Eggs Sister Simona (Huevos a la Sor Simona)

Name: Eggs Sister Simona (Huevos a la Sor Simona)
Ingredients: 2 flan molds flan molds (one larger, one smaller); butter; as needed eggs, beaten; as needed boiling water; as needed eggs; as needed truffles, minced; as needed Parmesan cheese, grated; as needed breadcrumbs fried in butter, cut long

Source: Anonymous, 1920

History

Huevos a la Sor Simona ("Eggs, Sister Simona style") is documented as a recipe in La Mejor Cocinera (Recetas de Cocina), a Spanish home-cookery book issued by Editorial (Saturnino) Calleja in Madrid; the book carries no named author. As printed, it is a baked, bain-marie egg preparation for four. The cook butters the inside of a larger flan mould and the outside of a smaller one, nests the small mould inside the large one, and fills the cavity between them with beaten egg. Boiling water is poured into the inner mould and the whole assembly is set in a water bath (baño maría) in the oven until the eggs are cuajados (set firm). Once cooled and unmoulded, the small mould is removed and the ring's hollow centre is filled with a scramble of eggs, chopped truffles and grated Parmesan cheese (queso de Parma rallado); the dish is turned out and garnished with long fried-bread croutons (picatostes). Beyond the recipe as printed, the historical record consulted does not document an origin, an inventor, a date of creation, a convent, or a lineage for this dish. The name "Sor Simona" ("Sor" is the title "Sister" borne by a nun) is not connected by any source located here to a specific person, religious house, or event, and no such connection is asserted.

Ingredients

2 flan molds flan molds (one larger, one smaller)
butter
as needed eggs, beaten
as needed boiling water
as needed eggs
as needed truffles, minced
as needed Parmesan cheese, grated
as needed breadcrumbs fried in butter, cut long

Instructions

Butter the interior of the larger flan mold and the exterior of the smaller one. Nest the small mold inside the large one.
Fill the cavity between the two molds with beaten eggs. Rapidly pour boiling water into the small mold and place the entire setup in a water bath (bain-marie) in the oven.
When the egg mixture is set and firm, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
Carefully remove the small mold from inside. The hollowed center should now be visible.
Fill the hollow with a scramble of eggs mixed with minced truffles and grated Parmesan cheese.
Turn the entire molded custard out onto a serving plate and arrange fried breadcrumbs (picatostes) around it in long pieces, garnishing further as desired.