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John has 30 chickens. Which means we get 30 fresh eggs every single day. HUGE brown eggs -- many of them with double yolks. SUCH WONDERFUL BOUNTY. He loves his chickens, he feeds them and names them and collects the eggs two or three times a day. He carefully washes the eggs and sorts them in his recycled cartons (each dozen gets one or two double-yolkers). He sells the eggs for $2.50 a dozen...so they have provided a nice retirement income and activity for him....lol...
The thing is -- there is NOTHING like fresh eggs. When you break the hard shells, they stand up high in the pan -- the yolks are bright yellow....They are sooo delicious.
Eggs are nearly the perfect food. Dr. Oz says that for years they got an undeserved bad rap -- and they are nature's gift -- a wonderful, cheap source of protein...
There are so many delicious, wonderful ways to cook eggs -- they have always been part of my favorite go-to menus.
And here are two of my favorite egg dishes...
First of all -- scrambled eggs.
The scrambled eggs I make today are nothing at all like the ones my mother made. That's because she didn't have the benefit of the Food Network. The Barefoot Contessa, to be specific. You can go to her website for a complete walk-through.
But basically -- it's just this. Melt a bit of butter in the pan, whip six eggs with a little milk, then cook them low and slow...constantly stirring. Sure -- doing it this way takes a little longer -- but IT WILL BE SOOO WORTH IT. Your eggs will be creamy and fluffy. Absolutely wonderful. With some hot, buttered toast -- well -- life just doesn't get any better than this.
My friend Michael recommends adding cream cheese to the eggs before he scrambles them -- and I am a big fan of cream cheese -- so that sounds like a great idea!
Egg Dish #2: Frittata
This is a fairly new to my recipe box -- but the simple frittat has become my go-to-supper. When I realize it's 5:00 and I forgot to get anything out of the freezer -- it's TIME TO FRITTATA...
The BEST thing about a frittata is that you start with leftovers. You can (and should) use anything that's already in your refrigerator. Whenever I make spaghetti, I make EXTRA -- knowing there could be a frittata in my future.
So -- starting with old cold spaghetti -- you add the eggs, bits of cheese, cut up meat -- chicken, even lunch meat or salami, green beans, asparagus, olives, tomatos, onion, celery, etc. Really -- the ingredients are all about what you have in your frig...
One example: cubed Pepperjack cheese, sliced salami, black and green olives, diced green onion, celery or radishes.
Another example: leftover rotisserie chicken, grated cheddar cheese and Parmasean, mushrooms,
green beans, tomatoes...
So -- the recipe is not as important as the technique -- and here it is:
Beat at least six eggs in a large bowl...then add 1-2 cups of cold spaghetti and another cup of assorted ingredients.
When you're mixing up your frittata -- you'll be heating your well seasoned iron skillet (my favorite -- but you choose)...When the skillet is hot, add 1 tbl of oil and swirl it to cover the pan -- then pour in the fritatta. Do not stir....turn the heat down to medium low and let it cook until it's brown.
When the bottom of the frittata is brown (about 8 minutes on my stove) -- transfer the skillet into your preheated oven. (350). You want the center set and the top brown. (maybe 15 minutes?)
I often add another cup of cheese on the top when I put it in the oven for the final bake. And, since I have an electric oven -- I sometimes do the last 2 minutes under the broiler to make the cheese bubbly...
If your iron skillet is well-seasoned -- you simply slip the entire fritatta out of the pan onto a serving platter. DELICIOUS...
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