Shirred Eggs, Colbert

A Delmonico's-style breakfast egg dish that assumes you already know two things the text never says: how hot the oven is, and what goes into a Colbert sauce. Both are worth settling before you butter the dishes.

• The three minutes is the problemThree minutes is unlikely to set the whites of two eggs in a cold china dish. Reckon on something closer to 8 to 12 minutes at 375F for whites that are just firm and yolks still soft; starting the buttered dishes on the stovetop until the whites begin to cloud, then finishing in the oven, gets you there faster and more evenly.
• Oven temperatureThe book gives none, and names no oven heat at all. A moderate oven, in the region of 350-375F, suits the dish; much above 400F and the whites tend to toughen and weep before the yolks warm through.
• Shirred-egg dishesSmall individual ovenproof dishes, shallow and round, roughly 4 to 5 inches across, called plats a oeufs in the professional kitchen. Individual gratin dishes, small cast-iron pans or shallow ramekins all work; deep ramekins do not, as the eggs then steam rather than shirr.
• SaltspoonsA saltspoon is a quarter teaspoon, so two saltspoons is a half teaspoon of white pepper spread across twelve eggs. Half a teaspoon of salt for twelve eggs is on the light side by modern taste, and the sauce brings its own salt.
• Colbert sauceNot one of the mother sauces. In Filippini's period it means maitre d'hotel butter enriched with meat glaze and tarragon, softened to a pouring consistency: butter creamed with lemon juice, chopped parsley and tarragon, then let down with a spoonful of strong reduced veal or beef stock. Make it before the eggs go in the oven, since it must not be cooked, only warmed enough to flow.
• YieldSix servings, two eggs each, as a breakfast or supper dish.
• Egg donenessThe yolks here are meant to stay liquid. That is fine for most cooks, but for anyone pregnant, elderly or immunocompromised, use pasteurized shell eggs or cook until the yolks are firm.