Egg Time

This is the season for eggs, especially with Easter around the corner. There's nothing better than organic eggs.Even better are the ones that can be found in backyard chicken coops.That's right  - more and more people are raising chickens in their backyards. This ensures a richer quality egg and better meals involving them.

This was the subject of Julia Moskin's article in today's New York Times Dining section. She writes about the urban farm movement where even apartment dwellers have chicken coops. Mind the chickens that are urbanites usually are the smaller kind like the Olandsk dwarf hen which is the size of a grapefruit. Its' eggs fried are the size of a silver dollar pancakes. Most chickens that are being raised are normal sized and can even be bought from catalogs and online. Eggs start to be laid in the Spring when there is more daylight. hence the egg connection with Easter,Passover and the Persian New Year.

What about the eggs? Much better than store bought. That's the consensus amongst chicken owners. The yolk is different.instead of just being yellow it's that deep rich orange yellow of a taxi cab. The whites are different too.They're never runny and make excellent meringues.They also have a freshness and sweet ness to them that the store bought ones don;t have.  The eggs also pick up what the chicken has eaten and the eggs possess either a grassy, earthy nutty or even chickeny kind of flavor. They can be used even to enhance stews and soups as well as make flavorful egg noodles.Of course fresh eggs made wonderful omelets, especially mixed with freshly grown garden vegetables.They also make better tasting scrambled  and poached coddled and sunnyside up.

There's nothing like a good egg made any kind of way. Better yet, if you have the room start a hatchery  and raise your own. It's a good experience plus the benefits are eggs-tra great. It's organic food right at your doorstep.
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