Now thems some EGGS!!!!

[Paschale]

So Furby called me up, told me he had a souvenir for me from his roadtrip.  Well, he tells me he's got some homegrown, certified farm-raised chicken and duck eggs from the farm of Norm and Patty.   8) 8) 8)

I couldn't believe it, and was totally floored by it.   I picked them up today.  I couldn't wait until tomorrow for breakfast, so fried a couple up for a snack.  Now, you need to know I've never before in my life eaten anything other than grocery store eggs.  Those yolks were ORANGE!!!!  That must be how ya raise 'em on the farm!  They were DanG tasty, and sure make my local grocery store eggs pale in comparison.

I'm gonna be eating eggs galore for the next week, and I'm going to enjoy every bite of those special eggs that came from Patty and Norm.  8) 8) 8)  I'm really looking forward to the duck eggs too, since I've never eaten those.  But I decided those need some special treatment.  I'm planning on making this dish with those duck eggs, and I can't wait!

I can't thank you guys enough.   8) 8) 8)  When Furby told me what he had for me, I was totally, totally pumped!  It looks like I've got some kindly neighbors--they just happen to live in Iowa!!!  All I have to say to all that, is that Furby should go on road trips more often.    ;)

[Furby]

Yep, Just fried up a couple of the duck eggs myself!
Mmmmmmmmmmmm..........
They were indeed orange yolks!
Went to break one open on the stove top.........I think I may have dented the stove top! :-\
Thanks guys!


Paschale, be glad to run out there and get ya some more, can ya spot me the gas $$$? ;D

[Paschale]

Hey Norm and Patty, Furby'll be along next weekend to pick up some more eggs.    :D

[etat]

 Store bought eggs will never ever match the taste of home raised eggs now that you know the difference.  They'll always taste bland from now on. If you had some hot biscuits and a slab of country ham and a couple of slices of home raised vine ripened tomatoes to go with em you'd be ruined for life.

[Furby]

DanG it CK!
Now I'm hungry again! :D

[Paschale]

Well, vine ripened tomatoes, especially those heirloom ones, now that's something I do know about!   8) I just didn't know that eggs had the same difference that you find between store bought tomatoes and home grown--I'm ruined for life now!   :D   

[UNCLEBUCK]

Are you guys pulling my leg about eating duck eggs ?  Never heard of that ever .   ???

[Paschale]

Hey there Buck,

These ain't no snow snakes!  ;)  I've never eaten one before, but I will before this week is out.  I can't wait! 

I guess people eat all kinds of eggs.  It's a big thing in the fancy gourmet restaurants to eat quail eggs.  I watch Iron Chef from time to time, and one time, they had an all egg episode, and they a ton of different kinds of eggs, including an ostrich egg.  It was quite the sight seeing them try to open that thing up.  They seriously used a drill to get through the shell, and that's the honest truth.  Though they might've done that just for TV.   ???

[Tom Sawyer]

How does GRITS taste with duck eggs? ??? ???

[UNCLEBUCK]

Well Paschale you will have to report back how duck eggs taste but if your next concert gets interupted by a quacking sound coming from the horn section you will have some explaining to do and when you try talk your voice will sound like daffy duck .  ;D

[Ianab]

Duck eggs are especially good for baking.
Use them instead of hen eggs for cakes etc.
I have had plain duck eggs, they are OK but stronger flavour than hen eggs. Aquired taste maybe?

Now Ostrich eggs..  thats an XXOS Omlette 

Ian

[Norm]

We raise what are called laying ducks (khaki campbells and indian runners), they lay more eggs that are bigger than hen eggs. Some folks think they are too rich for stuff like over easy eggs, I use them to bake with but like to have em fried in bacon grease too. The shells are very hard and don't crack easily if your used to how soft store bought shells are. Right now we have four duck hens and get four eggs every day. Every neighbor that lives close to use is being supplied with fresh eggs as we have about a dozen chicken hens too.

