Minced Chicken with Eggs

Seasoned and finely chopped stewed chicken with poached eggs.

Take a cold cooked chicken, remove the skin, separate the flesh from the bones and cut it into small pieces; put the bones and trimmings into a stewpan with a pint and a half of stock, a small onion stuck with two or three cloves, and a small bunch of sweet herbs. Boil the stock for an hour, then strain it into a clean stewpan, skim off all the fat, put in the pieces of chicken and keep them simmering at the edge of the fire. When the bird is tender, mix a tablespoonful of flour with a small quantity of milk and stir it into the stock, letting it simmer, but not allowing it to boil. Add one teaspoonful of chutney to the sauce and more seasoning if required, and turn the whole out onto a dish. Break carefully over the top as many eggs as will just cover the mince, but do not crowd them, and be very careful not to damage the yolks; strew a few sifted breadcrumbs lightly over the top, dust over with salt and pepper, and put them in the oven until the eggs are set, but taking care not to let them get hard. When ready, take the dish out of the oven, and serve garnished with croutons of fried bread.