Ingredients
- one could place an egg in the copper on this principle
- one bad egg would spoil fifty
- two dozen neav-laid eggs just taken from the nest
Directions
done. A very little reflection will show that this entirely depends upon the size of the saucepan and the fierceness of the fire. If the saucepan were the size of the egg, the water would boil before the egg was hot through ; on the other hand, no one could place an egg in the copper on this principle and then light the copper fire.
Eggs are best boiled in the dining-room on the fire, or in an ornamental egg-boiler. By this means we get the eggs hot^ an occurrence almost unknown in large hotels and big estab- lishments.
Eggs, To Break. — Whenever you break eggs, never mind what quantity, always break each egg separately into a cup first ; see that it is good, and then throw it into a basin with the rest. One bad egg would spoil fifty. Supposing you have a dozen or two dozen neAv-laid eggs just taken from the nest, it is not an uncommon thing to have one that has been overlooked for weeks, and which may be a half-hatched mass of putrefaction.
Eggs, Fried. — The first point is to have a clean frying-pan, which is an article of kitchen furniture very rarely indeed met with in this country. For frying eggs, and for making omelets, it is essential that the frying-pan should never be used for other purposes.
If you think your frying-pan is perfectly clean, warm it in front of the fire for half a minute, put a clean white cloth over the top of the finger, and then rub the inside of the frying-pan.
To fry eggs properly, very little butter will be required ; a little olive-oil will answer the same purpose. If you have too much " fat," the white of the eggs are apt to develop into big bubbles or blisters. Another point is, you do not want too fierce a fire. Fry them very slowly. Some cooks will almost burn the bottom of the egg before the upper part is set. As soon as the white is set round the edge, you will often find the yolk not set at all, surrounded by a rim of semi-transparent " albumen." When this is the case, it is very often a good plan to take the frying-pan ofi* the fire (we are presuming the stove is a shut-up one), and place it in the oven for a minute or so, leaving the oven door open. By this means the heat of