We've adopted (a chicken)!
My friend Emily used to say that she wished she could pre-pay for meals so that the the bill's arrival and the ensuing scrambling for wallets, credit cards, cash and tip calculation couldn’t ruin the magic of a wonderful meal. I couldn’t agree more. Unless you have a powerful level of concentration (or intoxication) it is hard to ignore that black folder on the table, indicating the end of your reverie.
I have finally accomplished pre-payment with groceries. Mike and I have adopted a chicken and joined a CSA.
What? you ask.
Through Blossom Hill Farm south of Buffalo, we have adopted a healthy, well-fed, humanely treated chicken that we have named Frances (despite suggestions that we name her Sesame). For 24 weeks we will get a dozen eggs a week and in December we get Frances herself. For soup.
Now, this may seem like a somewhat perverse version of adoption, but I feel pretty good about the way my chicken-child is living out her days. Plus, each week when I go to the market to pick up my farm-fresh Frances eggs, I have the incredible feeling of getting something for free since I prepaid for her adoption.
Our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) fruit share, through Native Offerings Farm is supplying us (and my friends Lori and Ted) with fruit each week for the whole summer and fall. Again, I go on Thursday evening after work to pick up my fruit and, arms swinging, no wallet on me, I walk away with fragrant fresh fruit. Heaven.
I feel good about the transactions, I feel great about the fact that I am supporting my local farmers directly through these programs and I feel positively amazing about the quality of food that I am getting through these avenues. The eggs that we are getting from Blossom Hill Farm are unlike any eggs I have ever had before. The yolks stand right up, verge on the color orange rather than yellow, and have an amazingly rich egg flavor. They are a variety of sizes and large ones are likely to have a double yolk. Mike says they taste more like eggs than the eggs we get from the grocery store or even the co-op.
We have started becoming creative with our uses for eggs. They are working their way into our diet more than ever before, which is convenient since we are getting a dozen a week for just two people. It is a good thing that chickens that are raised to be free-roaming and who peck around and eat what their bodies need have been shown to have eggs with lower levels of cholesterol and higher levels of essential fatty acids than industrially raised eggs.
These are wonderful in frittatas, meringues, poached with asparagus and mushrooms, or in a breakfast sandwich, but my favorite way to eat these is baked. This is something that I first learned about on Chocolate and Zucchini and I have since learned that the English word for this dish is "shirred" eggs. We just call them baked eggs in our house. Over a mixture of ham or turkey, sautéed shallot or onion and goat cheese, the egg is cracked and baked in a water bath for about 12 minutes. With slices of good toast for dipping in, this is an easy weeknight dinner.
Now, this may seem like a somewhat perverse version of adoption, but I feel pretty good about the way my chicken-child is living out her days. Plus, each week when I go to the market to pick up my farm-fresh Frances eggs, I have the incredible feeling of getting something for free since I prepaid for her adoption.
Our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) fruit share, through Native Offerings Farm is supplying us (and my friends Lori and Ted) with fruit each week for the whole summer and fall. Again, I go on Thursday evening after work to pick up my fruit and, arms swinging, no wallet on me, I walk away with fragrant fresh fruit. Heaven.
I feel good about the transactions, I feel great about the fact that I am supporting my local farmers directly through these programs and I feel positively amazing about the quality of food that I am getting through these avenues. The eggs that we are getting from Blossom Hill Farm are unlike any eggs I have ever had before. The yolks stand right up, verge on the color orange rather than yellow, and have an amazingly rich egg flavor. They are a variety of sizes and large ones are likely to have a double yolk. Mike says they taste more like eggs than the eggs we get from the grocery store or even the co-op.
We have started becoming creative with our uses for eggs. They are working their way into our diet more than ever before, which is convenient since we are getting a dozen a week for just two people. It is a good thing that chickens that are raised to be free-roaming and who peck around and eat what their bodies need have been shown to have eggs with lower levels of cholesterol and higher levels of essential fatty acids than industrially raised eggs.
These are wonderful in frittatas, meringues, poached with asparagus and mushrooms, or in a breakfast sandwich, but my favorite way to eat these is baked. This is something that I first learned about on Chocolate and Zucchini and I have since learned that the English word for this dish is "shirred" eggs. We just call them baked eggs in our house. Over a mixture of ham or turkey, sautéed shallot or onion and goat cheese, the egg is cracked and baked in a water bath for about 12 minutes. With slices of good toast for dipping in, this is an easy weeknight dinner.
Baked Eggs
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 shallot, chopped or 1/3 cup chopped onion
2 thick slices ham, chopped
1-2 oz goat cheese
2 fresh eggs
2 pieces good bread for toasting
Preheat oven to 425F. Put a kettle of water on to boil.
In a small fry pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat, add the shallot or onion, add a pinch of salt, and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Prepare two ramekins* with butter, oil or cooking spray. Add the cooked shallot or onion, the ham, and the goat cheese evenly between the two. Carefully crack the egg over the top of each, being certain not to break the yolks.
Place the two ramekins in a larger ovensafe baking dish. Fill the large baking dish with boiling water that reaches about halfway up the side of the ramekins. Bake for 12 minutes or until the whites are cooked but the yolks are still runny.
Serve with buttered toast of your choice for dipping.
(Serves 2)
*I think ramekins are just the greatest bakeware you can buy. They are absolutely adorable! The ones I use for this recipe are a 1 cup capacity and that seems to work well. An oven-safe bowl will always work, but this is a great excuse to get some ramekins. They are available through all the normal places, and there are always a few hiding at TJ Maxx (shh... don't tell!)
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