At Least 2 Dozen a Day

My 30 hens are laying 24-27 eggs every day. My little egg fridge out on the porch is full, there are eggs on the counter waiting to be cleaned up and put into cartons, and now the kitchen fridge is filling up with eggs. Obviously I need more customers or fewer chickens (knock on wood).

A guy I sold 8 hens to this spring brought me 4 half grown Rhode Island Red hens today because his big hens would not let the smaller ones be part of the flock. The last thing I need is more hens.  I told him I would take them and pass them on to a neighbor and then I insisted he take three of my layers home, along with 5 dozen eggs- so there.

Got Eggs? Get Cooking!

What to make with all these eggs? There are strawberries and broccoli ready to pick out in the garden, so I  start with Custard Sauce, and Angel Cake, with strawberries. My custard  recipe takes 18 yolks and the cake takes 18 whites. I decide to make two half gallon batches, which means I can make an egg white frittata for dinner too. Three dozen eggs!

Strawberries with  Biscuit Shortcake smothered in Custard Sauce  is my all time favorite desert. I like the drop biscuits better than Angel cake but since I need to use lots of eggs, Angel it is. These recipes  come from vintage Good Housekeeping Cookbook,  handed down from my mother, who got it at her wedding shower in 1949.

It no longer has a cover and is missing some of the first pages but I love that it includes things like how to shave ice from the block, and how to use your icebox properly (or your brand new, modern refrigerator!) and includes substitutions for things that were hard to get during the depression. Plus it has all the wonderful dishes my mother used to make for us.

Of course, sticking to a recipe is almost impossible for me. I tend to improvise according to what I have on hand. So, while making the custard,  I threw in some extra whole eggs, along with the yolks, to make the custard a little thicker, and I used coconut milk instead of cows milk. In the second batch, I ran out of coconut milk and added 2 cups of half and half instead. When making the Angel Cake I added a Tablespoon of cornstarch to each cup of unbleached flour to make cake flour and did not do the requisite 4 siftings of the dry cake ingredients, but shook it through a wire mesh sieve twice instead. Cooking is all about being creative once you get the hang of it.

The cake and custard both turned out fine. The frittata is a little different each time I make it, depending on what veggies and sausage I have on hand. It is all good and a fine way to spend a (yet another) rainy day inside. Below are the recipes so you too can eat more eggs.

Custard Sauce

6 cups milk (any kind)

18 egg yolks (or 9  whole eggs)

1 Cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 tsp Vanilla (can be omitted)

Use Double Boiler I use a 3 liter enameled iron pot that happens to fit perfectly into my 4 quart Mirror Pressure Cooker pot.

Pour milk into upper pot and heat over not quite boiling water until tiny bubbles appear along edges of milk.

Break eggs and separate into two bowls, beating yolks slightly with a fork and stirring in sugar and salt.

Temper the egg yolk mixture by slowly adding and stirring the hot milk in, a ladle full at a time. Then pour back into double boiler and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. When it starts to thicken and coats a metal spoon, remove from heat and set into a sink full of cold water, stirring to help cool it quickly.

Stir in the Vanilla and transfer into a half gallon canning jar, screw a lid on and cool in the fridge.

The main thing is to not overcook it, especially if you use whole eggs. It can curdle if it gets too hot, in which case, bring it back together by beating it with a mixer.

Pour over strawberries and biscuits (or Angel cake) and enjoy.

Angel Cake

1  1/4  Cups egg whites (10-12)

1 Cup sifted Cake Flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

Let whites come to room temperature. Heat oven to 375 degrees F

sift flour and 1/2 C sugar ingredients together

Beat egg whites and salt at high speed until foamy

Sprinkle in Cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form, but still moist and glossy

Add 1 cup sugar in four additions while beating. Add flavorings and beat a little more.

Sift in flour mixture 1/4 at a time, folding in with wooden spoon or spatula 15 folds each addition. fold another 10 strokes at the end.

Pour batter into ungreased 10 inch tube pan and bake 35 minutes.

Test for doneness by pressing finger on top lightly. If it springs back it is done.

Remove from oven and turn upside down to cool for one hour (or until cold) before loosening with a knife along edges and turning out onto plate.

To serve, cut gently with a serrated knife, top with berries and pour custard sauce over. Ice cream is also good.

Note: I doubled this recipe,  and still used the same size pan without a problem. It took longer to cook by about 15 minutes. I kept doing the finger check but did not pay very good attention to the time.

Shortcake Biscuits

2 cups flour (unbleached with wheat germ added)

3 teaspoons Rumford Baking Powder (or homemade)

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup milk

Heat oven to 450 degrees F

Mix dry ingredients in bowl

Cut in shortening with pastry cutter to the texture of coarse cornmeal. Make a well in center and add half the milk and mix quick and light with a fork, then the other half.

Drop by large spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet and cook 12-15 minutes.

Serve still warm, broken into bowls, with strawberries and custard sauce poured over. Yum!

 

Egg White Frittata

3/4 – 1 pound sausage (ground or sliced)

1 lg onion, chopped

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

Saute meat, onions, and garlic till done

Butter a 9x 13 baking dish and add the meat and:

2 cups plus, chopped broccoli, spinach or kale

Lightly Beat 18-22 egg whites, adding dried  basil, salt, pepper, Creole spice mix, etc and pour into the casserole

1 Cup grated cheddar cheese, sprinkled on top

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F

 

That takes care of one days worth of eggs…Back to the cookbooks for more recipes. Anybody need some eggs?

-Wendy lee, writing at Edgewise Woods, Gardens and Critters