From Jeff Cox

A truly good egg is organic. It has a smooth, thick shell due to the abundant minerals in the hen’s diet. When you crack it open, the yolk is a rich, dark orange and stands up tall above the white. The white is gelatinous, with substance—it doesn’t just spill out across the pan or bowl. It has a light greenish-yellow tint that indicates it’s high in riboflavin. It has a prominent chalaza, the thick white albumin string that centers the yolk in the shell.

Also, the truly good egg is a pullet egg—from a hen in her youth. Hens start laying around their 18th week of life. By their 31st week, they are termed adults and will lay for about the next two years. But in those 13 weeks between 18 and 31, they produce small, extra high quality pullet eggs. Chefs and pastry chefs know about this and use pullet eggs to make their souffles rise higher and puffier, to add lusciousness to their ice creams, to give their omelets lightness, to give their cakes better texture. With eggs, bigger is not better. Large, extra large, and jumbo eggs are from older hens.

Where do you find truly good eggs? Well, not from factory farms where hens spend their lives cooped up in tiny cages under 24-hour-a-day lighting, fed genetically modified and pesticide-sprayed corn, and given routine antibiotics to prevent the diseases that would otherwise flourish in these smelly, noisy, inhumane conditions.

You’re most likely to run into truly good eggs if you keep a coop of chickens yourself. Your birds will have a henhouse for protection at night, and a fenced-in scratch yard strong enough to keep out the fox. You’ll feed them organic grain and mineral supplements, but also vegetable kitchen scraps. And in the fall you’ll empty bushel baskets of leaves in there. As the chickens scratch and tear apart the leaves looking for insects, they layer their manure into the shredded leaves. You’d save this precious, fertile mulch for your spring garden. I know of a henhouse like this at a friend’s house on the Mendocino coast. She gathers fresh eggs in the morning from the hen house, still warm from the hen. These eggs are simply indescribably delicious.

If you don’t want to or can’t keep chickens yourself, you might be lucky enough to have an organic farmer near you who sells farm-raised organic eggs. The organic part is crucially important. According to the standards for the National Organic Program, “All organically raised animals must have access to the outdoors… They may be temporarily confined only for reasons of health, safety, the animal’s stage of production, or to protect soil or water quality.”

You’ll see eggs at the store labeled “Cage Free.” That simply means they are living in a room somewhere—not confined to cages—but with no access necessarily to Mother Nature’s great outdoors. And who’s to say you can’t cram way too many hens into that room? No shenanigans allowed when eggs are organic. Organic hens can breathe fresh air. You may also see “Vegetarian” eggs. That simply means they are not fed any animal byproducts. They could still be raised in cages. And you may see eggs labeled as “Omega-3.” That simply means that flaxseed has been added to their feed to boost the amount of omega-3 essential fatty acid in the egg. That’s a good thing, but unless they’re organic, they could still be raised in either cages or confinement rooms. You might also see eggs labeled “Fertile.” That simply means that a rooster is allowed to run with the hens. Farmers chiefly do this to get eggs to incubate and make chicks to replace their older hens. Fertile eggs were once thought to be superior to non-fertile eggs in nutritional terms, but my research can find no evidence of that. In fact, fertile eggs have a shorter shelf life and are more expensive to produce (you have to feed the roosters). By the way, that little blood spot you sometimes find in eggs is not evidence that they’re fertile. It’s caused by a rupture of a blood vessel on the yolk’s surface during formation of the egg. As the egg ages, water moves from the white into the yolk, diluting that blood spot. So the presence of the blood spot actually indicates a fresh egg. You can determine whether an egg is fertile or not by looking at the germ spot, which is the white spot on the yolk. The non-fertile germ spot is solid white. In the center of a fertile germ spot is a donut-like circular ring with a somewhat clear center.

Incidentally, white, brown, or any other color hens’ eggs are nutritionally the same.
For many years, the high cholesterol content of egg yolks made them anathema to health-conscious folks who wanted to cut their cholesterol levels. But today, according to Dr. Clare M. Hasler, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois, “It is now known that there is little if any connection between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol levels.”

