off, but not before the white of egg is sufficiently coagulated to prevent its escaping into the water. 1320. Hard-Boiled Eggs (CEufs Durs)