Enjoying the Bounty of our Homestead

All four of the chickens are now laying which means I've got quite a few eggs!  We gather between two and four eggs each day which can pile up quickly with only three people in the household.  Today I decided to make one of my favorite recipes which not only uses up my farm fresh eggs, but also incorporates the dozens of cherry tomatoes and basil from our garden. 

Tomato, Garlic and Potato Frittata.

The light blue-green eggs are from Cleo, our Ameraucana.



Sun Gold and Isis Candy cherry tomatoes from our garden.  Our sweet 100 cherries were devoured by our chickens.



I found this recipe on Epicurious.com and lists it as being from Gourmet Magazine from 2001.  I love Epicurious because their iPhone app is so user friendly!  I can search for a recipe by putting keywords, dish types or ingredients then prop up my phone in the kitchen and not have to print a recipe.  Here is the recipe:

• 6 whole large eggs
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan (2 ounces)
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 pound boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 2 cups grape tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes (6 oz)

Preparation

Whisk together whole eggs, whites, 1/4 cup Parmesan, basil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in large bowl.

Preheat broiler.

Cook garlic in 1 tablespoon oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet (preferably nonstick and ovenproof) over moderate heat, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute. Transfer garlic with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

Add potatoes to skillet and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring, until just tender, about 6 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to bowl with garlic.

Add 1 tablespoon oil and tomatoes to skillet and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until tomatoes brown and skins split, about 4 minutes.

Add remaining tablespoon oil and potatoes with garlic to skillet, spreading evenly, and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Pour egg over vegetables and cook over moderately high heat, lifting up cooked egg around edges to let uncooked egg flow underneath, 3 minutes. Reduce heat to moderate and cook, covered, 5 minutes more (center will be moist).

Remove lid and broil frittata 5 to 7 inches from heat until set, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle top evenly with remaining 1/4 cup parmesan, then broil until cheese melts and frittata is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes more.

Slide onto a platter and cut into 4 wedges.

A couple of changes I made were that I added pancetta and only used two cloves of garlic.  I just felt that 4 cloves were too much with the great flavor of the farm fresh eggs.  I also reversed the order of adding the potatoes and tomatoes to the pan.  It was counter intuitive to me that the tomatoes would cook longer than the potatoes. 

So tasty!  Fresh out of the oven.

 A simple, lovely recipe to share with your brunch guests that makes the most our of your summer veggies and herbs.

Chicken or the Egg?

This question is not a mystery.  I know the answer.  The chicken comes before the egg. 

Two of the four chickens are laying now.  Rosie and Sarah.  Rosie's eggs are slightly bigger and darker than Sarah's.  I knew from reading the many chicken books I've accumulated over the past few months which ones were laying.  There are some telltale signs.  First one is the deep red color of their combs and wattles.


This is Rosie, my first layer.

 Second sign is that they get a little disheveled looking.  Their normally shiny coat gets a little dull and dirty.  They also do this strange little squatting thing when I approach them, but I haven't read anything about that yet. 


The beautiful and smart-as-a-whip, Sarah, layer of the cutest little buff colored eggs.

 Third sign is that these gals can seriously chow down!  They'll eat virtually anything I give them.  But their favorites are fallen apples, nectarines and pears from our trees, corn cobs from our homegrown corn, some of which I left on the stalk too long so was only suitable for beaks, cherry tomatoes stolen from my struggling crop while I chase them shaking my fist, cucumber peals, and best of all, grub worms that I pull out of the compost bin for them.  Yum yum. 

They nearly always have their beaks in the ground, except of course when they are chasing either my daughter or me around the yard when we shake a container of hen scratch, (which we lovingly call "chicken crack") a mix of various bird seed and cracked corn.

Today I noticed only three birds were out wandering in the yard so I checked the coop.  Rosie was nesting so I decided to shoot some photos of the action.  It was exciting to witness a chicken actually laying an egg. 

As you can see, she lifted herself up a bit and the feathers on her back separated and raised then suddenly "PLOP!"  She panted a bit, scooted the egg around with her comb and wattled away.  I quickly snatched up the warm egg. 

A perfect egg.  Tomorrow at around the same time of day, this will happen again.