Nutrition experts have now concluded that people on a low-fat diet can eat one or two eggs a day without measurable changes in their blood cholesterol levels. This information is supported by a statistical analysis of 224 dietary studies carried out over the past 25 years that investigated the relationship between diet and blood cholesterol levels in over 8,000 subjects. What investigators found was that saturated fat, not dietary cholesterol, is what influences blood cholesterol levels the most. In addition, Dr. Hasler notes that “…eggs are an excellent dietary source of many essential and non-essential components that may promote optimal health.”

For instance, eggs are a great source of low-cost, high-quality protein, providing 5.5 grams of protein (about 12 percent of our daily requirement) in one egg at only 68 calories. One egg yolk also provides 300 micrograms of choline, a precursor of acetylcholine—the substance that allows our muscles to obey our brains. Choline is a vitamin-like compound (some nutritionists contend that it is a vitamin) that is an essential part of the human diet. Without it, no cell in the human body could function normally.

It turns out that eggs also protect us against stroke-causing, heart-attack causing blood clots; against macular degeneration of the eyes and cataracts in advancing age; against Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive decline, and are a good source of biotin, which boosts our energy and promotes skin health and nervous system function. All this shouldn’t surprise me. My mother’s dad lived to be 93 in very good health. He started each day with a soft-boiled egg, a slice of whole grain bread, and a glass of hot water and lemon juice.

That’s the good news. The extra good news about eggs is their role in cooking. Because of their molecular make-up, they serve many unique functions in recipes, including coagulation, foaming, emulsification, and browning. The first time I made a Genoise cake, I was astonished at its lightness. I shouldn’t have been, since it’s made primarily from eggs.

Eggs are an excellent source of vitamin K, selenium, biotin, tryptophan, vitamin B2, vitamin B12, iodine, pantothenic acid, Vitamin D, protein (and it’s a complete protein), phosphorus, and vitamin A (in the form of lutein and zeaxanthin, which are carotenoids and have a central role in protecting the eyes).

For your own sake, for the sake of the birds who give them to us, for the sake of the organic farmers who are striving to do things correctly, and for the sake of the earth, find a source of organic eggs.

Recipe: A Fine Omelet

I learned to make an omelet from the late Julia Child. Not personally—although I was honored to have crossed her path a few times—but from one of her television programs many years ago. Over the years I’ve added a fillup here, subtracted a fillup there, but now turn out omelets that my wife says are the best she’s ever had. But of course, she’s prejudiced…isn’t she?

2 fresh organic eggs
1 Tbl. water
1 Tbl. unsalted butter
2 Tbl. diced onion
1 Tbl. chopped red sweet pepper
1 Tbl. peeled, seeded, chopped fresh tomato
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. olive oil
2 Tbl. shredded Gruyere

The pan is all important. Ideally, you need a dedicated omelet pan, one with sloping sides and a slick finish so the eggs won’t stick. When you wash it, don’t scratch it. Treat it gently and it will reward you with excellent omelets. Crack two eggs into a shallow bowl and add one tablespoon of water. Using the back of a fork, combine the eggs and the water without whipping, beating, or folding them. Just swirl them horizontally with the back of the fork, avoiding incorporating any air bubbles into the eggs. They don’t need to be homogenized, just well mixed. In a small skillet, cook the diced onion, red pepper, and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat until the onions are clear, about three or four minutes. Turn them into a small bowl. Shred the Gruyere and place it in a small bowl. Place the omelet pan on medium-high heat. Omelets should be made quickly—but not too quickly. This is a delicate dish that needs a delicate touch. Place the butter in the pan. The water in the butter will foam and fizz. When it stops, lift the pan off the heat, swirl the butter in the bottom of the pan to coat the bottom, then return to the heat and pour in the egg and water mixture. Sprinkle on the cheese. Sprinkle on the onion, pepper, and garlic. Sprinkle on the tomato. Work quickly. When the egg has set and the cheese melted, probably just a minute or so, run your metal spatula under the omelet so it’s loose in the pan. Shake it back and forth to insure that it slides. Using two spatulas, flip it so the circular omelet is folded into a half-moon. Slip it out of the pan onto a warmed plate. Grind one or two turns of black pepper over the top and serve immediately. If you like spicy heat, finely dice a jalapeno, serrano, or—if you dare!—a habanero pepper and add a sprinkle to the omelet along with the tomato. Makes one omelet.

