The European cookbook for American homes (from Italy, Spain, Portugal and France)

Melt butter in heatproof dish. Add artichoke bottoms, minced, and heat. Break eggs on top and place over mild heat or in the oven to set. Season and pour in sufficient Bordelaise sauce to cover the whites and leave small circles of the white visible. , v SAUCE BORDELAISE (WHITE) 2 shallots, minced fine 1 cup strong beef bouillon 1 herb bouquet 3 tablespoons butter Ys teaspoon pepper Juice 1 lemon 1 cup Bordeaux wine (white) Salt Put shallots, bouquet, pepper and wine in small sauce pan, and reduce one half. Add bouillon and simmer 5 minutes. Take out bouquet. Add butter and stir until well melted. Add lemon juice, and salt to taste. Heat and beat with a fork until butter is well incorporated. Burgundy SHIRRED EGGS DIJON (CEufs en Cocotte a la Dijon) 3 cups mashed potatoes 4 eggs Y2 cup sliced onions % teaspoon pepper Y2 cup mushrooms J4 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons butter Mustard On platter prepare a border of mashed potatoes. In the meantime brown onions and mushrooms in butter. Put browned mushrooms and onions in cavity in center of platter, break eggs on top, season, dot with remaining butter and place in moderate oven (350° F.) until eggs are set. Ile-de-France EQQS B£RCY (CEufs Bercy) Fry small, piquant breakfast sausages with chopped parsley and onions. When lightly brown push sausages and vegetables to one side and fry eggs in the hot fat. In Paris, where eggs Bercy are as common as bacon and eggs in Chicago, the sausage used is chipolata, which contains sufficient onion flavor within its own skin, so only the parsley is fried with the sausage. This chipolata is quite a renowned sausage, born centuries ago in Italy and named after cipolla, a sort of glorified chives, pronounced cipolla and Frenchified to chipolata. Perdreaux a la chipolata is a game sausage, taking its name from partridge and it is used to further enrich game dishes. SAUCE BERCY 3 shallots, chopped i teaspoon minced parsley 1Y2 cups white wine Juice Yi lemon l/t cup butter, melted Salt and pepper Simmer shallots in wine. Add butter and mix thoroughly. Stir in parsley and lemon juice. Season to taste. This is Paris' very own sauce, taking its name from the local market of Bercy, lavishly stocked with food-stuffs. Almost every course has a dish celebrating the name: eggs Bercy, fish Bercy, entrecote Bercy, calf's liver Bercy; in fact, this shallot sauce is sluiced on many viands to make them distinctly Parisian. For Parisians set the French taste for onions, shallots, or delicate chives, against the more exciting garlic of Italy, Spain and Portugal. Provence OMELET ST. JEAN 2 cups cooked spinach i tablespoon onion juice 3 eggs !4 cup butter Salt and pepper Parsley Remove stems from spinach and chop to a mush. Beat egg whites stiff and egg yolks lightly. Beat spinach into yolks. Season and fold in the whites. Melt butter in frying pan and add mixture, cover and cook slowly. When nearly done uncover and finish in oven, or fold over and cook for another minute or so, until sure that center is done. Turn into a hot platter, garnish with sprigs of parsley. PLAIN SOUFFLE !/4 cup butter 8 eggs 1/a, cup flour 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups scalded milk l/2 teaspoon paprika