16. Poached Eggs

The Modern Housewife · Soyer, Alexis · 1849

Source: The Modern Housewife
Time: Cook: 3 min Total: 3 min
Status: success · extracted 12 days ago
Not a recipe: No

Ingredients (11)

For poaching the eggs

a pint of water ↝ Water, tap [Tap water]
four teaspoonfuls of vinegar ↝ Vinegar [Mustard and other condiments]
half a teaspoonful of salt ↝ Salt, table, iodized [Spices and Herbs]
your eggs ↝ Eggs, Grade A, Large, egg whole [Dairy and Egg Products]

For serving

a thin piece of toast, as described (No. 1)

Optional additions for serving

plain butter ↝ Butter, stick, unsalted [Dairy and Egg Products]
maître d’hôtel butter ↝ Butter, Clarified butter (ghee) [Dairy and Egg Products]
two small pats of butter ↝ Butter, stick, unsalted [Dairy and Egg Products]
melted butter sauce ↝ Lemon-butter sauce [Dips, gravies, other sauces]
the same with the addition of a little maître d’hôtel butter ↝ Lemon-butter sauce [Dips, gravies, other sauces]
a little anchovy butter ↝ Fish, anchovy [Fish]

Instructions (9)

Put a pint of water in a stewpan, with four teaspoonfuls of vinegar and half a teaspoonful of salt.
Place it over the fire, and when boiling, break your eggs into it as near the surface of the water as possible.
Let them boil gently about three minutes.
Have rather a thin piece of toast, as described (No. 1), upon a dish.
Take the eggs out carefully with a small slice.
Lay the slice with the eggs upon a cloth for a second to drain the water from them.
Set them carefully upon the toast, and serve very hot.
If the eggs are fresh they will look most inviting, but the way of breaking and boiling them must be most carefully attended to, and care should be taken not to boil too many together; if the yolks separate from the white it may be presumed that the egg is not fresh, but it may be eatable, for the same thing may happen through awkwardness in poaching.
Again, the toast upon which they are served may be buttered either with plain or maître d’hôtel butter, or two small pats of butter may be melted, without boiling it, and poured over, or a little melted butter sauce, or the same with the addition of a little maître d’hôtel butter poured over when just upon the point of boiling, or a little anchovy butter instead of the other; thus you may be able to indulge in nice little luxuries at a trifling expense.

Original Text

16. Poached Eggs.—Put a pint of water in a stewpan, with four teaspoonfuls of vinegar and half a teaspoonful of salt, place it over the fire, and when boiling, break your eggs into it as near the surface of the water as possible, let them boil gently about three minutes; have rather a thin piece of toast, as described (No. 1), upon a dish, take the eggs out carefully with a small slice, lay the slice with the eggs upon a cloth for a second to drain the water from them, set them carefully upon the toast, and serve very hot. If the eggs are fresh they will look most inviting, but the way of breaking and boiling them must be most carefully attended to, and care should be taken not to boil too many together; if the yolks separate from the white it may be presumed that the egg is not fresh, but it may be eatable, for the same thing may happen through awkwardness in poaching.

Again, the toast upon which they are served may be buttered either with plain or maître d’hôtel butter, or two small pats of butter may be melted, without boiling it, and poured over, or a little melted butter sauce, or the same with the addition of a little maître d’hôtel butter poured over when just upon the point of boiling, or a little anchovy butter instead of the other; thus you may be able to indulge in nice little luxuries at a trifling expense.

Notes

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