Hard-Boiled Eggs

You’d be surprised how many people don’t know how to hard-boil an egg. This method guarantees success, with no breakage, every time. Place eggs in a pan and add water to cover the eggs by an inch. Turn on the heat and bring to a full boil. As soon as the water reaches the full boil, remove the pan from the heat and cover it. Let it stand, covered, for 15 minutes. Cool the eggs under running cold water to stop the cooking. You’ll be amazed at the quality of these eggs.

Poached Eggs

You’d be surprised how many people don’t know how to poach an egg. Break the eggs into a small bowl, being careful not to break the yolks (using the freshest possible eggs insures this). Bring three inches of lightly salted poaching water to a boil, then reduce heat and keep it to a slow simmer before adding eggs. Stir the poaching water to create a whirlpool well in the center. Hold the bowl close to the water and when the well has formed, slip the eggs into it. Poach the eggs for four minutes. Remove them from the water gently, using a slotted spoon. Let them drain thoroughly. Place them on warmed plates. You can trim off any strands of white at the edges if you want to improve their looks.

A Hot Frittata

Set an omelet pan or other smooth sided pan over low heat on the stove top. Spray with non-stick cooking spray and add a pat of butter. In a bowl, add two small eggs, three tablespoons of grated white cheddar cheese, and julienned strips of ham made by rolling up a thin slice of deli ham, cutting 1/8-inch rounds, then cutting the rounds in half. Mix eggs, cheese, and ham in the bowl until the eggs are thoroughly mixed, then pour the mixture into the pan. Turn the heat up to medium-low. When the eggs are almost completely set, about four minutes or so, shake the pan until the frittata comes loose or loosen it with the edge of a metal spatula. Either flip the frittata so it lands upside down in the pan, or if your confidence in flipping is low, pass the pan under a broiler for a minute or so until the top is set. Slide the frittata onto a warm plate and serve with whole grain toast.
~~
Also see: Farmgirl Susan’s Oatmeal Toasting Bread
Jeff Cox is author of The Organic Cook’s Bible and lives in Sonoma County, California.
Image Credit: FarmGirl Fare
Jeff’s Posts
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From Lisa Barnes

My children (I think like most) do not like to see mom on the telephone. As soon as the phone rings the mayhem starts. We could all be playing nicely together, but when I get on the phone my children suddenly fight, yell and generally misbehave. I finally got the reason for this behavior out of my son. He said “we don’t want you to stop playing with us”. Oh that’s sweet and I can’t argue with that – no one likes to be interrupted, but the truth is sometimes I have to take or make a call. Naptime (they don’t nap at the same time) and late at night doesn’t always work, especially for Midwest agents and East Coast publishers.

I told my son I will be brief and try to avoid calls, however he needs to understand the exceptions (see above agent and publisher). So my son is 4 years old and understands to leave his sister alone when I am on the phone. However my daughter at 17 months doesn’t care who’s on the phone and she demands (read screams loudly and grabs at me) to talk too. However I have found a way to keep my daughter happy if I have to make or accept an afternoon call… minestrone soup. Yes that’s right. Not only does my daughter love the taste of minestrone soup but she is fiercely independent and needs to spoon it for herself.

Here’s how the preparation goes. Set phone call time for afternoon when my son is napping (or at least mellow) and daughter will be hungry (about 2 p.m.) Next, always have soup on hand (see recipe below). Two minutes before scheduled call, strip daughter down to diaper for ease of clean-up. After caller answers, set lukewarm bowl of soup in front of daughter and hand her a small spoon. Sit at table to multi-task – taking notes from conversation and watching to be sure soup is not depleted and child is not eating too fast (avoid choking incident). I now have about 15 – 20 minutes of quiet time, and a content child. I’m sure to end conversation before she stands up in highchair, gives “all-done” sign or drops bowl on the floor.

Of course a bath should follow…

Organic Minestrone Soup

Minestrone soup is a great way to use an abundance from your garden and also get your family to eat a healthy dose of vegetables. Feel free to substitute left-over meats in place of the turkey, or skip the meat and make it a classic vegetarian meal.

