lovely eggs

a lovely assortment

In the last two weeks some of the most amazing eggs have come through this house. First I managed to get hold of some from Laura of (not so) Urban Hennery, which were adorable, with improbably large orange yolks that looked like they wouldn’t even fit in the shells.

egg label

chicken bio

The following week, I managed to arrive at the farmer’s market early enough to buy eggs from the industrious small girl at the Frog’s Song Farm booth. She had gone to a great deal of trouble, arranging each dozen so it was an attractive mixture of blue, green and brown eggs, and ornamenting the top of each carton with an illustrated profile of a particular chicken. I chose the one featuring “Black Bird,” who apparently announces the arrival of her daily egg with a song.

eggy pancake batter

With all these fabulous eggs in the house, I’ve been eating a lot of fried eggs on top of leftovers, scrambled egg sandwiches and egg fried rice. Yesterday I had one of the best soft boiled eggs of all time, which is saying something.

I also tried a new recipe, found in a madly compelling library book (everyone in the cataloging department kept swiping it to drool over the photos), for an eggy Dutch baby sort of pancake flavored with a large quantity of stinky cheese. That used up six eggs, right there.

brie pancake

The pancake was a success, but I think needs a little tweaking, at least to feed fewer than six to eight people. I made it in a large cast iron pan, and it fed four people easily with leftovers for two more, so for my purposes I think I’ll cut the recipe down a bit next time (I think it would poof better if there was less batter in the pan, as well). I used Brie, but a more assertive cheese like Gorgonzola would be really good, especially served with grapes or lots of fresh chopped herbs.

Brie Pancake

adapted from Chocolate for Breakfast by Barbara Passino

  • 4 Tbsp butter
  • 1 ½  cups all-purpose flour
  • 6 oz Brie, Camembert, Gorgonzola or other ripe cheese
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 ½ cups milk
  • ½  tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Thinly slice the cheese and blend it with the flour and salt in a food processor. If your processor is safe for liquids (mine turned out to be not), add the eggs and milk and blend till smooth. If not, mix by hand in a bowl.

Melt the butter in a very large cast iron pan or eight individual ramekins (you can put them in the oven on a sheet to heat up). Pour the batter in and put directly back in the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the edges are crisping up and turning brown. Don’t open the oven while it’s baking!

Take the pancake(s) out and serve immediately – it will begin to deflate right away, so seize the moment. Sprinkle with herbs, halved grapes (I particularly recommend the grapes if using an assertive cheese) or fresh strawberries.

3 thoughts on “lovely eggs

    1. Jennifer, thanks! I wish I’d gotten a picture of the pancake cut into wedges and sprinkled with grapes, but we were in such a hurry to eat it didn’t quite happen. Next time 🙂

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