No Dutch household outside of the cities was ever without chickens, and eggs were very extensively used.
The dish which apparently by consumer census is the most popular America dish with men (ham and eggs) is, of course, also very popular with the Dutch. Their ham is home-cured and immensely flavorful. It is usually cut too thick, to my point of view, but it certainly makes eggs thoroughly palatable!
The Dutch even pickled eggs; an art which one does not come upon often. And they have made an art of egg custards.
As for omelets (Eierkuchen), they have some interesting ones, a ham and bacon one (Schnitzet Eierkuchen) being rather special. A few Dutch also make a special favorite of mine (known also in New England), a Clam Omelette. There are also one or two other oddities.
Dutch Cheese Toast
Mix 4 tablespoonfuls of milk, 1/4 teaspoon salt with 2 well beaten eggs. Dip four slices of bread into the mixture and fry a light brown on one side. Have ready 4 thin slices of cream cheese, slip one on each piece of bread as it is turned, cover, and by the time the under side of the bread is browned the cheese will be melted. Garnish with parsley and serve on hot plates.
Dutch Lemon Toast
Beat well the yolks of 6 eggs, and add 3 cups of sweet milk. Cut baker's bread, not too stale, into slices, dip them into the milk and lay slices in a pan with sufficient melted butter and lard to fry a nice brown. Beat the whites of 6 eggs to a froth, adding one cup of white sugar, the juice of 2 lemons and 2 cups of boiling water. Serve over the toast.
Dutch Coffee Custard
1/2 lb. roasted coffee
6 eggs
1 quart milk
6 oz. powdered sugar
Bring the milk to a boil, pour in the coffee freshly ground, cover tight and let stand for 30 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve.
Beat together the yolks of six and the whites of three eggs, and the powdered sugar, mix with the milk, strain once more, and pour into custard molds. Stand these in a pan of boiling water and place in a mild oven. Do not permit water to boil. When cooked stand away to cool off. Serve cold.
Dutch Apple Custard Pie
Take I pt. apple sauce, sweeten to taste, mix with it 2 eggs well beaten. Flavor with cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake in pastry.
Pumpkin Custard
1/2 pint pumpkin
2 eggs
1 tablespoonful flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoonful ginger
1/4 teaspoonful of nutmeg
1 lump of melted butter
Mix all with pint of milk and sprinkle cinnamon on top.
Pecan Custard
Grind 1/4 lb. of pecan meats very fine, warm 11/2 pts. of milk with1/2I cup of the pecan meats and 3 level tablespoonfuls of sugar. Remove from the fire and flavor with 1/2 teaspoonful of vanilla.
Let this stand if possible for 1 hour. Beat 4 eggs slightly and add to the milk and nuts. Season with 1/8 of a teaspoonful of salt. Bake in individual cups slowly for about 40 minutes. When turning these out sprinkle the remaining ground nut meats over the top of the custard.
Dutch Cup Cheese Breaktast Eggs
In the same frying pan in which you are frying eggs in but- ter, place slabs a quarter or a half inch thick of Dutch cup cheese--but select cup cheese which is not too pasty. It should have some coherence. Fry these slabs of cheese alongside the eggs, and do not try to keep eggs and cheese separate. Cut seg- ments apart with knife as desired, and serve on hot plates.
Cornmeal slush with Poached Egg, Otto
Cornmeal Mush
Cream sauce
4 eggs
1/2 cup canned corn
Poach eggs as usual. Fry cornmeal mush. Cut in 1/2 inch slices. Make a thin cream sauce and add 1/2 cup of corn, blending until smooth.
Arrange one popached egg on each slice of fried mush. Pour thin sauce around. Garnish with parsley. Serve very hot.
Breakfast, York
4 or 5 potatoes
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
5 tomatoes
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon minced onion
1 1/2 lbs. smoked sausage
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
The breakfast consists of potato pancakes, fried tomatoes with brown flour sauce, and the local smoked beef sausages (available anywhere in eastern Pennsylvania) or any sausages.
The potato pancakes are made by grating the potatoes-using about 3 cupfuls-after having peeled them and letting them soak overnight in cold water. Beat the eggs, add salt, pepper, flour and baking powder, then the onion. Mix well with potato. Drop batter on smoking hot griddle from a teaspoon, to make small cakes. Brown on both sides, serve hot with fried tomatoes and brown sauce made from the smoked beef sausage drippings.
Omelet Schnitzel
4 slices bacon
5 onions
1/2 slice ham
1 cup milk
4 eggs
5 slices bread
Dice the bacon and fry crisp, then fry the ham diced. Fry also the onions separately until brown, and then mix with bacon and ham in the pan. Beat the eggs, mix with the milk and pour into the pan with the other ingredients. Cook for three minutes and keep stirring. Serve on slices of bread toasted on one side, (toasted side down).
