EVERY THING YOU NEED TO LEARN AND UNLEARN ABOUTE EGGS A splendid "Here and Now" segment - Lisa Steele, cook book author who also raises eggs

 HOW FRESH ARE  SUPERMARKET EGGS?    

WHICH ARE BETTER - BROWN OR WHITE?  

RAISING CHICKENS.  

ALL THIS AND RECIPES TOO   F

rom Lisa Steele "the expert!"   (jmp)     

The Transcript is below, or you can listen to the show here  

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2022/02/22/fresh-eggs-daily-cookbook

 Hey people, this is Emma Choi, the host of the new Wednesday show

16m 51s

1

For many of us, an egg is just an egg that comes from a cardboard carton. It's white or brown. Usually what more do you need to know over Lisa steel? The answer is just about everything. Steel is a fifth generation maine farmer, chicken keeper, and author among the things she knows. There are myths about eggs. There are secret codes on those cardboard boxes. There are foundational techniques for steaming baking and frying eggs. There are recipes for eggs, for everything, including cocktails steel reveals it all in her new cookbook called fresh eggs daily. Lisa, thank you for joining us. Oh, thank you for

17m 26s

9

Having me. The pleasure is all mine

17m 27s

1

So well, mine too, because I love eggs. I'll say it right out, not runny ones, but who cares is your new cookbook in which you wax poetic about your favorite hand Miranda and holding one of her warm, fresh eggs. This is kind of an exercise in pleasure for you. Absolutely.

17m 45s

9

The book did sort of start out like a novel every morning, going down and letting the chickens out and feeding them and then peeking into the nest boxes, looking for eggs. It's magical. Every time I pull a knife out of the nest, I just can't believe that the chickens can do this day after day.

18m 1s

1

So, you know, a fresh egg, and it's not always easy to get a fresh egg. Not everybody has a chicken in the backyard. So how do we know when we go to the store? How fresh and neg is it

18m 11s

9

Sort of difficult unless you know, the secret on the end of each egg carton, there's usually a best buy or a sell by date and you can sort of ignore those. But what you want to look for is the three digit code. And it's going to be a number between 0 0 1 and 365. And that signifies the day of the year that those eggs were put in the carton. So 0 0 1 is January 1st and 365 is December 31st. So you want to look at the numbers and pick the highest number. So that's the date that's closest to the day that you're standing in front of that array of tons and tons of eggs,

18m 48s

1

But it isn't the expiration date or sell by date somehow based on that, are you saying that you have nothing to do with each other?

18m 55s

9

It's more arbitrary

18m 56s

1

And how about looking at them? I was told once that if they have a lot of spots or marks than they are less fresh, is that true? No, That's, it goes up.

19m 6s

9

That does. Yeah. I just, that's just a little bit of a pigment glitch. When the chicken was applying the color to the eggshell, there's really no way to look at an egg to tell if it's fresh or not. But if you hold it up to your ear and shake it, if you can kind of feel movement and hear something sloshing around inside the egg is not super fresh, because air has gotten in moisture has escaped and there's room inside. Whereas if you take a fresh egg and you shake it, nothing's going to move because that egg is just full of the yolk and the white. How

19m 36s

1

About in the glass of water trick wine

19m 38s

9

In the glass of water, the float test, yeah. That I use often. And the float test will tell you how fresh and egg is. You fill a glass of water. And if you put the egg in it, if it sits on the bottom, the egg is super fresh. And then as it ages, it starts to rise a little because that air is getting in through the pores and the eggshell. And if the egg is floating, it might not be bad, but it's really old,

20m 1s

1

Which means it doesn't taste as good.

20m 3s

9

Yeah. And there's more chance of bacteria being in it.

20m 6s

1

Some of the other good tips that you have when we crack an egg, you say we should do it on a flat surface.

20m 11s

9

Yes. So many people crack an egg on a bowl or they edge of a counter. But when you do it that way, there's a chance that you're going to push little pieces of eggshell or any bacteria that is on that egg shell, into the egg. And by doing it on a flat surface, you eliminate that problem. So it should always be on the counter on the cutting board.

20m 28s

1

And warmth is important when you're baking or cooking eggs, you say that they should always be on the warm side. Why is that?

20m 35s

9

So if your recipe calls for room temperature, eggs, then it means room temperature, eggs. If you add cold eggs or any cold ingredient to a batter or a dough, it's going to cause the fats to seize up and not incorporate as well.

20m 46s

1

And how about the color? Is there any difference between brown and white eggs or for that matter blue and green eggs?

20m 52s

9

No. All eggs start out white and then some breeds have brown pigment, somehow blue pigment. So they apply that color to the outside of the,

21m 2s

1

And they don't taste any different or the consistency isn't any different.

21m 5s

9

Now they're exactly the same inside. Okay.

