From the Chronicle Kitchen
Chicken and Egg: A Memoir of Suburban Homesteading with 125 Recipes
3.23.11 | Janice Cole | Food and Drink, Guest Authors, Weekly Recipes
This week’s guest blogger is Janice Cole, author of the recently released, delightful cookbook featuring all things poultry and ovo, Chicken and Egg.
Do you raise, or have you thought about raising, chickens in your suburban or urban backyard space? What do you think about the recipe being featured this week? Let us know by leaving a comment and enter to win a copy of the book, plus a beautiful poster of the book’s cover image that I’ll be giving away to a random lucky person.
Happy spring!
Spring is finally here! I know the spring equinox has already occurred and that spring is hardly news to those of you with crocuses, tulips, and wisteria blooming in your yards. Here in Minnesota, however, we have snow in the forecast again today. Spring? What spring. The reason I nevertheless know spring is here to stay is because my chickens have let me know. You see they’ve started laying more eggs. Lots more eggs.
It comes as a surprise to many people that egg laying varies according to the season. In our world of season-less food on demand, we’ve lost sight of the fact that chickens don’t lay eggs 365 days of the year. In fact, chickens started out like all birds, laying eggs once a year. That is, until they became domesticated and humans intervened. Through selective breeding and better nutrition, we’ve increased the number of eggs a chicken lays so that some breeds can produce 300 eggs a year. Per chicken.
In nature, chickens are affected by light and temperature. A lack of light greatly reduces the number of eggs a chicken lays while extreme temperatures, both hot and cold, also affect their laying ability. Hence, in the winter some chickens stop laying altogether unless artificial light and heat is added. Now that the days are getting longer and the temperatures are staying mild, a chicken’s natural body cycle kicks in again. And the eggs start coming.
It’s a joy to fix these eggs. After the sparse supply through the winter we appreciate them all the more. The following egg recipe is one of my favorites. Its simple preparation lets the flavor of a newly laid egg shine through. Paired with chives from the garden, it’s a taste of spring on your plate.
Janice Cole
Extra-Creamy Scrambled Eggs over Buttermilk-Chive Biscuits
Serves 4
Biscuits
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut up
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh chives
Eggs
4 eggs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
5 tablespoons heavy (whipping) cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Butter for serving (optional)
Sliced fresh chives for garnish
Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
To make the biscuits: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Blend in the butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until the butter is the size of blueberries. Gently stir in the buttermilk and chives with a fork until the dry ingredients are moistened.
Put the biscuit dough on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 5-inch round, 3/4 inches thick. Using a floured dough cutter or knife, cut into 4 wedges. Place them on the baking sheet 1/2 inch apart.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until rich golden brown on the top and bottom. Cool slightly on a wire rack.
To make the eggs: While the biscuits are baking, vigorously whisk the eggs in a medium bowl for 1 minute or until light and very frothy. Melt the butter over medium heat in a small nonstick skillet. (A larger skillet will cook the eggs too quickly for this recipe.) Add the eggs and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly with a heatproof silicone spatula.
Reduce the heat to medium-low, or low if the eggs begin to cook too fast. Add 1 tablespoon of the cream and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom and sides of the pan. Continue cooking and stirring, adding 1 tablespoon of cream per minute. Add the salt and pepper with the last tablespoon of cream. The total cooking time should be about 6 to 7 minutes, or until the eggs are creamy but not liquid.
Split the warm biscuits and smear with butter, if desired. Spoon the eggs over the split biscuits and garnish with the chives before serving.
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We would love to raise chickens, but we have to get our neighbors approval and he is not the sort of fellow to be ok. For now we are just going to have to coop sit for our friends around the corner.
Janice – An open invitation to you. I'll make the biscuits you bring the eggs. We'll have a delicious brunch. The eggs look fabuloius.
As a former chicken owner, I love the fun stories that Janice relates about her backyard chickens. I had many of the same experiences. So thrilled that she put this book together and am looking forward to trying many of her recipes
Great post!
There is NOTHING like walking through an urban neighborhood at dawn and hearing a backyard rooster crowing. Makes me happy to be living in this quirky world we are creating!
Oh I wish we could have chickens – I would love to have some in my backyard! But until I live in a house where that can happen, I get fresh eggs from a lovely farm nearby.
And I am totally making this recipe tomorrow – I love creamy eggs and eat some kind of eggs almost every day!
Sounds a deal, I may take you up on that!
Envious…I'd LOVE to have chickens (it was my job to feed them and gather eggs during summers at my great-grandmother's farm in Kentucky!). I do love me some biscuits, too!
We got chicks last year, ended up with three rooster!!! So, there wern't so many eggs for us. :( We'll try again.
I'd loooove to have chickens someday when I have a little more space. The recipe sounds delicious… putting that on the menu for brunch this weekend!
I'm building a coop right now!
I would love to have a copy of the book, we are buying some chicks this week! The recipes look delicious C:
raising chickens is on our list for 2012, this year we focus on veggies! Would love to win a copy to try out all the yummy recipes!
