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Egg Balls
2 hard-boiled eggs; 1 raw egg; 1 tablespoonful flour or fine cracker crumbs; 2 teaspoonfuls melted butter; 1/2 teaspoonful salt; a dash of cayenne; a little grated nutmeg; a few drops of lemon juice.
Rub the boiled egg yolks very smooth, mince one of the whites very fine. Mix together, add the seasoning and flour or crumbs. Stir all together with enough of the slightly beaten raw egg to bind and form into balls the size of a nutmeg, rolling into the egg and crumbs after shaping. Drop the balls into the boiling soup and cook until firm; about five minutes. Or they may be fried to a golden brown in deep boiling fat. Serve in the tureen with the soup.
A garnish rather than a dish: small forcemeat balls of egg yolk, poached in the soup or fried, meant to float in a clear or cream soup at the table. The recipe is short and the quantities are workable as written.
- Size reference"The size of a nutmeg" means roughly 3/4 inch across, about a scant teaspoon of mixture each. The recipe gives no yield.
- The binding stepAdd the beaten raw egg a few drops at a time. The mixture should just hold when pressed; any wetter and the balls slump in the soup instead of setting.
- Second whiteOnly one of the two boiled whites is minced into the mixture. The other is left over; chop it fine as a further garnish or discard it.
- Rolling after shapingThe direction to roll "into the egg and crumbs" means a light second coat of raw egg then crumbs. Keep it thin, or fried balls turn into breadcrumb shells.
- PoachingThe recipe says boiling soup and about five minutes; a bare simmer with the balls left undisturbed is gentler, as agitation can break them apart.
- Deep-fat optionThe recipe specifies only "deep boiling fat" and gives no temperature; modern deep-frying practice would put this in the region of 365F.
- Cracker crumbsPlain crackers of the period were generally less salty than a modern saltine; if you substitute salted crumbs, reduce the added salt.
- ServingAdd them shortly before serving; held long in hot soup they soften.