Monday, March 5, 2012

Eggs

The most loyal readers of Toys and Bacon will have noticed a recurring ingredient in most of the food I make. But it didn't actually dawn on me until recently, when I showed my buddy JP's recipe for egg-white omelet.

I use a lot of eggs.

I mean, not only do I use them in various recipes, I also eat a lot of boiled or fried eggs separated from any other ingredients.
When I started to count, I soon found out I was eating at least a dozen eggs every week, excluding those that was a part of a more complex composition. So I wouldn't be surprised if I was close to twenty eggs a week in total. Is that a lot? I don't know. It sounds like a lot.



This doesn't necessarily concern me. We have heard about cholesterol issues related to eggs, but I feel ok, healthy.

Over the last eight months, I've shown various simple ways of using the egg, and I've mentioned that this is the beauty of the egg. You can eat it alone or as an ingredient. It can be used to make breakfast, dinner, cakes and desserts. It's in my opinion the most versatile  of ingredients.
Obviously, I use eggs when I make anything from burgers to cupcakes. But I'd like to list the recipes where the eggs play the main role.

First off there was the absolute basic, the boiled egg. It's difficult to do this the wrong way.
The standard omelet is also a good one, notice how mine is extremely airy when compared to JP's thinner style. That could very well be the lack of yolk in his.
The toast with the added fried egg is a funny one, easy to make and it will impress the kids.
Classic scrambled eggs is a favorite of mine. Remember to keep stirring, and take your time. The longer, the better!
Finally, the pancake. Almost as easy to make as fried egg, can be used for breakfast, dinner or dessert.


The eggs I use come from a local farm. Pictured above is the selection. The brown ones cost slightly more than the white ones. The price I pay is roughly $10 for 30 white and $11 for the brown. Why the slight price difference?  Well, like my farmer says: "They taste the same, but the brown ones taste better".

Either way, these eggs cost far less than in the grocery stores or supermarkets. Not only that, they are also fresher, bigger and taste better.
It sounds almost utopian, and I have often wondered why it's like this. They are slightly irregular, and I assume they need to pass a certain measurement or some ridiculous control completely unrelated to actual quality or taste to be eligible for the supermarkets. It's embarrassing that our society is like this, but I can't really complain. It feels like I've found a loophole in the system, a cheat code. With my eggs, it feels like I've figured it all out. And I encourage you all to search your local community for similar solutions. Buy local products, they are probably better in every way.

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