413—The Dishing of Poached and Soft-boiled Eggs

There are many ways of doing this, viz.:—

(1) On rusks of bread-crumb, slightly hollowed, ornamented according to taste (i.e., indented by means of the point of a small knife) and fried in clarified butter. Their shape is oval for poached eggs, and round for soft-boiled eggs, the latter being generally dished upright.

(2) On little, oval feuilletés for poached eggs, on feuilletés in the shape of indented crowns, or in small patties for soft-boiled eggs.

(3) In borders of forcemeat or other preparations, the kind of which is indicated by the name of the particular egg-preparation. These borders are laid on the dish by means of a piping-bag or by hand; they are either oval or round, plain or indented, poached or oven-browned, according to the nature of the preparation used.

(4) On tartlet-crusts which are garnished so as to be in keeping with the method of dressing the eggs.

Remarks.—(1) Poached or soft-boiled eggs, when dished upon fried rusks, feuilletés, or tartlets, should, before being placed on the latter, be covered with sauce. Also before being treated with sauce they should be well drained.

(2) Having given the general outlines of the procedure, I shall now pass on to the particular recipes, stating them briefly, and reminding the reader that all of them apply equally to poached and soft-boiled eggs. Thus “Poached Eggs Mireille” stands for “Poached or Soft-boiled Eggs Mireille.”