Thursday, August 26, 2010

No factory farmed eggs = no worries

Don't you just love this poster?  I found it online at a collection called "Beans and Bullets/Of Course I Can: A Collection of War Era Food Posters" from the National Agricultural Library. A few years ago, I decided to buy only locally produced eggs.   They really do taste better.  I'm really glad right now that I know my farmer  given the recent outbreak of salmonella at factory farms.   My only gripe is that fresh eggs are really hard to peel.   I found this technique online to make peeling easier:

  • Make a pinhole in the large end of the egg, place the eggs in a single layer in a saucepan, and cover with cold water to an inch above the layer of eggs.
  • Place a lid on the pan and bring eggs to a boil.
  • Remove the pan of eggs from the burner, leaving the cover in place, and allow to sit for 15-18 minutes, adjusting time up or down 3 minutes for larger or smaller eggs.
  • Immediately remove eggs from the pan of hot water with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water for one minute.
  • In the meantime, bring hot water to simmering. After one minute in ice water remove eggs back to the simmering water for ten seconds. The ten second interval is important because this allows the shell to expand without expanding the rest of the egg.
  • Peel immediately by cracking the shells of the egg all over. Roll each egg gently between hands to loosen the shell. Peel, starting at the large end of the egg.
  • The peeling may take place under cold running water to help wash the shell off the egg and to minimize the shell breaking into the white.


Hope this helps you to enjoy eggs straight from the farm more often! What to do with all those hard boiled eggs?  How about spicy pickled eggs, which are an Upper Peninsula bar snack, or deviled eggs, a surefire potluck pleaser?  I just whipped up some deviled eggs for a happy hour get together tomorrow night.  Everyone loves them!


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