Thank you Furby for delivering them, have fun cooking them Paschale.

[Patty]

Yea, Furby, the shells are a little tough aren't they.  ;)  Must be all those chemicals we add to their food!    Just kidding.  They are completely chemical free. They mostly eat scraps left over from dinner, a scoop of corn now & then, and any bugs they can find. They are a delightful animal to have on the farm, not much trouble to keep.

[Doc]

Store bought eggs will never ever match the taste of home raised eggs now that you know the difference.  They'll always taste bland from now on. If you had some hot biscuits and a slab of country ham and a couple of slices of home raised vine ripened tomatoes to go with em you'd be ruined for life.

I grew up eating like that, and I have to say......every chance I get I load my plate that way! BIG PILE OF GRITS AND BUTTER TOO!

Doc

[OneWithWood]

Paschale, welcome to the real world of eggs.  We used to raise ducks and geese and ate all the eggs.  Everyone is correct about the richness and flavor.  The goose eggs were my favorite, one egg made a nice sized omelet.  Like Norm and Patty's birds our birds were 'free range' and got most of their protein from eating the bugs in the garden.  We don't have birds now but our neighbors accross the road have a variety of chickens and ducks.  The chickens cross the road and feed in our yard so the neighbors keep us supplied with eggs.  Quite the deal!

[Chris J]

I've never had duck eggs; gives me something else to try.  I do like the real deal country chicken eggs, much better that the store bought eggs.

Did I miss it,  or did anyone mention homemade milk gravy?

[etat]

Ok, let me explain it.  Fried Eggs, over easy are for the biscuits and ham, or sausage, or bacon and tomatoes.  You ocassionally dip yer biscuit in them eggs while yer eating em.

With 'gravy, you'll want scrambled eggs about every time.  You take and crumble up some of the fresh hot biscuits.  Then you scatter some of them scrambled eggs in with that.  Then you cut up a couple of slices of them fresh tomatoes and mix that in too.  'THEN' you pour some of that good gravy over the top of the whole thing.  Either have some sausage mixed in, or some ham or bacon on the side and there ain't no better eating in the world!

[wiam]

In high school, my ag teacher brought in a store egg and a fresh egg.  He cracked them on a plate side by side.  The big difference is color and how the fresh egg will stand up.  The white of the store egg will run all over the plate.  Surprising I can remember form 20 years ago. ;)

Will

[etat]

Second, no first, no third, 'well somewhere along in there' worstest job I ever had was one time I hired out to help change the hens in one of them egg laying hen houses. Before the day was over I wished I was hauling hay or something. ???

My first real memories of chickens other than my Grandma's was when we moved back to Mississippi from Memphis.  Somebody gave us some Game Hens and we went and caught them out of a barn while they were roosting.  We put em in a tow sack and brought em home.  THAT was fun.  Later though one of them old hens hid her eggs and hatched her out some little chicks.  They sure did look like fun to play with. 

Trust me, you DO NOT want to be six years old and be getting flogged by a game hen over her little ones.  They have no sense of humor at all.

[UNCLEBUCK]

Well I guess I am convinced now, sounds like Norm and Patty know eggs but I gotta see how Paschale turns out after he tries his first duck egg ! I have always had chicken eggs but having cleaned out the incubator a few times trying to hatch baby mallards when I was a kid I just got it in my mind to stay with chicken eggs. Sure was fun to watch a little duck crack out of the shell in one of those little 24 inch cheapo incubators ,

[OneWithWood]

And so CK finally comes clean with the truth about a good southern breakfast.  NO GRITS!!! :D :D ;D

[Paschale]

Well, I had my first duck egg last night, and it was tasty.   8)  That shell's a bit harder to crack than your average chicken egg, and man, you can tell it's just more substantial, especially when you look at the size of the yolk.     I had the girlfriend over for dinner, and I made this baked egg dish with spinach and mushrooms, and they were DanG tasty.  No little daffy's showed up in any of the eggs, thankfully.   ;)

I think it would definitely be fun to experiment using duck eggs in all kinds of dishes.  I think Norm is right, that they'd richen thinks up quite a bit.  I got all KINDS of ideas to try those thngs with!   :D  I like a good frozen custard, with a bunch of egg yolks--I'm thinking duck egg yolks would kick things up a notch!  I've got a few duck eggs left, so I plan on making an omelet with them this weekend.  Breakfast today:  scrambled chicken eggs!  There's really such a difference, in both taste and color.  The yolk is so orange, that I think people who didn't know better would think there was a problem with the eggs!

