Hand-Book of Practical Cookery, for Ladies and Professional Cooks: Containing the Whole Science and Art of Preparing Human Food

a napkin. _In Matelote._--Put a bottle of claret wine in a stewpan and set it on a good fire; add to it two sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, a clove of garlic, a middling-sized onion, a clove, a bay-leaf, salt, and pepper; boil fifteen minutes; then take all the seasonings out and have your wine boiling gently; break one egg in by letting it fall gently in order to have it entire, and then take it out immediately with a skimmer, and place it on a dish; do the same with eight eggs; keep them in a warm (but not hot) place. After which put in the wine, without taking it from the fire, four ounces of butter kneaded with a tablespoonful of flour; boil till reduced to a proper thickness, pour it on the eggs, and serve. _With Onions._--Cut in dice three middling-sized onions and put them in a saucepan with four ounces of butter; set it on a moderate fire and stir now and then till the onions are turning yellow, then sprinkle on them a teaspoonful of flour, salt, and pepper; add a pint of warm water and boil gently till rather thick, but not too much so. Put into the saucepan half a dozen hard-boiled eggs cut in four pieces each, lengthwise, boil gently two or three minutes longer, and serve warm. _With Green Peas._--Proceed as for eggs with asparagus, except that you boil a gill of peas instead of asparagus; prepare and serve in the same way. _With Cauliflowers._--Blanch the cauliflowers and proceed as for the above. Eggs are prepared as above, with celery, lettuce, etc. _A la Tripe._--Proceed exactly the same as for eggs with onions, except that you use milk or broth instead of water. _A la Neige, or Floating Island._--Beat four (or more) whites of eggs to a stiff froth. Put in a tin saucepan one pint of milk and one ounce of sugar, set on the fire, and as soon as it rises put lumps of the whites into it with a skimmer, turn the lumps over after having been