Eggs and Herbs- The Book of Herb Cookery

The first day of spring is a suitable day for some egg recipes. These all use herbs and are from The Book Of Herb Cookery by Irene Botsford Hoffman. This is a 1954 revised edition of the 1940 copyright.

Stuffed Eggs

6 hard-boiled eggs

Tarragon mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon mustard

1 teaspoon minced chives

1 tablespoon minced tarragon

Salt

Pepper

Shredded cabbage

Cut the eggs in half lenghtwise, take out yolks, mash with a little mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper, chives and tarragon.Fill the egg halves with this mixture and serve on a flat dish with shredded cabbage which has been thoroughly mixed with tarragon mayonnaise thinned with cream. Pour a little of the mayonnaise over each stuffed egg and garnish with sprigs of fresh tarragon.

Egg Timbales

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups thin cream

A little pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon onion juice

1 tablespoon each, of finely minced chives, parsley, or chervil and thyme or summer savory

Beat the eggs well with the salt and pepper; add onion juice, cream and the herbs. Pour into buttered timbale molds or cups, place in a pan of hot water and bake in moderate oven until firm. Turn out on hot platter and pour the following sauce over them.

Tomato Cream Sauce

1 cup white sauce:

2 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

pepper

2 cups canned tomatoes

1 onion, minced

3 sprigs basil

Herb bouquet (celery tops, bay leaf, sprig thyme)

Pinch soda

Cook the tomatoes, onion and herbs together for 5 minutes; rub through a strainer, add soda, and combine with the white sauce.

Eggs "In-A-Huddle"

1 zucchini squash

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon minced chives

1 teaspoon minced parsley

1 tablespoon minced marjoram

6 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Paprika

6 tablespoon milk

Pimentos

Cut the zucchini into thin slices crosswise. The rind may be left on or else lightly scraped. Melt the butter in the frying pan, add the zucchini and herbs. Saute 8 minutes or until tender but do not burn. Beat the eggs very light, add salt, pepper and milk. Beat 2 minutes more. Pour this over the zucchini and draw the mixture from the outside toward the center of the frying pan until the eggs are set. If too moist, they may cook a few seconds longer. Sprinkle with paprika and garnish with a little cup-up pimento if liked, or the pimento may be added to the eggs and all cooked together.

4 comments:

Julie said...

I love looking through old cookbooks, my grandmother gave me all of hers. Not only do they have great recipes but give you a bit of a history lesson as to the times.

Anonymous said...

Hi Rochelle,

Just dropped by to see what's cooking. The Eggs "In-A-Huddle" recipe sounds good to me. I'm a big fan of zucchini. Hmmm...I wonder if I could adapt it for a Sunday football game.

Kathy said...

The Stuffed Eggs sound good to me--although I'm sure someone else around this house would surely protest the Tarragon.

Lidian said...

What fabulous finds! I am so glad you did not hold to "no more cookbooks" - I used to say that to mysef too, very sternly. But there will always be more!

I didn't know (or recall) that Lileks wrote about the 10 pm Cookbook (I have 2 copies, one was my mother's and one I bought because, well, it was vintage and cheap and I HAD TO) - will go check now.

I love James Lileks' stuff so much, but I do tend to forget where he gets it from. I like his match book and motel postcard series, too.