Garnish shirred eggs with small chicken croquettes. Garnish the eggs with a ring of béchamel sauce (see page 69).
Oeufs sur le Plat Estragon (Skirred Eggs Tarragon)
Garnish the yolks of shirred eggs with tarragon leaves which have been parboiled for 1 or 2 minutes and surround the eggs with a ribbon of tarragon-flavored chicken or veal gravy.
Oeufs sur le Plat Florentine (Shirred Eggs Florentine)
Place a layer of cooked, drained and buttered spinach leaves in a buttered ramekin, and sprinkle (he spinach with grated Parmesan cheese. Break 2 eggs over the spinach and bake them in a moderate oven (350° F.) for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the whites are set. Garnish with sautéed mushrooms or with morels, if available, and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Oeufs sur le Plat Nantua (Shirred Eggs Nantua)
Garnish 2 shirred eggs with 3 shrimp, diced and sautéed in butter. Finish with a ring of Nantua sauce and a slice of truffle for each yolk.
Sauce Nantua
Add ½ cup heavy cream to 1 cup béchamel sauce (see page 69) and rub through a fine sieve. Heat the sauce to the boiling point and stir in 1 tablespoon finely ground shrimp worked to a smooth paste with 1 tablespoon butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Oeufs sur le Plat Victoria (Shirred Eggs Victoria)
Garnish shirred eggs with lobster meat and truffles, cut in dice, and surround with a ring of Newberg sauce.
Newberg Sauce
Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan, blend with 1 tablespoon flour, and gradually add 1 cup hot cream, stirring constantly until the sauce is thick and smooth. Do not boil. Season with salt and cayenne to taste and pour it slowly over 2 well-beaten egg yolks, stirring constantly. Place the sauce over boiling water and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Flavor with 2 tablespoons dry sherry.
OMELETTES
There are three rules for preparing omelettes.
One, the omelette pan should be used exclusively for the making of omelettes. It should never be washed but should be cleaned after use with coarse salt and with paper towels. If other foods arc cooked in the omelette pan or if it is rinsed with water, the next omelette will stick to the pan.
Two, never make an omelette with more than five or six eggs. An omelette made with four eggs is easier to handle.
Three, never beat eggs for an omelette. Stir them only until the whites and yolks are combined. Too much bearing and stirring will result in an omelette that is heavy and watery.
Omelette Nature(Plain Omelette)
Mix 3 or 4 eggs lightly with a fork and add ½ teaspoon salt. Do not overbear. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in an omelette pan and cook until it is light brown. Pour in the eggs and stir them briskly with a fork. Quickly, with the fork, pull the edges of the egg mass toward the center as it thickens. The liquid part will immediately fill the vacant spaces. Repeat this until all the liquid is used up but the eggs are still very soft. Gently press the handle of the pan downward and let the omelette slide toward it. When a third of the flat omelette has slid up the edge of the pan, fold this toward the center with the help of a spatula. Then raise the handle of the pan to slide the omelette in the opposite direction, and when that third is all the way up the edge farthest away from the handle, hold a heated oval dish under it. As the rim of the omelette touches the dish, raise the handle more and more until the pan is turned upside down. The result will be an oval-shaped, lightly browned omelette.
Omelette Florentine
Fill a cooked omelette with 3 tablespoons freshly cooked, well-drained spinach and fold it. Or fill the center of the omelette with 3 tablespoons creamed spinach purée.
Omelette aux Champignons(Mushroom Omelette)
Mix ½ cup chopped, sautéed mushrooms with the eggs before cooking the omelette.
Omelette à la Reine
Fill an omelette with 3 tablespoons creamed chicken and fold it. Surround the omelette with a ribbon of béchamel sauce (see page 69) and garnish it with parsley or water cress.
Omelette aux Tomates (Tomato Omelette)
Peel 3 ripe tomatoes, squeeze out the seeds, and chop the pulp rather coarsely. Cook the pulp in 3 tablespoons oil with 2 slices onion, finely chopped. Add salt and pepper to taste and 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley and use to fill a 4-egg omelette.
Omelette Paysanne(Omelette Peasant Style)
This is a flat omelette. Parboil 1/3 cup diced salt pork, bacon or ham, for a few minutes and drain. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in an omelette pan, add the meat and sauté it until it is brown. Remove the meat and reserve it. sauté ¾ cup potatoes, finely diced, in the same pan until they are cooked and golden brown. Return the meat to the pan. Add 6 lightly beaten eggs combined with 1 cup cooked sorrel, drained, 1 teaspoon each finely chopped parsley and chervil, and ½ teaspoon salt.
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