Fresh eggs under glass

[Liana Krissoff]

A woman down the road just offered me all the fresh eggs I want, as her hens are producing more than she needs now. (In exchange she asked for some slow-cooker recipes. Who's getting the better deal here?) I'm not usually a huge morning-egg-eater, but I've really appreciated extra-fresh, bright-yellow ones when I've been lucky enough to have them. What would you make with good eggs that would show off how good they are? Omelets are a given, but do you have other, more elaborate ideas? Maybe something fancy and dinner-party-worthy? Desserts especially?

[KRS]

Slow-scrambled super-fresh eggs are to die for. They're worth every bit of the half hour of stirring.

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, slivered
8 fresh eggs (laid that morning if possible) at room temperature
⅛ teaspoon salt

1. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat with the salt and 1 tablespoon of the butter.

2. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a 9" nonstick skillet, using a heat diffuser over the lowest possible heat.

3. Add the eggs and stir constantly with a wooden spoon, incorporating the remaining butter sliver by sliver, taking 10-20 minutes. Nothing will happen for at least 15 minutes, but keep going.

4. The eggs will begin to set in small pieces, like cottage cheese. If they set in folds, the heat is too high. If you can't keep the heat low enough, remove the pan from the heat for 10 seconds at a time. The eggs will gradually thicken. When everything has thickened slightly, remove the pan from the heat and stir for another minute. They should be slightly curdy, and very moist. Whatever you do, don't cook them dry.

[alex8alot]

baked eggs over creamed spinach

[MarkC]

I tried this preparation, but with old, refrigerator eggs, as I didn't have freshly laid ones. Interestingly, the eggs never curdled. They just kept reducing and reducing until finally there was a thick, orange sludge that I had to throw away. What happened? Did I cook them too slowly, or do you actually need fresh eggs for this recipe to work?

[JenMarie66]

Chocolate mousse is a great way to use good eggs (and good chocolate). My Belgian grandmother makes a mean one. Someday I'll get her recipe & post it (in the meantime I'm sure you can find some good ones online).

[FoodFuser]

The beauty of day-old eggs lies in the firmness of the albumen.

I have an irregular source for day-olds, and always use them Un-scrambled situations where the ability of the white to stand firm is highlighted. The vibrant yolk of well-fed chickens will keep it's color characteristics for weeks. Focus on the albumen. Thus:

Fried, with the gentler variants of steam frying (adding drops of water with a lid to steam)

Poached, where the white does not strand into wisps as easily as do week-old eggs.

Imbedded, as in Flavourgals ideas above, or a last-few-minutes egg atop a depression in pizza.

Shirred or baked eggs, that find the level of a walled container, can be done just as well with older eggs.

Don't forget homemade mayonnaise.

Count your blessings that you have a dependable and friendly source for these gems.

[hotoynoodle]

i served gnocchi with truffles and poached fresh eggs the other night as a 1st course. sublime. eggs like that are so yummy, i like to show them off.

[chowser]

For something simple, a carbonara.

[FlavoursGal]

There's also a great North African/Israeli dish called shakshouka, which consists of cooked-down tomatoes, onions and peppers, finished with the addition of eggs which are cracked open onto the mixture.

http://kosherfood.about.com/od/kosher...

[Den]

You could also make fresh pasta dough and freeze it if you have a lot of eggs.

[FlavoursGal]

Liana, my absolute favourite egg dish is a French classic called Oeufs en Meurette, eggs poached in red wine and served over croutes (fried bread) in a thickened red wine, bacon and mushroom sauce. Incroyable!!

I've eaten it only in restaurants, but here's a recipe.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/rec...

[pescatarian]

One of the chefs made these (or at least they looked similar to what you describe) on Iron Chef America last week. They looked very good.

[FlavoursGal]

I've enjoyed this dish in France, but I've also eaten it at Over Easy (!!!) on Bloor just west of Avenue Rd. Sometimes they get it right and it's very good; other times it tastes like the sauce has been re-heated from frozen.

[pescatarian]

I would make a fried egg sandwich with the egg still runny (like the one in Spanglish).
Poached eggs over a bistro salad.
Something like a strata might be a waste of such fine eggs?