My oldest son took on raising chicks for a science fair. It became one of the most wonderful additions to our yard. My dad built us a movable hen house and we clipped their wings and let them roam all around our small yard and garden. Those two hens were so beautiful and peaceful to watch. They met a terrible fate when the two Britney Spaniels that live behind us dug under the fence and ripped those poor hens apart. I guess that is part of real farm life even if you are in the middle of suburbia. I highly recommend backyard poultry!
yummmm! ive been dying to get my hands on this book and this recipe looks lovely and sophisticated and beautiful!
Oh man those eggs and biscuits look tasty! I've tried talking my wife into getting chickens with no luck. Still, I don't think it is a lost cause. I've just got to wait her out. Couldn't hurt to have the book on hand to help convince her.
I actually live in the country and have been hoping to do the "homesteading" thing for sometime, complete with chickens out back…just as my Grandmother had! This book may just be the inspiration/motivation I need to make my chicken yard a reality!
My neighbors have chickens who often stray into my yard. Unfortunately the roosters often wake me up at 5:30 AM! These scrambled eggs sound delicious.
The eggs & biscuits sound wonderful. To have fresh-laid eggs to make the recipes with would be heavenly. I imagine the book is full of other tasty-sounding recipes like these.
I really want chickens now that we have the space but it’s going to take some convincing to get my husband on board. Until then though I’ll just have to be satisfied with this delicious sounding recipe!
Just got my hands on a cast iron skillet- the best way to scramble eggs {so I've been told}! eggs+heavy whipping cream can only be good!
Oh my – I have always wanted to have chickens but I'm afraid of how much work it might be. And whether my dogs would approve!
Would love to have chickens in the city!
love the recipe and would love to have backyard chicks :)
In the UK lots of people are keeping chickens in their back gardens or yards… have a look at this site which shows the ideal coop for city/suburban gardens the eglu…check out http://www.omelet.co.uk! Fun for all the family ( and no I am not linked to them in any way!). But a regular supply of fresh eggs is a real delight.
I love that chickens have become acceptable again in urban areas. Nothing beats fresh eggs and watching them provides entertainment many a night.
…and Nicole H is the lucky random winner of a copy of the fabulous "Chicken and Egg"! Thanks for posting everyone. And if you're interested in taking a look at this book in person at a store besides your local indie bookseller, Anthropologie, Crate & Barrel, West Elm, and Williams-Sonoma are stocking it.
I would love to have chickens! My husband laughed when I first brought it up, but I hope to be able to warm him up to it soon. I love the eggs that come from different types of chickens. Blues, greens, spotted…I guess it's the artist in me.
Melissa :-)
I bought a copy of the book at Anthropologie when I was recently out of town and absolutely enjoyed every page. I had already ordered 6 chicks which will arrive May 31. I used to raise chickens (white leghorns and Rhode Island reds) and sell the eggs to the neighbors when I was young on my parent's farm. Can't wait to start my own little backyard flock. Cheers to Janice Cole for a fun and inspirational book!
We are planning on starting our own little chicken haven in our new backyard. We will use them for companionship and eggs. (Two of the best things to be had!) As for the recipe: I remember learning from my mother-in-law about using a large amount of melted butter in my scrambled eggs – making them creamy and delicious. I'm excited to try this one!
I am getting 4 chicks THIS weekend! Our coop is almost complete and the brooder is ready to go. SOOOO excited about this book. Pick me, pick me!!
We have nine chickens in our suburban back yard. I know exactly what you mean when you say they don't lay an egg every day. However, now that the sun is shining again our hens are very happy and I swear they are laying more than one a day! Not really, it just seems that way. I'm always looking for more ways to use all these eggs. (Yes, our neighbors love us.) I'm going to try your creamy scrambled eggs and biscuits for dinner. Thanks for sharing your recipes and experience.
Loved the article and am making those eggs this weekend, they look yummy. I love my 16 hens and enjoy the sound of the rooster's crows, well maybe not so much at 3:30 AM :) thanks for posting.
Just heard about this great book and my birthday's coming up, so it's perfect timing! I would love to raise chickens, but rent, so it's not an option but loved the article and the recipe!
I just found site, and this recipe worked out great. I think mostly because of the fresh raw cream from my cow…it was the photo that inspired me to make this simple meal. I have will be adding your book to my site so others see it!
I have raised chickens in the past and am in the middle of building a new coop now. It's a 10×10 coop and I plan on keeping 6 birds – 1 rooster 5 hens full time and raising about 100 meat birds per spring. I'll be raising Partridge Rock chickens because they have good size for eating, are decent layers plus they'll brood easily which is a bonus for raising chicks to use as meat birds.
Love your recipes and can't wait to give them a try!
Extra-Creamy Scrambled Eggs over Buttermilk-Chive Biscuits looks really delicious! I will try this recipe, and if i will like it, ill recommend it to my friends! Great article.