Part 31

SCRAMBLED EGGS. No. 1

Break two eggs into a plate, and sprinkle on a little pepper and a saltspoon of salt; beat them with a fork for one minute, add two tablespoons of milk or, better, thin sweet cream; beat again and pour the mixture into a buttered pan; stir it gently, letting it cook slowly for about two minutes, or until the albumen of the egg is coagulated. It should be soft and tender, not hardened. Serve it on toast, or in a small, square covered dish.

SCRAMBLED EGGS. No. 2

Beat two eggs, a saltspoon of salt, and a sprinkle of white pepper in a bowl with a Dover egg-beater until quite light; add two tablespoons of sweet cream or of milk, and turn the mixture into a double boiler to cook, stirring it constantly until the albumen is just coagulated. A delicate and easily digested dish is the result. It is a safer way to use the double boiler rather than an omelet-pan. If no double boiler is at hand, one may be improvised with a bowl or dish set into a kettle of hot water.

OMELETS

Omelets may be made in a great variety of ways, the kind depending not upon a difference in mixing the eggs, but upon the ingredients which are added. Spanish omelet is ordinary omelet with onion. Truffles, mushrooms, chopped oysters, rum, and tomato make other varieties. Flour should never be used in them, as it cannot be properly cooked in the short time that should be given to the eggs. If it should happen that an omelet is to be made, and there is no milk at hand, water may be substituted, but an omelet should never be made without one or the other.

CREAMY OMELET

Beat four eggs slightly with a fork until you can take up a spoonful; add two saltspoons of salt, half a saltspoon of pepper, four tablespoons of milk or cream, and mix well. Butter an omelet-pan, and before the butter browns turn in the mixture. Then with the point of a fork pick or lift up the cooked egg from the center, and let the uncooked egg run under. This leaves the butter on the pan, and is better than stirring. Continue the lifting until the whole is of a soft creamy consistency, then place it over a hotter part of the fire and brown slightly, fold and turn out as usual. (Adapted from Mrs. D. A. Lincoln's "Boston Cook Book.")

For an invalid's use take half the quantities mentioned above--that is, use two eggs, two tablespoons of milk or cream, a saltspoon of salt, and a bit of pepper; and instead of having the omelet-pan hot, have it just warm enough to melt the butter; otherwise the first layer of egg which is cooked may be overdone and hardened.

FOAMY OMELET

Separate the yolks from the whites of two eggs, and put them into bowls. To the yolks add a saltspoon of salt and one fourth of a saltspoon of pepper. Beat with a Dover egg-beater until light. Then add two tablespoons of milk. Beat the whites until stiff, but not as stiff as possible, and fold, not beat them into the yolks, so that the whole shall be very light and puffy. Pour the mixture into a buttered omelet-pan, and cook slowly until the under side begins to change color and become brown, or for about two minutes. Then put the pan on the grate in the oven for about one minute, to cook the upper surface. One must endeavor to avoid both over and under cooking. If the omelet is not done enough, the raw egg will ooze out after it is folded; on the other hand, if it is cooked too much, it will be dry and tough. When it seems to be coagulated on the upper surface, run a case-knife under it to separate it from the pan, and fold one half over the other. Take the platter which is to receive it in the right hand, lay it against the edge of the pan, and tip the omelet out. Serve immediately.

An omelet is a dainty and delicate way of serving eggs, and may be well made by any one who will bear in mind that the cooking temperature of albumen is 160° Fahr., and that if exposed to a very much higher degree of heat for many minutes, it will be spoiled,--rendered both unpalatable and indigestible.

OMELET WITH HAM. No. 1

Broil a thin, small slice of ham until thoroughly well done. Lay it between the folds of an omelet. Either creamy or foamy omelets may be used.

OMELET WITH HAM. No. 2

Mince a piece of cooked ham until it is fine. Stir it into an omelet in the proportion of one teaspoon to an egg, or it may be sprinkled over the surface just before folding. When seasoned with a little mustard, it makes a very piquant addition. Either creamy or foamy omelets may be used.

OMELET WITH JELLY

Spread a tablespoon of grape or currant jelly over the middle of the upper surface of a two-egg omelet just before folding it.

OMELET WITH CHICKEN

Chop fine the cooked white meat of a piece of chicken. Season it with salt and pepper, and sprinkle it over an omelet, or stir it into the egg before cooking, in the proportion of one teaspoon to an egg, as is done with ham.

OMELET WITH TOMATO

Prepare thin slices of very ripe tomatoes, by removing the skin and seasoning slightly with salt. Lay them on that part of the omelet which is to be the lower half, and fold; or the tomato may be tucked into the omelet after folding.

OMELET WITH PARSLEY

Wash some parsley. Break off the stems and roll the rest into a little ball; then, holding it firmly in the left hand, cut slices from it, or chop it on a board. Stir it into the omelet mixture before it is cooked, in the proportion of one teaspoon for each egg.

SPANISH OMELET

To an omelet mixture add two drops of onion-juice for each egg, or half a teaspoon of very finely minced onion.

ORANGE OMELET

"The thinly grated rind of one orange and three tablespoons of the juice, three eggs, and three teaspoons of powdered sugar. Beat the yolks, add the sugar, rind, and juice, fold in the beaten whites, and cook. Fold, turn out, sprinkle thickly with powdered sugar, and score in diagonal lines with a clean red-hot poker. The burnt sugar gives to the omelet a delicious flavor.