Eggs à la Dauphine
A classic Anglo-Indian egg dish featuring hard-boiled eggs stuffed with a rich mixture of yolks, bread soaked in cream, parmesan, and herbs, arranged in a pyramid and baked. The dish is garnished with sieved egg yolks resembling yellow vermicelli and served with a white sauce.
Ingredients
- 12 whole Eggs (for boiling) (10 for the pyramid, 2 extra for the garnish)
- 1 cup White bread, crusts removed (Approximately the size of a fist, torn into pieces)
- 0.5 cup Heavy cream or whole milk (For soaking the bread)
- 1 tsp Fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 0.25 tsp Nutmeg, grated (Original calls for a quarter of a grated nutmeg)
- 2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 whole Raw eggs (For binding the mixture)
- 2 tbsp Butter (For the white sauce)
- 2 tbsp All-purpose flour (For the white sauce)
- 1.5 cups Milk (For the white sauce)
- 1 pinch Salt (To taste)
- 1 pinch White pepper (To taste)
Instructions
- 1Place 12 eggs in a pot of cold water. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes. Transfer to an ice bath to cool completely.
- 2While eggs are cooling, place the bread pieces in a small bowl and pour the cream (or milk) over them. Let soak until soft.
- 3Peel all 12 eggs. Reserve 2 whole hard-boiled eggs for the garnish. Cut the remaining 10 eggs in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks and place them in a mixing bowl. Set the 20 white halves aside.
- 4To the bowl with the 10 yolks, add the soaked bread (squeeze out excess liquid if very runny), chopped parsley, grated nutmeg, and grated Parmesan. Mash everything well together. Beat the 2 raw eggs and add them to the mixture to bind it into a paste.
- 5Fill the 20 egg white halves with the mixture. Arrange them in an oven-proof dish in a pyramid: Place 10 filled halves flat on the bottom. Spread a thin layer of the remaining mixture over them. Place 6 halves on top of the first layer. Spread a thin layer of mixture. Place 3 halves on the next layer, spread mixture, and finally place 1 half at the summit.
- 6Take the reserved 2 hard-boiled eggs (yolks specifically, or whole) and force them through a wire sieve over the pyramid so they fall like yellow vermicelli threads. Place the dish in the oven at 350°F (175°C) just long enough to heat through thoroughly.
- 7While the eggs bake, melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Simmer until thickened (about 5 minutes). Season with salt and white pepper.
- 8Remove the eggs from the oven. Pour the hot white sauce around the edge of the dish (not over the pyramid, to preserve the garnish). Serve hot.