Now I'm curious to try some free range chicken, since all you guys have mentioned how much better those are, and how the flesh and skin is actually a different color than the pale chickens we get in the store.

Thanks again, Norm and Patty!   8)

[Norm]

Phewwww....I was hoping that those eggs didn't get too warm and start incubating on ya Dan. :D

I make (when I'm not dieting) a cooked custard ice cream with those eggs. The color is so dark orange because of the homegrown eggs in em. I also found a company out of Australia that sells vanilla beans with the shipping included in the price. Patty used to buy them at the grocery store for me until I found out how much they were, I went to the internet and found them. The flavor is the best I've ever had and the cost is a fraction of what I was paying before. Vanilla custard ice cream, oh man I'm drooling all over the keyboard just thinking of it.

[OneWithWood]

Norm, I really need that recipe!  ;D

[Norm]

I'll get it for you tomorrow Robert and post it here. My stomach is still growling thinking about it. :D

[etat]

I didn't want to mention grits cause I knew I might be in danger of being blackmailed by the boss!

[Paschale]

There's nothing like vanilla been ice cream!   8)  I might have to make some with some of those eggs.  Do you use the duck eggs, or are you talking about chicken eggs?  I bet that stuff comes out looking a nice rich color!   8) 

Problem, is what to do with those egg whites?   I don't want anything to go to waste on them.   :P  I guess I could make a souffle with them, or an egg white omelet.

I'd love to see your recipe for that custard too.  The recipes I use for my vanilla bean ice cream are from food network--usually Emeril's recipe.  It's pretty tasty. 

If you're on a diet, I make my vanilla bean ice cream with Splenda.  Makes it lower calorie, and if you put in enough flavoring, you can't really taste that Splenda zing.  I find I can mask the Splenda aftertaste pretty well if I make something using berries or some other fruit, like cherries, blueberries, or raspberries.  I like to make up that vanilla bean ice cream, then boil up a cup of blueberries with enough Splenda to make it sweet, then add some cinnamon, and then some lemon zest.  I swirl that into the vanilla bean ice cream, and lemme tell ya...now THAT'S tasty!   8)

I get my vanilla beans from Penzey's Spices, though I don't get them shipped, since they have a store right here in town.  But man, using vanilla beans makes all the difference in the world!!!

[Norm]

 ;D

Silver White Cake

2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 2/3 cups sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
2/3 cup butter
2 tsp's vanilla
6 egg whites (not beaten)

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Grease and flour rectangular pan, 13-by-9-by-2 inches, two round pans, 9-by-1
3. ½ inches, or 3 round pans, 8-by-1½ inches. Beat all ingredients except egg whites in large bowl on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Add unbeaten egg whites; beat in egg whites on high speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pan(s).
4. Bake rectangular pan for 40 to 45 minutes, 9-inch round pans, 30 to 35 minutes, 8-inch round pans, 23 to 28 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center.

[Furby]

I gave a few of those eggs to my Mom to try.
First thing she says "I won't get any surprises now will I?"
Me: "What do you mean?"
Her: "They don't have any roosters do they?"
Me: "Ah, nope! They are normal people, they EAT their roosters!"  ;) ;D

[beenthere]

 :D :D ;D ;D
I remember going to my Uncle's farm as a young boy and going around looking for eggs. I poked around in all the corners and found some nests with a dozen or more eggs (they were being incubated by the hen). I remember vividly when my Aunt came running out of the house with a hot, smoking frying pan that she had just cracked an egg into, that was mighty far along to becomming a chick. She was muttering something about how to look for eggs on the farm.  :D :D

I think my Aunt learned to crack eggs into a bowl first, before dropping them directly into the hot frying pan. 