Olive oil, 3 tablespoons, divided
Organic ground turkey, ½ pound
Salt, ¼ teaspoon
Pepper, ¼ teaspoon
Dried oregano, 1 teaspoon
Leek, ½, sliced, about 1/3 cup
Carrot, 1 medium, chopped, about 1/3 cup
Zucchini, 1 medium, chopped, about ¾ cup
Green Beans, 2 ounces, chopped, about 1/3 cup
Celery, 1 stalk, chopped, about ¼ cup
Organic Vegetable stock, 1 quart
Vine ripened tomatoes, 3 medium, about 2 cups
Tomato paste, 2 tablespoons
Fresh thyme, 1 tablespoon
Organic Cannellini beans, 1 cup, rinsed and drained
Elbow macaroni, ¼ cup
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan, over medium heat. Add turkey, salt, pepper and oregano, stirring and breaking up turkey meat. Cook until no longer pink, about 4 – 5 minutes. Remove turkey with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add leek, carrots, zucchini, green beans and celery. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in stock, tomatoes, thyme and paste and heat on medium high. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Add cannellini beans and stock and macaroni and simmer for 10 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Add turkey to heat, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Makes about 6 cups
~~
Lisa Barnes is author of The Petit Appetit Cookbook: Easy, Organic Recipes to Nurture Your Baby and Toddler and lives in Sausalito, California.
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From Jesse Cool

Having gone through lean financial times, I learned how to cook with cuts of meat that are less expensive and typically need slow cooking to tenderize the meat. Chuck or pot roast is a cut of beef that I love. Through hours of cooking over low heat, the meat becomes tender, absorbing seasonings and flavors of the ingredients that are cooked alongside.

1 organic chuck or bottom round roast (about 3 pounds)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 cups organic vegetable or beef broth
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
10 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
3 large organic sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
3 large organic leeks, whites only, sliced and washed thoroughly
12 dried apricot halves, chopped

Preheat the oven to 500°F.

Place the roast in a large roasting pan and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast for 45 minutes, turning once.

Meanwhile, in a large measuring cup, combine the broth, mustard, garlic, and thyme.

Reduce the heat to 350°F. Pour the broth mixture over the meat, cover, and roast for 1 hour. Add the sweet potatoes, leeks, and apricots.

Roast for 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender when tested with a fork.

Makes 8 servings.
~~
Jesse Cool is author of Simply Organic: A Cookbook for Sustainable, Seasonal, and Local Ingredients, owner of CoolEatz Restaurants and Catering, and lives in Menlo Park, California.
Photo by Lisa Koenig
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From Gene Logsdon
Garden Farm Skills

Surprise, surprise. The work ethic, before which our culture bows down in adoration, can result in failure perhaps as often as it does success. I came to that conclusion after many years of trying to follow an ecologically-sustainable lifestyle out on the ramparts of society, and after reading hundreds of letters from others trying to do the same.

Real success in this endeavor (if not all endeavors) comes more often from a healthy dose of shrewd, laid-back laziness. We Americans are just too ambitious for our own good and in an effort to gain success (tranquility being the best measure of a successful life) we carry the habits of the commercial workplace into our private lives and over-extend ourselves with activities that are really unnecessary and even harmful. The only cure for it, at least in my case, was getting older and running out of all that eager energy I once possessed. Nowadays, my first order of business in all homestead endeavors is: “Do nothing you can put off until tomorrow. It might not need to be done at all.” In other words, there are times when “work ethic” is an oxymoron.

Eager beginners, seeking a more independent life style on a little farm or even a big backyard, have a tendency to bite off more than they can chaw. Instead of setting out ten tomato plants, they set out 50. Instead of half a dozen hens, they try 40. I can reel off a whole litany of painful examples of what happens next.

a.) A gardener became enamored with the “labor-saving” advantages of mulch gardening. In one exploding orgasm of sweat, (mostly his children’s) he covered nearly half an acre with about a foot of old hay before he had even the slightest experience with what he was doing. Sure enough, he licked the weed problem for awhile, but he never got even half of the area planted to anything except the weeds that grew up from the seeds in the hay. And ever afterwards, his children hated gardening.

b.) A wife, explaining to me the last straw that sent her into divorce proceedings: “He — meaning her husband (you know there is trouble on the way when someone starts referring to a spouse with a pronoun), — he planted an acre of sweet corn and then expected me to pick, shuck, and freeze it all while he was off at his day job in an air-conditioned office.”

c.) A shepherd bought eight sheep, mostly for the very smart purpose of taking the place of mowing brush land. The sheep prospered and resulted in lamb chops for several families. The shepherd could not resist more sheep. He turned his little lambing shed into a much bigger shelter that the sheep did not need since they could do just fine behind a windbreak of trees. Then he had to buy hay because the pasture was not enough. Soon the poor sheep became infested with worms from overcrowded pastures, the lambs grew only slowly if at all, and all the lazy-man’s efficiency of the small flock was lost. P.S. The shepherd suffered a hernia trying to drag a ewe out of a tangled, broken-down fence.

