Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

Beat well with a spoon three eggs and one-third of a teaspoonful of salt. It must be thoroughly beaten, and yet it should not be frothy. Add one gill of consommé. Butter a cup, and pour the custard into it. Put the cup in a deep pan, and surround it with warm water. Place in a moderate oven, and cook until the custard is firm in the centre. It should cook so slowly that it will require half an hour for cooking. The water should not be allowed to boil. Let the custard cool in the cup ; then turn it out, and if any of the surface be rough, trim it off. Cut the custard into squares or cubes, and add these to three quarts of consommé, after the consommé is in the tureen. When this custard is added to a consommé, the soup is called "Consommé à la royale." Egg Balls. Put four eggs into a saucepan, cover them with boiling water, and boil gently for twenty minutes ; then put them into cold water for a moment, and afterward remove the shells. Take out the yolks, and pound them in a bowl to a smooth paste. Add a level teaspoonful of salt, about one-tenth of a teaspoonful of pepper, and a well-beaten raw egg. Shape the mixture into balls about the size of grapes, and roll these in flour. Put a tablespoonful of butter on the stove in a small frying-pan, and when it gets hot, put in the egg-balls. Fry them until they turn a delicate brown. They must be watched carefully, and turned frequently. They may be prepared and fried a number of hours before the soup is served. GARNISHES. 44o Frequently the yolks of hard-boiled eggs are put into soups. They are not nearly so nice as egg balls, and it is worth the while to take a little time and trouble for the latter. Chicken Force-meat Balls. Chop very fine half of the breast of a large tender chicken, and pound to a smooth paste ; then rub it through a coarse sieve. There should be a generous third of a cupful of the meat after it has passed through the sieve. Put a quarter of a cupful of cream into a small saucepan with one-eighth of a cupful of stale bread crumbs and a tiny bit of mace, and cook until the mixture will form a smooth paste when stirred. It will take about ten minutes. Remove the mace, and add a table-spoonful of butter, one-eighth of a teaspoonful of salt, a very little pepper, the meat, and the white of an egg, beaten to a stiff froth. Mix well, and set away to cool. When cold, form into balls about the size of Delaware grapes. Have ready a pan containing a quart of boiling water, slightly salted. Drop in the balls, and place the pan where the water will keep hot without boiling. Cook the balls in this way for five minutes. Turn them into a strainer, and as soon as they are well drained, add them to the soup. Profiteroles for Soup. Use one gill of boiling water, two scant gills of flour, half a gill of butter, and two eggs. Put the water and butter in a saucepan, and place on the fire. When the butter becomes melted and the liquid begins to boil rapidly, add the flour, all at one time, and beat well with a strong spoon for two minutes, being careful that the mixture does not burn. Turn it into a bowl, and set away to cool. When it is cold, add the eggs, one at a time, and beat the mixture for a quarter of an hour.