Eggs To Boil

The water must be boiling fast when the eggs are put in. First wipe them clean all over, with a wet cloth. It is true that the shells are never eaten, but still, if brought to table dirty and discolored, they look slovenly, disgusting, and vulgar, such as are never seen in good houses. Put them into water that is boiling fast; and if desired very soft, four minutes will be sufficient. Six or eight minutes will barely set the whites and yolks, and ten or twelve minutes (in water that is really boiling,) will render them hard enough for salad. In the egg-boilers that are set on the table no egg will ever boil hard, as the water cools too soon. A stale egg never boils hard.

Except in the spring, and late in the winter, there is often much difficulty in obtaining good eggs, unless you have fowls of your own. If an egg is really fresh, when held up against the light, the yolk looks round and compact and the white clear and transparent; you may then trust it. But if the yolk is thick, broken, and mixed among the white, and the white is cloudy and muddled, it is certainly bad, and should be thrown away. When tried in a pan of cold water the freshest will sink, and the stale ones float on the surface. It requires strong brine to bear up a good egg. Eggs may be preserved for keeping a few months, by putting every one in fast boiling water for one minute. Then grease them all over the outside with good melted fat, and wedge down close together (layer above layer,) in a box of powdered charcoal. This preserves them for a sea voyage of several weeks. The charcoal box must be kept closely covered, and closed immediately whenever opened. Pack the eggs with the small end downwards.

Poached Eggs

See that the eggs are quite fresh. Pour from a kettle of boiling water enough to fill a broad shallow stew-pan. Break the eggs into a saucer, (one at a time,) slip them carefully into the hot water, and let them stand in it till the whites are set. Then put the pan over a moderate fire; and, as soon as the water boils again, the eggs are ready. The whites should be firm, and the yolks should appear in the centre looking yellow through a thin transparent coating of the white. Take them out carefully (one by one,) with an egg-slice. Have ready, for each egg, a nice slice of toast of a light brown or yellow all over. Trim off all the crust, and dip the toast for a minute in hot water. Then butter it slightly with fresh butter. Trim off neatly the ragged and discolored white from the edge of each egg. Lay a poached egg in the middle of every toast, and serve them up warm.

Instead of toast, you may lay beneath every egg a thin slice of ham, that has been soaked, and nicely broiled and trimmed. Or, large thin slices from the breast of a cold roast turkey, or cold fillet of roast pork or veal. These are nice break fast dishes.

Scrambled Eggs. - Make a mixture as for an omelet, but instead of frying put it into a saucepan, and when it has boiled five minutes take it off, and chop and mix all the ingredients into confusion. Serve it up hot in a deep dish. It is eaten at breakfast, and is by many preferred to a fried omelet. You may season it with grated ham, tongue, or sweet herbs.