“From late spring until about August, I find myself flush with chicken eggs,” writes cookbook author Ashley English in “Southern From Scratch: Pantry Essentials and Down-home Recipes” (Roost Books, 2018).
Talk about jealousy.
There was a period when I, too, was flush was fresh eggs from our backyard hens Perrault, Francois, Beardy and Cacciatore. Those four years of urban chicken farming are the closest I’ve come to modern homesteading, which is what English pretty much does at her family’s cabin in the woods near Asheville, North Carolina.
With the pandemic keeping me tethered to my own property this summer, I suspect that I’ll be dabbling in more homesteader endeavors, especially food preservation. Pickling a dozen eggs is as good as any place to start. And English’s recipe doesn’t take much effort.
The hard-boiled eggs are ready to eat after letting them bob in a brine for 8 hours. Give them a couple of days and the tang really begins to permeate through the whites. Add pickled egg slices to a niçoise or Caesar salad, or use them as the base for a zippy egg salad.
Pickled eggs are a complete snack on their own. English suggests pairing them with a cool Pilsner on a hot summer day. Here’s a plan: grab one of each and head to your porch swing. Between bites and swigs, some back-and-forth swaying, you can ponder your next quarantine cooking project.
Credit: Johnny Autry
Credit: Johnny Autry
Pickled Eggs from “Southern From Scratch” by Ashley English.
PICKLED EGGS
3 cups water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
2 teaspoons sea salt 3 or 4 fresh thyme sprigs 1 dozen hard-boiled eggs, shelled
Bring the water, vinegar, garlic, honey, peppercorns, salt and thyme to a boil in a medium pot.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove the pot from heat, cover, and leave until completely cooled.
Place the eggs in a lidded container (a glass hinge-top canister works well) and pour the cooled brine over the eggs.
Keep the eggs chilled in the refrigerator until serving time.
The eggs are ready to eat after a minimum of 8 hours of brining. They are best when eaten within 7 days.
Serves 12.
Per serving: 73 calories (percent of calories from fat, 62), 6 grams protein, 1 gram carbohydrates, trace fiber, 5 grams fat (2 grams saturated), 187 milligrams cholesterol, 110 milligrams sodium. From “Southern From Scratch”by Ashley English.
Copyright 2018 by Ashley English. Photographs copyright 2018 by Johnny Autry. Reprinted in arrangement with Roost Books, an imprint of Shambhala Publications Inc.
From “Southern From Scratch” by Ashley English. Copyright 2018 by Ashley English. Photographs copyright 2018 by Johnny Autry. Reprinted in arrangement with Roost Books, an imprint of Shambhala Publications Inc.
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