Family recipe Monday: farm eggs

Farm eggs

The crops may not be doing well this summer (whether you are in the parched areas or the drowned ones), but the chickens seems to be fat and happy. Everyone not actually within the city limits (where chicken-keeping is banned) seems to have a dozen eggs to hand over in return for, oh, just about anything. Three wet summers and a couple of grasshopper explosions up here seem to have given the hens everything they need to produce thick-shelled eggs with neon orange yolks, often double. It's painful to have to go back to store eggs in the winter.  

Here are a couple of ideas for breaking eggs and making something even better than omelets. Not that there is anything wrong with the deceptively simple, perfect omelet...

Frittata

2 T olive oil

2/3 cup chopped onion

2/3 cup chopped green pepper

½ cup chopped unpared zucchini

½ cup diced skinned, seeded tomato

1 cup unpeeled diced (½") eggplant

5 large eggs

1/3 cup light cream

½ tsp. salt

Pinch of pepper

½ cup diced (½")bread

4 oz grated cheddar cheese

8-oz pkg. cream cheese, diced (½”)

In a 10" skillet, heat the oil. Add all the vegetables and cook without browning, stirring often, until eggplant is tender (~15 minutes). Beat eggs, cream, salt and pepper until blended. Add vegetables, bread and cheddar cheese. Fold in cream cheese. Pour into a well-greased 9” pie plate. Bake in a preheated 350^o F oven until a knife inserted in center comes out clean (about 30-35 minutes) Cool for 10 minutes and cut into wedges.

Oven pancakes

Preheat oven to 475^o. In a 9"x9" glass dish, place 3 T butter; melt in oven. Do NOT brown.

Remove from oven. Pour in well-mixed batter of

3 eggs

¾ cup flour, ¾ cup milk

Juice of 1 lemon (optional)

½ tsp vanilla (optional)

Bake 10-12 minutes or until puffed and golden. Serve with powdered sugar and lemon juice (traditional), berries, jam, syrup, toasted almonds or macadamias and butter.

Serves 3. If making for 4 or more, add 1 egg, ¼ cup flour and ¼ cup milk for each person, 1 extra tsp for each, and larger pan.

--Pat Monaco

Happy Monday, happy Fourth.