[Teri]

Poor CK.... :D  Afraid of the Boss.

[sprucebunny]

You could make merangues (sp) out of the egg whites.....with splenda and real vanilla should be real good ;D

[Teri]

Now I'm gettin hungry.  :D :D

[Ernie]

Lemon meringue pie  YUM smiley_bouncing_pinky smiley_bouncing_pinky smiley_bouncing_pinky

[Paschale]

You could make merangues (sp) out of the egg whites.....with splenda and real vanilla should be real good ;D

Ooh...good idea Sprucebunny!  Those would be zero carb too!

[asy]

beenthere...  What was she doin' with the frying pan, and did you wear it?

hehe

Hey Norm, how's about a link to where you buy the Vanilla beans!?

They are frighteningly expensive in shops here too!!

asy :D

[tnlogger]

I give up. every time i come in here ya'll makes my belly growl. i am sitting here waiting on a pot of white beads and corn bread. and its all mine mine i says  ;D

[Lenny_M]

Them Fresh eggs are good, We do the hens now, In the past we had Goose and Turkey eggs that are also good. I recomend goose eggs if ya like yolks.
We leave them out(free range) until they becomea problem with the garden
  Free range turkeys are the best. Cuts down on feed and the meat is a bit darker and a lot more flavor.
  Letting the birds out ruduces the local bugs bigtime, Ants. ticks ect.

[Chris J]

I had dinner about an hour ago, & I'll be darned if I'm not hungry again  !

[Paschale]

How big is a TURKEY egg?  Or a goose egg, for that matter?   :P

[beenthere]

From what I've seen of wild turkey eggs, they are about the size of large hen eggs. But goose eggs are large, like twice the size. 

I remember as a boy going with my Uncle (favorite Uncle) to the duck and goose hatchery to get barrels of bad eggs that didn't hatch in the incubators. When they don't hatch, and have been subjected to all that heat, they are about as rotten a smell as anything can get. In these barrels were rotten eggs, and unborn embryos, etc.  Took about 8 large drums (recall a bit like a 55gal drum) on a truck back to the farm to feed the pigs. The pigs went bonkers over that trail of eggs out through the pig lot.  :

[OneWithWood]

Norm,
Looks like a nice cake recipe, now how about that frozen custard recipe?  ;)

We use stevia as a sugar sub.  A little bit goes a long way and you have to mask its flavor also.

[Norm]

 ;D

2 vanilla beans
2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream chilled
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan over medium heat combine the vanilla beans that have been split with the milk. Bring to a scald and remove from the heat. Cover and let steep for 30 minutes.

In a seperate bowl mix the eggs yolks and sugar on medium high speed until thick and pale about 4 minutes. Put milk back on the heat and bring up to a very low simmer. Temper the yolk mix with a little hot milk and then add to the milk mix slowly while whisking very fast so the eggs don't set up. Cook until the mix slightly thickens, custard should just retain a line drawn across the back of a spoon with your fingertip. Remove pan from heat stir in the chilled cream and transfer to a chilled bowl. Whisk until the mix has cooled enough to not cook any more, you can set the bowl in ice chilled water to do this. Run mix through a fine sieve, put into the fridge to cool completely. Just before putting into the ice cream maker add the vanilla extract.

Asy I got my beans from www.vanillaplantations.com

[sawguy21]

And I am having store bought eggs for breakfast. Dang. I grew up on free range chickens and eggs and unpasteurized milk. I remember the rich cream on  top of the milk in square glass bottles. Sigh :D

[Paschale]

OWW,

I've heard of stevia, but I'm not familiar with it.  Sounds like you need to modify the amounts, since it sounds like it's much sweeter than sugar.  Where do you get stevia?   I like Splenda, since you can use it with a 1:1 ratio--makes it easier on my brain.

