Jennifer Trainer Thompson - The Fresh Egg Cookbook: From Chicken to Kitchen, Recipes for Using Eggs from Farmers’ Markets, Local Farms, and Your Own Backyard

A good fresh tribute to good fresh eggs.

Roy Blount Jr.

Made with a true egg, even the friendliest fried-egg-over-easy is once again sublime. And now that people are starting to experience the difference between the real thing and the pallid supermarket version, its a good time to revisit all those wonderful egg dishes (and some new ones) that may have been forgotten but are worth reviving. Personally, I cant wait to make Jennifers popovers!

Deborah Madison, author of Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from Americas Farmers Markets and Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

This is a lovely and eminently practical book to have handy on your kitchen shelf chock-full of sensible and delicious ways to put fresh eggs to good use. But beware: Once youve tasted a fresh egg, theres no going back. If youve ever even considered keeping your own chickens, The Fresh Egg Cookbook just might be the catalyst for buying the coop!

Danny Meyer, coauthor of The Union Square Cafe Cookbook

Sculptural, earthy, and oh-so-versatile, fresh eggs have captured the imagination of Jennifer Trainer Thompson, who has written a timely and entertaining egg-centric cookbook. She offers practical information about raising chickens (easy!), and her mouthwatering recipes range from the simple (classic egg salad sandwich) to the sublime (souffl glac au citron).

Vicky Lowry, Executive Editor of ELLE DECOR

A delightful introduction to the pleasures of backyard chickens, The Fresh Egg Cookbook is filled with helpful information for those who want to start their own flock and great-looking recipes for those who already have.

Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change

FROM CHICKEN TO KITCHEN
Recipes for Using Eggs from
Farmers Markets, Local Farms,
and Your Own Backyard

Jennifer Trainer Thompson

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by
publishing practical information that encourages
personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Margaret Sutherland and Sarah Guare
Art direction by Mary Winkelman Velgos
Book design and text production by Amanda Jane Jones

Cover photography by Jason Houston (back) and Mars Vilaubi (front and spine)

Interior photography by Adam Mastoon: pages 10 (top and bottom) and 11 (fourth from top); Debbi Smirnoff/iStockphoto.com: (top three)

Photo styling by Catrine Kelty

Food preparation by Jody Fijal

Indexed by Christine R. Lindemer, Boston Road Communications

2012 by Jennifer Trainer Thompson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other without written permission from the publisher.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information.

Storey books are available for special premium and promotional uses and for customized editions. For further information, please call 1-800-793-9396.

Storey Publishing
210 MASS MoCA Way
North Adams, MA 01247
www.storey.com

Printed in China by Toppan Leefung Printing Ltd.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thompson, Jennifer Trainer.

The fresh egg cookbook / Jennifer Trainer Thompson.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-60342-978-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Cooking (Eggs) 2. Cookbooks. 3. ChickensBreeding.

4. EggsProduction. I. Title.

TX745.T46 2012

641.675dc23
2011025028

WHICH CAME FIRST?
CLASSICS

CHICKS WHO RIP
BREAKFAST

HOT WHEELS
LUNCH & DINNER

FRESH QUIET EGGS
EGG-CESS

SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT
VEGETARIAN DISHES

DID YOU REMEMBER THE CHICKENS?
DESSERTS

While it may take a coop, not a village, to keep chickens, it also takes sustained effort on my familys part, and I dedicate this book to Isabel and Trainer, as well as Big Joe Daddy-O not to mention the late Hot Wheels, who helped us set it all in motion.

Id like to thank those who shared recipes with me, including Jeanne Besser, Verna Thompson, Judith Thompson, Mary Jane Thompson, Cecilia Hirsch, Darra Goldstein, Doug Carver, and my husband, Joe. Id also like to extend special kudos to Jody Fijal, my loyal recipe tester; stylist Catrine Kelty; photographer Jason Houston; and Cathy Dow, who babysits all my chicks with humor and aplomb. What a great team! I am also thankful to those who shared their chicken tales: John Gerry, Laura Schoenbaum, and Lauren Gotlieb. We love our gals.

Im also so pleased to be in bed with, or at the very least, cooped up with, the folks at Storey Publishing, who are housed in the nineteenth-century mill campus of MASS MoCA along the Hoosac River, which flows past my house. I can bike to meet my editor for coffee, and am grateful to Pam Art, Margaret Sutherland, Sarah Guare, Mary Velgos, Deborah Balmuth, Dan Reynolds, Alee Marsh, and Amy Greeman at Storey for welcoming me under the Workman umbrella.

Omne vivum ex ovo.

(All life comes from an egg.)

Latin proverb

Nine years ago, my father suggested that I walk over to his neighbors yard with my four-year-old son, Trainer, to see their chickens.

Chickens?

My father lived near Boston, in a cul-de-sac of trim Cape Cod houses, paved driveways, and manicured rhododendrons not particularly rural by any stretch. Curious, we went over. Their flock of feathered hens was taking in the warm spring afternoon, pecking, clucking, eyeing us quizzically with heads cocked, and making jerky movements that were full of nervous personality. We were amused. I peppered the neighbor with the usual questions: How did he build a coop in the back of his garage? What do they eat? How does he protect the chickens from predators? He reached under a sitting hen in her nest (she gave a disgruntled squawk) and pulled out a few brown speckled eggs for us to take home. As I tucked them into my jacket pocket, I noticed they were still warm. I kept touching them, fondling them, really, relishing the feel and shape all the way home. I left them in a basket on the kitchen counter until morning.