Practical household cookery

in cream, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a little grated nutmeg, two ounces of grated cheese, season with salt and pepper, and pound the whole well together. Add one raw egg and the yolks of two others, mix these well together by pounding again, then take this compound with a dessertspoon, and fill up each white part of the eggs with it, and smooth each one over with the blade of a small knife dipped in water. Having thus filled the whites of the eggs, spread the remainder of the mixture on the bottom of a gratin dish, then proceed to build up the eggs in three or four tiers in a pyramidal form. Rub through a wire sieve the yolks of four hard-boiled eggs, by holding the sieve over the dish so that the shreds like vermicelli may fall direct on and around the eggs, or form afterwards a border round the base of the dibh with croutons fried in butter. Set the dish in the oven for about twenty minutes or till the eggs are of a bright yellow colour, then pour a little hot white sauce round, and serve. 252. EGGS A L'AURORE. Boil ten eggs hard, remove the shells, and cut each into halves lengthwise, take the yolks carefully out and place them on a dish, shred the whites in fine strips, put these into a stewpan with a sauce composed of half a pint of bechamel mixed with a little lobster butter, the yolks of two eggs, a tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar, and a small pinch of cayenne ; toss the strips in the stewpan over the fire until quite hot, then put a layer into the centre of a hot dish with a border of croutons fried in butter, previously stuck round the bottom of the dishb, sprinkle a handful of grated cheese over it, and rub the yolks of eggs put apart through a wire sieve, in the same ' I manner as in No. 251 ; make another lajer of the whites and sauce, then shake again a little grated cheese and shreds of yolk, and so on, till the lot is used up, finishing with the yolks of eggs in shreds. Set the dish in the oven till it has attained a bright yellow colour, and serve. 26a. PLAIN OMELET WITH PARSLEY. / i ' -. Break six eggs into a basin ; add one tablespoonf ul of ' I finely chopped parsley, with salt and pepper to taste; beat the contents well with a fork ; meantime melt in a V . » clean frying-pan (size, 7 inches) two ounces of butter, and as w j soon as the butter begins to fritter pour the egg-mixture into it, taking care to beat it whilst it is being poured in ; '\ then stir gently on the fire with the right hand, and give an occasional shake and toss to the pan with left ; when the omelet begins to get firm and is partially set, roll ^ ! over the extremity nearest to the handle with the fork, ! do the same thing on the opposite side, to give it an oval , > form, allowing it at the same time to acquire a golden '^ colour on the outside, or side touching the frying-pan. When properly cooked, take a hot oval dish with the left hand, turn the omelet over on to it from the pan, which is held by the right hand almost perpendicular against the dish, and serve. Although omelets are very simple and easily made, nothing but practice, combined with knowledge and attention, will teach the cook how to ensure success in their prepara- y tion. A proper omelet-pan should always be kept for the purpose. The eggs should never be overbeaten, as by so doing a watery mixture is produced, which will sometimes destroy the taste as well as the appearance. And lastly, never attempt to make an omelet with more than fourteen eggs ; if more are wanted, it is better to make two v \ small than one large, which is generally difficult to cook properly. 254. OMELET WITH HAM OR BACON.