The Incredible, Edible Egg | Triangle Arts and Entertainment

May is National Egg month and to celebrate I took the kids to the Sumner-Byrd Farm and Hatchery in Holly Springs. What fun we had! In addition to receiving a great tour of the farm/hatchery, Roy and David loaded us down with some fresh chicken and quail eggs. I never had quail eggs before and decided to pickle them. This is an easy and tasty way to prepare these tiny little eggs, and the recipe is at the end of this post. I used some of the fresh chicken eggs to make a classic quiche Lorraine, which I blogged about last week.

The Sumner-Byrd business services include selling certain breeds of eggs for hatching, and fresh eggs for eating (chicken, duck, goose and quail.) They also sell chicken chicks, quail chicks, guinea keets, ducklings and goslings. Visit Roy and David?s website for additional information, hours, directions, etc. It is well worth the trip to get local, fresh eggs in the Triangle area.

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Before I visited the bird farm, I recently had made some jalapeno deviled eggs that are a great alternative to the traditional ones, especially if you like a little heat. Here?s the easy-to-make recipe.

Jalapeno Deviled Eggs

Ingredients

• One dozen eggs, hard boiled
• ? cup light mayonnaise
• ? cup sweet pickle relish
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
• Diced pickled jalapenos (add as many or few as you like)
• Salt to taste
• Sliced stuffed olives for garnish (optional)
• Paprika (optional)

Preparation

Slice the shelled eggs in half lengthwise, and scoop out the yellow cooked yolks into a bowl. Smash them with a fork. Add the mayo, relish, mustard, vinegar, jalapenos and salt, and mix until you have a nice and creamy filling.

Pipe or spoon the mixture into the egg halves. Top with a sliced olive and sprinkle with paprika if desired. Chill before serving.

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These are a wonderful side dish with just the right kick of heat for any upcoming summer picnic or cookout.

Pickled Quail Eggs

As I previously mentioned, Roy and David gave me some quail eggs that I decided to pickle. I only had a dozen of these tiny eggs, so I included some regular eggs in order to fill up my pint jar. Both types of eggs turned out great!

Ingredients

• 24 fresh quail eggs
• ? cup cider vinegar
• ? medium beet, peeled and grated (wear gloves when working with the beet unless you want pink fingers)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons pickling spice (I used the spice that makes bread and butter pickles)
• 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns

Combine all of the ingredients (except the eggs) in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove this mixture from the heat and allow it to cool to room temperature.

Place the eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and remove pan from heat, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and let sit for 3 minutes. Place them in a ice water bath until they are cold, about 5 minutes or so. Carefully peel the eggs and place them in a sterilized pint jar.

Strain the cooled pickling liquid and discard whatever is left in the colander. Pour the strained mixture over the eggs and seal the jar. Refrigerate for a couple of days. Serve these eggs as part of a pickle tray or even on their own.

Bon app?tit!

Eat, drink and be merry!

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patsy cline pierre thomas