21m 8s

1

Let's talk about taste. The cookbook that you wrote has recipes for every meal. So let's start off with breakfast in a recipe that looks so decadent and so delicious, but surprisingly is easy to make. This is fried eggs with apricot jam and goat cheese comes from your Finnish mother.

21m 25s

9

Yes. As soon as my mother knew I was writing a cookbook, she obviously got excited and started sending me all sorts of egg recipes, but this was one that she actually made and she enjoys it all the time. And I loved it because the Apricot  jam isn't super sweet. Like some other jams or jellies are, but on top of the egg yolk, it matches in color. And then some goat cheese sprinkled on the egg. White is just such a nice flavor contrast. It's just a very strange recipe, but it works somehow.

21m 53s

1

And into the brunch section, you feature these gorgeous blueberry popovers that include blueberry jam and blueberry butter popovers can be difficult and they can be fussy. How difficult is a pop over to make and how do they feature your beloved eggs?

22m 8s

9

Popovers really, aren't hard. I think the key is having a pop-over panel though. You can make them in a muffin tin. The egg is really the only leavening agent, which is making the popovers rise. The key is not opening the oven until they've popped and really firmed up and are almost done cooking. If you keep peaking, they're not going to rise. And

22m 31s

1

What's a pop over pan.

22m 33s

9

It's just basically a muffin tin with deep cups in it.

22m 37s

1

Another recipe that caught our eye is because there was such a striking photograph is baked eggs in butternut squash rings, which looks so simple and elegant. Can you describe it for us?

22m 48s

9

I love that one. That's one of my favorites. Not only is it, is it really eye catching because the orange of the butternut squash matches the bright orange egg yolks, but it's a really nice dinner option. If you're trying to cut back a little on red meat or say you're, you're serving dinner and you have vegetarians coming in so easy too, because you're just baking it in a pan.

23m 7s

1

It's a butternut squash ring, that's pre cooked, and then you drop the egg in the middle,

23m 11s

9

Right? So the butternut squash is going to take longer to cook than an egg. Well, eggs cook pretty quickly. So you're baking the butternut squash sort of pre baking. And I guess with some olive oil and you can add some fresh herbs, salt, and pepper, whatever. And then when they're butternut squash, you're almost done. You're going to drop your eggs in and then bake them just until your eggs are cooked. You said you don't like run a yolk. So you might want to cook yours a little bit long.

23m 33s

1

Thank you for paying attention. No one else does. I would cook mine a little bit longer, but he you're saying the best way to do them is to have them be runny.

23m 42s

9

I, you know, I'm a big fan of a jammy egg, you know, whether you're dipping some toasts trips into it, or you're just breaking the yolk and it's spreading over your plate. I do like a runny yolk, but it's, it's personal preference. You know, no judgment.

23m 55s

1

You feed your cocktails. And I guess most of us know about eggnog, but you've got a lime bourbon sour and a maple sour and a sunny side upside car. Tell us about eggs and drinks. Yes.

24m 7s

9

Eggs actually have a very long history of being added to drinks. Not only a eggnog like you mentioned, but an egg flip, which is a very, very old traditional colonial drink. I believe I am just a whiskey sour girl. And when you shake some egg white foam and strain out your whiskey sour and have that nice layer of foam on top, it's a really beautiful drink. So maple sour is delicious,

24m 33s

1

Always uncooked eggs in drinks, cocktails. Yes, your desserts are pretty spectacular. Many of them cakes and pies, homemade marshmallows. But tell us about this one that really caught my eye. The photograph is gorgeous. Orange Brandi, olive oil cake. It looks dense almost like a pudding, but kind of a crummy pudding. Yes.

24m 58s

9

Olive oil cake sort of are the rage. And I wasn't sure if I wanted to include one because you know how trends come and go so fast. But the olive oil cake is really unique because you're using olive oil instead of butter in it. And the cake stays so moist. You can leave it on, on the counter for at least a week and it's not going to dry out. It's something you can make well in advance if you're having people over or if you need to bring it somewhere. And I love it. I mean the orange juice, the orange liquor and the olive oil just makes for a really nice cake, but you're right. It's, it's super dense. You know, you don't need to serve huge pieces

25m 33s

1

Of it. No, probably not even ice cream on top. You don't need

25m 36s

9

It. No, just a little powdered sugar and a little bit more of the glaze. It's really, it's a nice restaurant

25m 42s

1

Before we let you go. Are there any more pro tips you can give us non-experts and I say that because producer Karen Miller medicine wanted me to say it on your, on your favorite ingredient eggs,

25m 54s

9

You know, I would just say, I think people tend to over cook their eggs, eggs cooked, so, so fast. So cook them slowly over low heat and make sure you take them off just a little bit before they're done, because they're going to cook even from the pan to the plate.

26m 7s

1

Thank you. That's chef author and chicken raiser, Lisa Steele on her new cookbook, fresh eggs daily for some of those recipes and photographs go to our website here and now.org. Lisa, thank you so much.