The complete cook book

A most delicious meal; While we've a predilection For pork, the nations say, But every land united Eats eggs on Easter Day. There's turkey for Thanksgiving, And goose at Christmas time, While pigeon pie for New Year's We all acknowledge prime ; Without its sweet spring chicken Our Fourth would fade away. And fish may suit Good Friday, But eggs for Easter Day. EGGS. Eggs must be kept in a cool, dark place and handled carefully. They are very nutritious and wholesome. Never use eggs that you have reason to believe are stale or old. In choosing eggs hold each one up to the light; if transparent, or the yolk is distinct, it is good; if it has a clouded appearance it is stale. EGGS IN A NEST. Boil six eggs twenty minutes. Remove the shells. Separate the yolks without breaking; or rub them to a smooth paste with a little olive oil to moisten, »nd The Complete Cook Book. 185 shape them into small balls. Cut the whites in thin narrow slices, and mix with them an equal quantity of fine shredded chicken, ham or salmon, and a tablespoonful of fine sprigs of parsley. Pile this mixture, which should be light and feathery, on a platter in a circular or oval ring, and put the yolks in the center. Set the platter in a steamer, to settle the mixture. Make a pint of thick white sauce ; pour portion of it round the edge of the dish to come halfway up the nest, and serve the remainder in a sauce boat. EGG VERMICELLI. Boil three eggs twenty minutes. Separate the yolks and chop the whites fine. Toast four slices of bread ; cut half into small squares and half into points or triangles. Make one cup of thin white sauce with one cup of cream or milk, one teaspoonf ul of butter, one heaping teaspoonful of flour, half a teaspoonful of salt, and half a saltspoonf ul of pepper. Stir the whites into the sauce, and when hot pour it over the squares of toast. Rub the yolks through a fine strainer over the whole, and garnish with a border of toast points, and a bit of parsley in the center. Or cut the bread into rounds before toasting. Pour the white sauce on the hot platter, and put the rounds of toast on the sauce some distance apart. Put a little of the chopped white on each slice, pile it high on the edge, rub the yolks through a fine strainer over the center, and lay small sprigs of fine parsley between the toast, SHIRRED EGGS. To shirr an egg, separate the white from the yolk, add a pinch of salt to the white and beat stiff, then pour it on a saucer, piling it high around the edges, then put the yolk in the center. Put into the oven ; bake four minutes until a delicate brown. Before serving, season with salt and pepper and a teaspoonful of cream on the yolk only. Prepare a dish for every person. It is a very dainty way to serve an egg, and very effective. 1 86 The Complete Cook Book. EGGS AU SOLEIL. Put two tablespoonf uls of lard in a frying pan on the hot stove, break in twelve fresh eggs, dropping them in carefully, one by one; let them cook for two minutes, then with a skimmer take each one up separately and lay it carefully on a dry cloth. Have some fritter batter ready, cut a piece of half -cooked bacon into small, square pieces of about an inch, and add them to the batter, then dip in the eggs, one after the other, taking up with each one a piece of the bacon, and with the fingers drop them into very hot grease, and cook to a good golden color for two minutes. Lift them up with the skimmer, lay them on a dry cloth to drain ; sprinkle over half a pinch of salt, dress on a hot dish with a folded nakpin and serve. OEUFS A LA CHEISTOHPE COLOMB.