The thorough good cook

Cut up a sheet of paper into pieces three inches square, turn up half an inch all round so as to form a kind of square case : there will then remain but two inches square in the inside. Take a small piece of butter, a pinch of fine breadcrumbs, a little finely- chopped parsley, spring onions, salt and pepper, and mix them together ; put a little into each case, then break one egg into each; put them on a gridiron, over a slow tire, and do them gently, or place them in a dish in an oven : when well set, serve. Small, round paper cases may be procured very cheap. 11. Eggs with Black Butter. Put one ounce of butter in a frying-pan on the fire or the gas stove ; let it heat well, but not become too brown ; break carefully into a dish six very fresh eggs ; slide carefully into the pan, with a pinch of salt and half a pinch of white pepper ; cook slowly for three minutes. Slide the eggs EGGS. 393 into a hot Hat dish ; deal with them gently, without turning them over or breaking them. Then put two more ounces of butter into the same pan ; place it on the fire or gasstove, and let the butter get a good rich, Vandyke brown colour for three minutes, dropping in two teaspoonfuls of tarragon vinegar. Remember that this black butter is an admirable sauce, not only for eggs but for all white fish, especially for skate. Do you call this a costly sauce ? ^^ 12. Gratin of Eggs with Cheese. Take some grated bread, Parmesan cheese, also grated, a small piece of butter, the yolks of two eggs, nutmeg and pepper ; mix these together, and spread them over the bottom of the dish; set it over a gentle fire to make a gratin, on which break ten eggs ; sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the surface, finish cooking it, and brown it with a salamander. 13. Eggs, Piedmont Fashion (a la Fiemontaise). Put a couple of anchovies and a little gravy into a saucepan, and wdien they are dissolved, add the yolks of eight and the whites of two eggs (well beaten) ; season them with salt, pepper, and nutmeg; beat them w^ell whilst they are doing. Serve them with fried bread, grate Parmesan cheese over, and brown it with a salamander. 14. Hen's Nest Eggs. Boil six or eight eggs quite hard ; when cold and firm, cut the whites from the yolks in long thin slips; set them aside to warm in a slow oven, taking care every now and then to liberally butter them. Pound up in a mortar any cold chicken or remains of mixed fish ; with this the yolks of the eggs, a little parsley, and pepper and salt to your taste. When you have reduced all to a fine smooth paste, mould it with your hands into egg-shaped balls. Heap these in the centre of a dish, arrange the shredded egg around them in imitation of a nest ; put back into the oven for a few minutes to warm, and just before serving pour over a hot rich broAvn sauce. 15. Ragout of Eggs and Mushrooms.