In so many cases including my own, the time and work of keeping a big garden would be better invested in a smaller one because even in the event that the bigger garden does produce more, much of it goes to waste. When she died, my grandmother left a cellar burgeoning with canned fruit and vegetables too old to eat. We have followed in her footsteps by way of the freezer and end up throwing old stuff out to make room for new. Jonathan Swift, among others, heaped praise upon those who could make two blades of corn or grass grow where only one had grown before. Often one is enough.

The glorification of neatness that grips so many of us is another result of the much abused work ethic. The last time I looked at the statistics, we were mowing 30 million acres of lawn, not counting the miles of mowed grass along highways and byways. To do that we burn eight hundred million gallons of fuel (see chapter 4 of my book, All Flesh Is Grass). That amount of mowing could easily be halved if we weren’t culturally addicted to lawns that resemble rugs.

The neatness addiction can lead to the hospital bed rather than the hammock. One hard-working neatnik I know mows several acres of steep hillside that he should let grow up in interesting weeds, bushes, wildlife cover and finally trees. Every year he risks death from overturning a tractor on that hillside.

The whole agricultural trend in America rests on the notion that hard work is virtuous and its reward prosperity. One of my most searing memories is of a farmer who told me many years ago, as he sold out, that “I worked so hard I didn’t take time to see if I was making any money.” This worship of the work ethic has led to a worldwide system of farming that is becoming ridiculous. We tear up millions of acres of soil every year with huge, fuel-gulping machines, opening the land to erosion and compaction. We plant annual grains with other huge machines, racing rainstorms in the spring to get all those acres planted. We apply fertilizers that are going sky high in price right now, and spray pesticides, also expensive, meanwhile praying that neither flood, drought, nor hail destroys the crops. Then we lumber through the fields on more huge machines, racing weather again to get the harvest in, truck the grains in semis to handling facilities where zillions of dollars worth of natural gas are used to dry the grains for safe storage. From storage, the grains are then shipped all over the world, mostly to feed animals in huge confinement factories. Then the meat, dairy products and eggs are shipped far and wide to the ultimate consumer.

There is a practical alternative, especially for brilliantly-lazy, small-scale farmers. Plant the fields to permanent and semi-permanent grasses and legumes, ending almost all annual cultivation and much of the horrendous cost involved. Allow animals to graze those pastures for their food, becoming both harvesting machine and fertilizer spreader in the process, leaving the farmer free to oversee the process by improving his pastures and resting under a shade tree much of the time. Then when this kind of lazy farming spreads all over the countryside, most of the meat, dairy products and eggs can be sold locally.

This is not a dream. Grass farmers are actually making it happen. Surely all farmers will some day shed their myopic admiration for the work ethic and do likewise. Buy stock in hammocks.
~~
Gene and Carol Logsdon have a small-scale experimental farm in Wyandot County, Ohio.
Author: The Mother of All Arts: Agrarianism and the Creative Impulse (Culture of the Land) 2007
Gene’s latest book: The Last of the Husbandmen: A Novel of Farming Life
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From Jeff Cox

It’s not only important that your cooking oils are organic and free of agricultural adulterants and chemicals, but that they are the right oils for the type of cooking you’re doing. A lack of understanding can be detrimental to your health.

When oil used for frying or sautéing gives off smoke, it not only emits an acrid smell, but healthy fats in the oil can be transformed into unhealthy trans fats. In addition, free radicals are formed that can oxidize cholesterol in your bloodstream to create artery-clogging plaque.

Discard any oil that has reached its smoke point. Use this table to determine which oil is the best to use for your purposes.

Of all these oils, the one with the most health benefits is olive oil. Unfortunately, most of the olive oil sold in the United States is rancid or inferior, especially those oils imported from Europe or the Middle East. Just in the last five years, California organic olive oils have achieved quality levels that make them as good as any in the world. You can see the names and contact information of suppliers by visiting California Olive Oil Council.
~~
Jeff Cox is author of The Organic Cook’s Bible and lives in Sonoma County, California.
Image Credit: California Olive Oil Council
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