Wake up! May is National Egg Month
Eggs could be the perfect food, so get crackin’ and celebrate spring with an “eggsquisite” brunch.
Knock first. That’s the rule when entering the chicken house at Highspire Hills Farm in Glenmoore.
“If you don’t knock, it startles them, and they fly. And then you get a dust bath,” explained Duane Rehmeyer, who started small 25 years ago. Now his organically fed, cage-free hens lay 5,000 dozen eggs a month, supplying local restaurants and markets.
“I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been told by people these are the best eggs they’ve ever had,” he said. “We’re spoiled because we have them all the time.”
May’s National Egg Month, so get crackin’ and celebrate spring with an “eggs-quisite” brunch.
“My preference is just a really good cheese omelet,” Rehmeyer revealed, adding that his wife, Deborah Ellis, also makes delicious quiches.
Another option: a frittata. Think of it like an unfolded omelet or crustless quiche.
“I am a huge fan of frittatas,” said Rebecca Talbot, a blogger for Wolff’s Apple House in Media, which sells eggs from family farms in Chester and Lancaster counties. “Once you’ve figured out the basics, it’s such a flexible recipe.”
Try her roasted spring vegetable and Gorgonzola combo.
“You can make it in a big Pyrex pan,” she suggested. “It’s so easy to transport if you’re asked to bring something for brunch.”
Like fried eggs? Serve them on bagels with Talbot’s homemade dill-horseradish spread for “that extra pop of flavor.”
Back at Highspire Hills, ducks and geese roamed outside the two-story chicken house, which sports solar panels and a southern wall of curtains, letting in light and air. The farm’s also home to alpacas, goats, sheep and heritage-breed turkeys.
“There’s a huge difference in what we’re selling and the massproduced factory eggs,” Rehmeyer said. “People are getting eggs that are truly right from the farm.”
Any day and any way, “they really are the perfect food.”
Cheers to egg-white cocktails
Cook with eggs. Bake with eggs. And also shake with eggs… as in shake up an old-school cocktail.
“Egg whites are terrific to work with,” explained
Jared Adkins of Bluebird Distilling in Phoenixville. Acting as an emulsifier, “they actually make your drink sweeter and thicker.”
Sip a Clover Club, featuring his Juniperus Gin, raspberry syrup, lemon juice and egg white.
“It’s just our way of throwing it back to the classics,” said Adkins, who uses the reverse dry shake method for a “velvety” result.
Add the ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake, strain and shake again without ice.
“By dry shaking it, you’re changing it to a lighter, whipped cocktail,” he described. “It just changes the entire texture of a cocktail.”
Clover Club
Ingredients
1 ½ ounces Juniperus Gin 1
ounce raspberry syrup
3/4 ounce lemon juice Egg white Instructions
Reverse dry shake: Add the ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake, strain and shake again without ice. Serve in a coupe glass. Garnish with a dehydrated lemon wheel.
Note: If concerned about raw eggs, use pasteurized liquid egg whites.
RECIPE COURTESY OF BLUEBIRD DISTILLING
Bacon Cheddar Quiche
Ingredients For the crust:
2 cups flour
1 scant teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening (Crisco or other)
Up to 6 tablespoons ice water
For the filling:
12 eggs
2 cups half and half
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Salt and pepper, optional
16 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped onion, optional
Instructions
To make the crust: Mix flour, salt and shortening by hand with a serving fork. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, just until the mixture becomes crumbly. Push together to make a ball. Split ball in half. On a floured surface, roll each ball to flatten to 1/8-inch thickness.
To make the filling and assemble: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a mixer, mix eggs, half and half, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper until fluffy. Place a crust in each of two pie plates. Layer bacon, cheeses and onion on top of crust. Pour in egg mixture. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until a knife inserted into the center of the quiche comes out clean. Makes two quiches, about 8 to 12 servings.
RECIPE COURTESY OF HIGHSPIRE HILLS FARM
Roasted Spring Vegetable and Gorgonzola Frittata
Ingredients 8 eggs
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup Gorgonzola cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste Olive oil
1 medium tomato 3/4ofa:
Red bell pepper, sliced into big chunks
Yellow bell pepper, sliced into big chunks
Medium Vidalia onion, cut into eighths
Zucchini, sliced about 1-inch thick
Instructions
Arrange veggies in two baking dishes, giving them space, so they’ll brown nicely. Drizzle them with oil and roast at 400 degrees for about an hour. Halfway through, pull them out of the oven, flip every vegetable over and then continue roasting. Turn the oven down to 375 degrees. Beat the eggs until they’re nice and frothy. On the stovetop over medium heat, melt butter in an ovenproof pan. Spread the butter around, so it covers the bottom of the pan. Add the eggs and then the vegetables. Cook until the edges are set, about 5 minutes. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until the eggs are no longer runny. Carefully pull the pan out of the oven, sprinkle the eggs with Gorgonzola cheese and return the pan to the oven for another 3 to 5 minutes to melt the cheese. Serves 2to4. RECIPE COURTESY OF WOLFF’S APPLE HOUSE
Make Ahead Dill Horseradish Spread
Serve with a fried egg on a toasted bagel. Ingredients
8 ounces regular cream cheese
½ cup dill, washed and coarsely chopped
3 to 4 tablespoons prepared horseradish (or see below to make your own)
Salt, to taste Instructions
Using the paddle attachment on your electric mixer, whip together the cream cheese, dill and prepared horseradish until the cheese is nice and fluffy. Add salt to taste. Refrigerate in an airtight container overnight.
Make your own horseradish: Add ½ ounce horseradish, 1 to 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar and kosher salt to a food processor. Pulse into a paste. (Be careful of your eyes if you reach in to stir it). RECIPE COURTESY OF WOLFF’S APPLE HOUSE