Breakfast, Crefelder
Fry some cornmeal mush, and at the same time fry some tomato slices rolled in flour, and make a brown sauce. Fry also some eggs. Pour the sauce over all.
Kugelhopf, Lehigh
1 pint milk
1 lb. flour
1/2 lb. butter
1 yeast cake
8 eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon minced citron
1/2 cup raisins
Mix the milk, butter and eggs in a pan and warm it. Add the flour and make a paste. Knead it, add the yeast cake, salt, and sugar, citron, and raisins.
Grease a mold, put in the mixture and let rise. Then bake in moderate oven for one hour.
Eggs, Dandelion
Prepare the dandelions (chopped fine) and dandelion sauce as elsewhere described and then pour it hot over poached eggs on toast (one side toasted served with the toasted side down on the plate.)
Eggs, Muhlenberg
Butter some pieces of dried beef and fry gently for a few moments. Serve with fried eggs and Dutch sauce.
Eggs, Smokehouse
Take some fresh or left-over ham and bacon together and dice it and
fry lightly; also mince some water-cress or escarole or lettuce. Scramble some eggs, and fold in the ham, bacon and the greens.
Eggs, Sinking Spring Fry the eggs in butter. Cut lamb kidneys or lamb's tongue, or both, into shreds about 2 inches long. Fry these (if possible in Port wine sauce) and serve with the eggs.
Oyster-Ham Floats, Perkasie
2 doz. oysters
1 tablespoon butter
6 slices boiled ham
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
6 slices bread
Toast the bread slices on one side only. Lay toasted side down in bake pan, and place a piece of ham on each toast, and also four oysters. Sprinkle with pepper and salt and a piece of butter. Bake it in hot oven for 3 or 4 minutes (until oyster edges curl) - Serve hot, with Dutch fried potatoes or Dutch Tomato Cakes.
Oyster Omelet, Delaware
1doz. oysters
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon minced parsley
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoons onion juice
Drain oysters and chop fine. Melt one half of the butter, add the parsley and onion juice and fry the oysters gently in this for 5 or 6 minutes. Beat the egg yolks, add the salt and the egg whites, stiffly beaten. Melt the other half of the butter, add the eggs, to the frying pan. When done, pour over it the oyster mixture and fold over. Serve hot with Dutch sauce or plain with watercress.
Corn Omelet, Althouse
1/4 cup Shaker dried corn (or corn cut from cob)
4 eggs
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
After soaking the Shaker dried corn for about 12 hours in lukewarm water, or cutting corn from cob, simmer it in the butter in a frying pan, adding salt and pepper. Beat the eggs with the milk, add, and scramble in the pan. Serve sprinkled with paprika, and sprigs of watercress.
Omelet, Valley Forge
6 eggs
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup milk
Salt, pepper, paprika
Boil the milk and pour hot over the breadcrumbs. In another dish stir the eggs, add the crumbs and milk, season with salt, pepper, paprika. Fry in butter and serve cut in quarters.
Dutch Springhouse Omelet
4 eggs
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped watercress
1/2 teaspoon salt
Beat the egg whites stiff, add the salt, and stir in lightly the egg yolks. Mince the watercress (which so often grows in the springs by the "Springhouse" in Dutch country), and then melt the butter in the frying pan, cook the omelet 5 minutes. Fold in the watercress and serve.
Eggs, Lebanon
Eggs
Slices Lebanon bologna (2 to each egg)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
In a sizzling hot frying pan with the butter place slices of Lebanon bologna, cut about 1/4 of an inch thick, and rolled in flour. Let brown for only a minute; break into the pan the eggs; one egg to each two pieces of bologna. Serve hot with watercress. (Lebanon bologna is a highly spiced home-made beef bologna sold throughout Eastern Pennsylvania and elsewhere. It can be purchased by mail from John Weaver, Lebanon, Pa.)
Fried Eggs, Conestoga
8 to 12 eggs
1/4 lb. ham
1 cup butter or good salad oil
1 teaspoon flour
6 ripe tomatoes
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 onion
Slice the tomatoes and dice the ham. Melt the butter, stew the sliced onion and ham in it for 10 minutes, then stir in the flour, 1 pt. of water, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and sugar and cook 30 minutes. Then strain through a fine sieve, and sprinkle each egg with salt and pepper and fry in the butter, which should be very hot. Tip the pan or dish a little so the butter or oil covers the eggs. When the white of egg is firm, take it out and put it into a hot tomato dressing. Serve hot.
Dutch Egg Croquettes
Hard-boil 6 eggs. Cut in halves, remove yolk and mash these yolks with back of spoon. Add melted butter, salt, and pepper, and sweet cream enough to make a soft paste. Refill the white halves of eggs, and press together to form whole egg. Dip these whole egg, in beaten egg and cracker crumbs, drop in hot fat and fry a old grown. Serve garnished with lettuce.