[Jeff]

I just had oatmeal with splenda for breakfast. good stuff.

[Timber_Framer]

We kept twelve laying hens over the winter and were suppied with an average of nine eggs a day even through the deepest cold. There's nothing like fresh eggs 8)

As a chef I've worked with quale, turkey and ducks eggs and love em all. Creme Brule with ducks eggs is magical!

here's an odd egg for you. I've been told back in the 40's and 50's my Grandmother was fond of baking cakes with snapping turtle eggs my dad and his brothers would bring home

[DanG]

Back before it became fashionable to protect them, (many, many years ago) Sea Turtle eggs were much in demand for baking cakes.  I can't imagine what a cake would cost if one were caught doing that today. :D :D

[OneWithWood]

Stevia can be found at any good organic food store or at least they can order it.  It is much sweeter than sugar and takes a bit of experimenting to get the right combo.  My wife works in the produce department of our local food coop.  If it was just up to me I would go the easy on the brain route also.

[jtmccallum]

One of the girls in our 4-H shooting club brings in free range chicken eggs to our meetings.  Variety packs of green, brown and white eggs.  Nice to have the yolks standing up and looking back at you.  Sure beats store bought.

My wife played a joke on the kids by adding green food coloring to the green eggs and then scambling them up.  :D :D

[Paschale]

Well Norm and Patty, those eggs are finally gone.    :-\  They were DanG tasty, and I sure enjoyed 'em tons!  I had six left, and figured I needed to do something appropriate for them.  I took your recommendation Norm, and made some frozen vanilla bean custard with the remainder:  four of them were duck eggs, and the other three were chicken eggs (one of 'em was a blue shelled egg!   8)).  That was the richest ice cream I've ever had, and was a really rich, golden color.  With the egg whites, well I sorta took Sprucebunny's recommendation and made some meringue with it.  But I made this meringue cake, I guess it's called a dacquoise (I don't know how to pronounce that--I should ask Marcel I guess!).  Anyway, it's three discs of meringue cooked up nice and slow.  You then make an egg based coffee flavored buttercream, and then layer that in between the meringues, coat the outsides with crushed almonds, let it chill for a couple of hours, and you have yourself a tasty dessert!  I took the ice cream and the cake over to some friends tonight and we had a good ole time!

Thanks again for the eggs, Norm and Patty.  Trust me:  I enjoyed EVERY bite!    8)

[Rockn H]

When I was younger and we'd go camping, one of the things we always did was go turtle egg hunting.  They were awfully good for breakfast. ;D
Anyone interested, Marti Poultry Farm has got a good special if you want eggs and some good friers.  Heavy breed assorted chicks  White Rocks, Cornish, Production Reds, etc.  $29.00 for 100.  That's a lot of chicken for the buck. ;D

[Rockn H]

Marti's also offers Khaki and Rouens which are really good layers.  They only offer ducks through June though.  We've always had excellent results with them and of course they send a few extras just in case.

[Norm]

Boy that does sound good Paschale, I grabed a couple of duck eggs last night and made some homemade salad dressing. First I made mayonnaise, added some of Mary's famous jalepeno mustard, some ketchup, pinch of sugar, and a little water. Shook up in a mason jar this was sooooo good I am almost thinkin of turning vegetarian. NOT! :D

[isawlogs]

  I just finished supper and reading this you guys are making me hungry again ... ;D
Norm thaat really sounds good to the pallet  ;)

[thecfarm]

Send me your address and I'll send you a goose egg. :D I get 1-5 a week.Never know how this one will lay.We have musgovies ducks too.I'm waiting for her to start to lay again.Last year she hatched out 9 ducklings.We have about 20 layers and 5 geunia hens.These are nosiey critters,but let us know when we have company.

[Quartlow]

HEH I just had farm fresh aggs and hash for supper, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm good