Seasonal Pantry: A last, lingering taste of farm eggs

Egg season is waning, so enjoy them while you can.|

Although most of use don’t think about it this way, eggs are, for the most part, a seasonal food.

A few breeds continue to lay when there is less daylight and cooler temperatures, but for most hens raised naturally, outside on pasture where they can scratch and peck, egg production slows in fall and winter. The slow-down often begins sometime in September, when many breeds begin to molt. Some flocks lay no eggs at all for weeks and other months; others slow from an egg a day per hen to just a few eggs a week.

This cycle has little if any bearing on the commercial egg business, especially the larger ones. If you get your eggs at a supermarket, they are simply always there. But if you get your eggs from your own backyard flock or from a local farm stand or farmers market, you understand this slowdown has already begun. Some farmers have no eggs at all right now, and others have a fraction of what they had in late spring, when production peaks.

Most farmers markets have eggs year round, but not as many at this time of year. This means you need to reserve them or show up early at your farmers market. Depending on what sort of winter we have, production will begin to increase not long after the first of the year and by spring, you can sleep in on weekends and still snag great eggs at your local farmers market.

As you search for good eggs, keep your eyes open for roadside signs, typically handwritten with an arrow pointing down a driveway. This is often where you will find the best eggs, even at this time of year.

What does this mean for the home cook? First of all, if you like to bake, you should set aside eggs for that purpose, especially around the upcoming holidays. And if you have been in the habit of eating eggs for breakfast every day, now is the perfect time not to switch to supermarket eggs but to change you eating habits. Enjoy other foods for breakfast and enjoy eggs for an occasional dinner.

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As the quality of our eggs has soared over the past decade or so, another ingredient, smoked salt, has become increasingly available. The two ingredients go together beautiful in this simple dish. Served with a fresh green salad alongside, it makes a lovely dinner on a busy weekend. Several brands of smoked salt are readily available these days. Maldon, a British producer, makes one and Oliver’s Markets carry a couple of different brands. This recipe is adapted from one in “The Good Cook’s Book of Salt & Pepper (Skyhorse Publishing, 2015).

Hard-Cooked Farm Eggs with Smoked Salt & Butter

Makes 6 servings as an appetizer, 3 as a main course

6 farm eggs, preferably organic, from pastured hens

2 tablespoons European-style butter, preferably organic, at room temperature

- Smoked salt, lightly crushed

- Black pepper in a mill

- Butter toast points, if serving as a main course

Put the eggs in a medium saucepan, cover with water by at least 1 inch and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for about a minute, cover the pan, remove from the heat and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes.

Working quickly, setting individual bowls or cups on your work surface.

Hold a folded tea towel in your non-dominant hand and, with a good teaspoon in your dominant hand, smack the egg hard at its equator so that the spoon goes all the way through it. Scoop out the egg, put it in the vessel and add a teaspoon of butter.

When all of the eggs are in their containers, season with salt and pepper and enjoy right away.

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For a couple of decades now, I have been making fried eggs finished with vinegar and butter, a recipe I came across in Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant’s new letter in the early 1990s. For this version, adapted from one in “The Good Cook’s Book of Oil & Vinegar (Skyhorse Publishing, 2015), I add bacon to create a heartier meal, perfect as a fast dinner. Serve it with the last of the season’s tomatoes, sliced and layered with thinly sliced mozzarella, alongside.

Vinegar Eggs with Bacon

Makes 2 servings

6 thick rashers bacon, cut into 1/2-inch crosswise strips

2 large handfuls of frisée, rinsed, dried and torn into bite-sized pieces

- Kosher salt

- Black pepper in a mill

6 tablespoons butter

4 large farm eggs

4 thick slices hearth bread, preferably sourdough, lightly toasted

6 tablespoons best-quality red wine vinegar, such as B. R. Cohn Cabernet Vinegar

Cook the bacon in a medium frying pan until it is almost but not quite crisp.

While the bacon cooks, put the frisée into a bowl, season it with salt and pepper and set it aside.

Warm 2 plates in a slow (200 degree) oven.

Melt all but 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium frying pan set over medium low heat. When the butter is foamy, slip the eggs, one at a time, into the pan, cover and cook the eggs slowly, until the whites are firm but the yolks runny, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Set the bread on the plates, add frisee alongside and slip the eggs on top.

Quickly return the pan to high heat, add the vinegar and swirl to deglaze the pan and reduce the vinegar to 2 tablespoons. Add the remaining butter and swirl the pan gently until it is melted; do not let it boil. Remove from the heat, taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the eggs.

Scatter bacon and a bit of its drippings over everything and serve right away.

Michele Anna Jordan is the author of 24 books to date, including “The Good Cook’s series of five books. Email her at michele@micheleannajordan.com

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