Eggciting Adventures Await - #Putaneggonit!
I've enjoyed my fair share of eggs over the years, but my egg making skills consisted of scrambled eggs, hard-boiled eggs and the occasional fried egg. Nothing too exciting there. Thankfully the Ohio Poultry Association has got me crackin' and opened my eyes to the eggceptional dishes you can make with eggs. Yes, "the incredible edible egg"™ is my new BFF in the kitchen.
Amazing Egg Dishes
Recently, the OPA invited some bloggers from Ohio to learn more about eggs. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I knew we were going to taste some egg dishes but I had no idea how many dishes and how creative and tasty they were going to be. I'll be sharing some recipes as soon as I get them. For now, you can get a sneak peak of my eggciting adventure to tempt your taste-buds.
The dishes above were freshly prepared in the home kitchen of OPA's Executive Vice President, Jim Chakeres (he made all of the dishes too - yum). They tasted even better than they look.
Nutritional Value
I also felt bad for the egg. It has gotten a bad rap over the years and farmers and organizations like the OPA have been working hard to spread the word about all the nutritional benefits eggs offer. They truly are an economical and nutrient packed protein and are NOT the cholesterol inducing menace they were vilified as being. Please make sure you eat the yolk. Egg whites are great for the protein component but the yolk is where the true nutritional nirvana is housed. There are 13 essential vitamins and minerals in an egg, many of which are found in the yolk. The nutrients include Protein, Vitamin D, Choline, Vitamin B12, Folate, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Iron, Thiamin, Vitamin E, Selenium, Zinc, and Phosphorous. Wow, all of that is packed into one egg! Read more about the nutritional benefits of eggs form the Egg Nutrition Center.
Egg Tips/Hacks
Our egg adventure had so much packed into 1.5 days that I know I'm not even coming close to sharing all the things I learned but here are a few things that I will definitely use:
I can make an omelette now! The tip is getting your pan really hot, add butter and then add your egg batter - 2 eggs and 2 tbsp water for every omelette. The omelette technique is what you need to learn. It's all in how you rotate the pan and use your spatula to push the eggs from the sides making indentations that fill up with egg batter so you get the eggs fully cooked. Add whatever filling you like to one half and then flip the other half over to cover the filled side, slide onto the plate and voilà, you just made an omelette. Click here to see a video our host, Jim, previously made to show you how to make a Denver omelet. Yum!
To make creamy fluffy scrambled eggs - Use low heat and add milk or cream (no water). After the eggs start to scramble, almost toward the end of their cooking time, you'll want to add in some cream cheese (whipped or regular). You will love these eggs.
The shell - Always crack your eggs in a separate bowl before adding to your dish. If you crack an egg and some of the shell pieces are left in the egg bowl, then take one of the cracked halves of the shell and you can easily fish out the wayward shell piece.
More shell facts - Did you know that the hen's breed is the determining factor in the shell color? You either get brown or white based on the type of hen. The feed the farmer gives the hen is what packs the nutrients into the egg. Brown eggs might be more expensive than white eggs because the hens that lay brown eggs are usually bigger. A bigger hen needs more feed and more feed means more expensive eggs. Learn more.
The carton - I really only look at the expiration date on an egg carton but there's much more info that you can gather. Every farm has a plant number and this starts with a P followed by some numbers. You can even learn where your egg came from by inputting the plant number into the USDA website. You can also see what day of the year your egg was packaged on. Learn more.
The Farmers
The farmers care about you. The OPA is composed of small farms and larger farms. We met farmers from each spectrum. The second generation family owned Nature Pure farm specializes in organic cage free eggs. Hertzfield Poultry Farms is a large scale family owned farm that produces "eggcelent quality" table eggs and provides local jobs in their community. The one thing I realized is that these farmers want you to enjoy a safe and healthy product. They live and work in their communities and want safe handling practices in their facilities so that they can sell a safe and healthy egg to their communities and consumers. If their hens aren't happy,then they don't lay eggs so they really want happy hens. Learn more.
Columbus has good eats!
Wow, Columbus sure knows how to dine. We had a progressive dinner in German Village and stopped by the original Max & Erma's for appetizers, followed by a visit to G. Michael's Bistro & Bar for a grilled romaine salad topped with a poached egg. Our final stop was Lindey's for a delicious steak (you'll never guess what it was topped with, #Putaneggonit).
The next morning we were treated again. First we enjoyed a delicious catered breakfast from Bob Evans and for lunch we headed to The Guild House. The Guild House was Ahhhhh.....mazing. Make sure you put this on your "foodie to do list". It brings farm to table to a whole new stratosphere.
Stay tuned for some great recipes. I'll be incorporating my newly acquired ninja egg skills at my house and hope you'll be able to utilize some of the tips I shared to enhance your culinary egg skills. An eggcelent idea if I do say so myself!
I loved meeting the other Ohio bloggers. I hope you'll get a chance to visit their blogs too. And don't forget #Putaneggonit!
Pictured above (from left to right).
Nicole from Brown Sugar Momma
Ashley from Just Bein' Mommy
Lydia from Lydi Out Loud
Erin from A Bird and a Bean
Kara from Byte Sized Nutrition
Heather from The Healthy Hen
Me (Kristin) from MasonMetu
Cindy from Akron Ohio Moms
Disclaimer: I was invited by the Ohio Poultry Association to attend this event. They covered our meals expenses and lodging in Columbus. All opinions are 100% my own.
