Delicious eggs

I have gotten some questions on how our eggs taste. Quite simply? They're delicious.

Not only do our eggs taste different from store-bought eggs, but their texture is noticeably different. Their whites are much lighter and fluffier. The whites hold their shape and do not spread out all over the pan... this is because the proteins have not broken down as in old eggs. FYI, most of the eggs you buy in the supermarket are 2-3 months old. YUCK. The yolks are almost orange, which reflects the richness and variety of the chickens' diet (greens and corn make their yolks darker).



August and Tim have eggs for breakfast every morning. Scrambled, soft-boiled, fried and poached (inspired by Bread and Jam for Frances). Often an omelette. They're simply delicious when they're the star.



However Lisanne and I took a wonderful cooking class at Barbara Lynch's Stir, where they were teaching recipes from the Tartine cookbook. Tartine is a French bakery in San Francisco that we used to frequent often on weekends (and stand in line with the rest of their devotees).

This quiche was unbelievably light and savory. In the class we made it with fresh chard - we just threw in raw strips before baking. We blindbaked the crust in a 9-inch pastry ring and doubled the recipe below to fill it. I would share the crust recipe with you... but Lisanne and I are both still struggling with it. We've now made this quiche several times and the dough is "melting" once we start baking the crust. We can't figure it out.



However we have used other pie crust recipes and they work great. I'm warning you... this recipe is like crack. You can add whatever you like to the egg mixture. However if you use bacon or pancetta, render it first. There is no cheese in this quiche. The creme fraiche gives it a custard-y lightness that is simply divine.

Tartine Quiche

5 large eggs
3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup crème fraîche
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground back pepper
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme

Place 1 egg and flour in bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl and mix at high speed. Whisk/mix the remaining 4 eggs until blended.

In a medium bowl, whisk the crème fraîche until perfectly smooth, then whisk in the milk. Pour the egg mixture through a fine-mesh sieve held over the milk mixture. Whisk in the salt, pepper and thyme.

Pour egg mixture into 10-inch fully baked deep tart or pie shell. Place in the oven and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is set, about 30 minutes or longer.

The center of the quiche should feel slightly firm. Let quiche cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes to allow the custard to set up, so it will slice neatly. It can be served warm or at room temperature.

Yield 6-8 servings.

Nesting Boxes

8 am - Here are two of my gorgeous Buff Orpingtons laying their eggs. Amazing.

Counting Eggs

When our chickens first began laying their eggs, we were getting about 2-3 a day. Now the hens have really started laying and we are getting 7-8 a day. Only my Crested Polish and one Ameracauna haven't laid anything at all. I keep a chalkboard in the coop to keep track of the eggs.

I have to say, raising chickens has far exceeded my expectations. Each day I look forward to checking the nesting boxes. Now that the weather is cooling I will likely see the egg production taper off. So when I get a lot of eggs (like today), I feel like I have received a special gift.

The Naughty Chicken

My chickens have only been laying eggs for two weeks and already I have a problem. One of my Buff Orpingtons eats her own eggs. Voraciously.

I have named her The Naughty Chicken.

Since she repeated the behavior for several days, I emailed the Carlisle Chicken Group for advice. One member suggested I put golf balls or wooden eggs in the nesting boxes. If the chicken pecked at these eggs they wouldn't break and the habit would be broken.

I put wooden eggs in the nesting boxes. This did not work.

Lisanne read in The Encyclopedia of Chickens that I should blow out an egg and fill it with pepper and mustard. Put the egg in the nesting box and let her eat it. A few days of mustard-filled eggs and The Encyclopedia thought my chicken would be cured.

This seemed like a big effort. But I was not quite ready to get rid of her (the only option if I couldn't cure her) and decided to pursue this strategy.



I quarantined The Naughty Chicken in a cage so that she wouldn't teach the other hens her bad behavior. I blew out a Country Hen egg (no way was I wasting one of mine) and filled it partly with mustard. I decided The Naughty Chicken was not going to be swayed by pepper. I reached for the Sriracha. For those who don't know Sriracha, it is a potent jalapeño chili sauce. I use it for Vietnamese cooking.

Here is The Naughty Chicken eating the Sriracha and mustard filled egg with gusto.



This went on for 3 days. But then... she stopped. Here she is in her cage with a wooden egg and the Sriracha egg. She would push the egg around but she wasn't touching it. By the end of a week she even laid two eggs in the cage that she didn't eat.



I don't know if it was the Sriracha. I think she was just lonely for her friends. I am happy to report she is back in the coop, albeit with a Zip tie around her ankle. If she attacks another egg, it will be easy to find her.

Fresh Eggs

WOW! Our first egg. What an amazing thing to wake up, go outside, take a look in the coop and find a perfect, beautiful, egg. That's not exactly how it happened but it was the perfect experience nonetheless. Isabella called to tell me that her chickens started laying. I thought I'd go out and check our coop just in case.  . . it turns out that when I flipped open the door to the nesting boxes one slightly imperfect (who gets it right the first time anyway?) white egg was gently resting on its side. I couldn't believe that our little hens had produced their first egg and on the very same day that their former brooder-mates produced theirs. I was eggstatic ;-). Totally worth all of the time, money and effort! 

I trucked this little slightly oblong egg all the way to NH to show it off to my parents. 

It took me a couple days of consistent laying to determine just who had produced that first egg. It turns out it was either Salt or Pepper our Polish Crested hens. Ginger (Buff Orpington) and Nutmeg (Rhode Island Red) lay brown eggs. 

The scene at the coop each morning goes pretty much like this: We head out mid-morning as my daughter calls out "girls got any eggs for me?", open the door and find two lovely brown eggs sitting in the first nesting box to the left.

Izzie gathering eggs 

The Polish Crested aren't big layers, we find a white egg about once a week. But Nutmeg and Ginger give us approximately one each a day. 

Aren't they beautiful?

Our First Eggs

It's been a long time since we posted. It has been a challenging summer in many ways but the chickens have provided entertainment and distraction. I can't believe how much they've grown and how different the personalities are between breeds.

I thought someone was playing a trick on me when I went into the coop and discovered THREE blue eggs! Our Ameracaunas (we have two) are an American breed of the Chilean Aracaunas, and lay blue eggs. Our Ameracaunas are not friendly like our Orpingtons or Rhode Island Reds, so it was wonderful to see the gorgeous blue eggs in the nesting box.



Strangely Lisanne's chickens began laying on the same exact day. Stay tuned for her post on her first eggs.



August can't wait until morning for his usual, scrambled eggs and cinnamon toast, but with our very own eggs!