Eggs and the Birds that Make Them

Last night, I went to Stir, a fabulous demonstration kitchen that's part of the innovative, exciting, and ever-growing No. 9 Group here in Boston.  The kitchen, which is a replica of No. 9 founder Barbara Lynch's home kitchen, features all kinds of wonderful gadgets, including a thermo-circulator that keeps water moving at a perfectly precise temperature, cooking foods consistently and beautifully.  But I wasn't there to experience gadget-y bliss, I was there to experience a true wonder-food: the egg.

It happens that also attending last night's class was Terry Golson, a quirky, fun lady who lives even further from downtown than I do.  She raises chickens (stop whatever you're doing and check out her "hen-cam" right now!), and had lots to add to the chefs' delicious demonstrations.

I can't possibly describe the heaven that was Brendan's duck egg cooked for an hour in the thermo-circulator until it was a transluscent, quivering, just-cooked beauty resting on a bed of Savoy cabbage.  Ok, so I can try to describe it.  What I meant was, I can't replicate it at home without a thermo-circulator.

But what I can do is share with you some things I learned about eggs and the birds that make them.  Some tasty tidbits:

• If you want to know if an egg is fresh, place it in a bowl of water.  A fresh egg will sink to the bottom, while an older egg will float.

• Never hard-cook a fresh egg; wait a week.  A fresh egg's membrane won't detach from its shell enough for you to be able to peel it cleanly.

• Supermarket eggs are allowed by law to be sold 10 weeks after they're laid.  If you're able, find an actual person who owns actual chickens, and buy from them (I buy from Backyard Birds in Concord and feel like a lucky duck, to mix a metaphor, every time I grab a dozen).

• Season scrambled eggs when they first hit the pan as well as afterwards - salt breaks down the barrier between white and yolk and allows better incorporation in a soft scramble.

• Duck eggs are twice as big as chicken eggs!  This may be common knowledge, but it was new to me.  In my mind, ducks are smaller than chickens, but apparently I don't know my chickens!

Maybe Terry will let me met her hens one of these days, but until then, I'm enjoying watching her hen-cam and knowing that even though they're slowed down in winter, those cluckers are putting forth a product that is so simple, so perfect, so malleable, and so accessible.  Don't tell my husband, but I harbor secret dreams of having chickens one day. 

Comments

[Holly]

Yes, chicken tractors are awesome! They allow you to move your chickens around your property, letting them "fertilize" and weed according to your needs (and theirs). Keep me posted on your sis-in-law's plans! I can live vicariously....

[John]

You need to talk with my sister-in-law about her "chicken tractor" dreams. Haven't heard of a chicken tractor? Well, go ahead and google the phrase and you'll see what I'm talking about.