At a formal breakfast, all precautions should be taken to insure the freshness of the eggs. A conscientious hostess would be very much mortified if she served chicken out of its proper course.
Use a skillet, or muffin-rings placed in a pan of water, not too deep. The water should barely cover the eggs. Bring the water to the boiling point, drop in the eggs carefully, one at a time, and remove from the fire immediately. Cover the pan and let stand until cooked. A teaspoonful of lemon-juice or vinegar in the water will keep the whites firm and preserve the shape of the eggs. Poached eggs are usually served on thin slices of buttered toast. Take up with a skimmer and let drain thoroughly before placing on the toast. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. As every other writer who has given directions for poaching eggs has said that "the beauty of a poached egg is for the yolk to be seen blushing through the veiled white," the author of this book will make no allusion to it.
Put two heaping tablespoonfuls of butter into a frying-pan. When it sizzles, break into it quickly six fresh eggs and mix thoroughly with a silver spoon for two minutes without stopping. Season with salt and pepper and a slight grating of nutmeg if desired. Scrambled eggs should be thick and creamy.
Beat the eggs thoroughly, add one teaspoonful of cold water or milk for each egg and beat again. Cook as above.
Have one cupful of cold cooked asparagus tips ready. In boiling asparagus its color will keep better if the smallest possible pinch of baking soda be added to the water. It should be cooked quickly in an uncovered saucepan. Prepare the eggs as for Scrambled Eggs--II, and when they begin to thicken, put in the asparagus tips and stir until the eggs are done. One half cupful of the asparagus tips to each three eggs is about the right proportion, but more may be added if desired. In making scrambles, allow one egg for each person and one extra for each three persons.
One cupful of minced dried beef, which has been soaked in boiling water for five minutes. Put it into melted butter, stir till the butter sizzles, then pour over six or seven-well-beaten eggs. Stir till the eggs are smooth and creamy. Serve at once. Any scramble may be served on toast if desired.