The Egg A Day Experiment, Part 29

Smoked salmon deviled eggs. Genius! Why didn't I think of that?

Darlene, cook extraordinaire, made them for our book group yesterday. Along with a wonderful chicken and bacon strata -- a savory bread pudding, so more eggs -- and yogurt with homemade granola. So good.

In answer to that age-old question, the deviled eggs came before the chicken strata. But seriously, which came first? My daughter Claire and I talk this one over occasionally. The egg? OK, but the chicken would have to lay the egg. But the chicken comes from an egg.

You rarely find a dish that combines chicken and eggs, right? Ah, that strata. Chicken salad with hard-cooked eggs? Maybe. Wonder what chicken salad stuffed into deviled eggs would be like?

The Egg A Day Experiment, Part 27 and 28

Today was a double egg day. Eggs in the morning, eggs at night.

Huevos Rancheros, the much-abused dish. Rarely done right. It's all about the beans, right? Because without the beans, do you have anything? Yes. Huevos (eggs) on Rancheros (red sauce) is so simple, so straightforward. But it constantly gets screwed up. Embellished with crema, mucked up by cheese.

Guess what? A food writer named Clementine was credited with introducing this dish to America in the 1950s.

I have eaten so many crappy Huevos Rancheros, I stopped ordering it. But this morning, I tried again. At Citizen. The crepe place in my neighborhood, which I like so much except. Darn it. The food is pretty average. The people are so nice, but the food is just ho-hum and served lukewarm. The eggs were overcooked. They should be runny. You know what? I took a picture, but it's just not pretty. Especially the banged up avocado. Oh, all right. I will include the pic.

The egg wasn't runny like the poached egg I perched on some asparagus. It was perfect. I love that combination of textures, the squishy egg, the tender-crisp veg. A rich layer of olive oil, shredded Parm kind of melting into the background. And so pretty!

The Egg A Day Experiment, Part 25 and 26

I do not like Green Eggs and Ham. I do not like them Sam I Am.

I just read that book to my three-year-old neighbor, Lila, the other day. Of course, he ends up liking Green Eggs and Ham once he tried them. I always love the sing-songy rhythm of Dr. Seuss and I am crazy about the Green Eggs and Ham at The Crumpet Shop.

It's pesto mixed into eggs and nuked, yes, microwaved eggs. It's the only time I like eggs cooked that way, served on those thick crumpets. There are loads of things I like on that tidy menu, but the Green Eggs and Ham are at the top of the list.

Part 26

My husband, Johnny, (Mr. Nelson to the kiddos he just student-taught at Bear Creek Elementary), is a breakfast burrito master. He can go on and on about how much he loves stuffing things in tortillas, but scrambled eggs are his fave. Nothing special, he makes 'em a little toasty in the George Foreman.

We ate them standing in the kitchen this morning, as the cable guy hooked up a new HD box. We now can watch the Seattle Mariners in high definition, but the install was frustrating. Extra expenses for this and that and extra cable. Not exactly the scenario for a relaxing meal. But that's the beauty of a burrito, right? You can eat it on the go.

The Egg A Day Experiment, Part 22, 23 and 24

What do you fry your egg in? I'm talking about butter, bacon grease, olive oil...

As much as I love butter, I like a more neutral flavor for cooking a fried egg. I want don't want anything to overpower the egg-y goodness. So I use short blast of olive oil spray. I fry it hot because I like the edges of the white to get a little brown and crispy. And it works.

My grandfather was a big believer in keeping a can of bacon grease around to fry his daily egg and I think if I had to go with a fat, I would choose that over butter. Oh. Just remembered I have some duck fat in the fridge. Wonder how that would be? Guess I'll have to try it.

Part 23 and 24:

Saturday was a big day for eggs in my kitchen. I made a rhubarb upside down cake, the batter a golden yellow hue thanks to a couple of eggs. It was a smash hit. Next time, I think I might add another egg.

Also made meatballs, the egg as the binder holding the mix of ground beef, pork, chopped oregano, onions, garlic, bread crumbs. I did something a little differently this time, soaking the bread in milk. It made for a softer, almost delicate texture.

The Egg A Day Experiment, Part 21

Went to a wonderful three-hour lunch in Bellevue yesterday, a media/blogger preview of Artisanal's new spring menu. The six-course meal was impressive, but there was one dish that stood out as a "what does not belong in this picture?"

It was a pork belly bowl with soba noodles. Not exactly something you'd expect to find on the menu at a French brasserie, huh? Well, guess what nudged it back toward France? The most beautiful poached egg. I wish I would have asked the chef, Terrence Brennan, how the kitchen acheived such a feat.

As it does, the egg added richness to the deeply flavored broth. It's somehow exotic, yet simple. The bowl was a hit. I'm still a little puzzled about its place on the mostly French menu. C'est la vie!

The Egg A Day Experiment, Part 19 and 20

My better half makes a mean frittata, the open-faced omelet, pictured up top with ham, spinach and sharp cheddar. He sautes the various components before sliding the eggs into the pan and adding those cooked ingredients back on top and finishing it under the broiler.

But yesterday at breaky, we talked about how cool it would be if you could make an omelet like Julia Child did. Beaten eggs in the pan, shake it violently and, voila, a perfect omelet is served. She made it look so easy. Click here to watch her!

Omelet failure is what drove Johnny to fix the frittata instead. He was frustrated when the center wouldn't set. He tried cooking it fast and slow and everything in between, but it was either dry or slimy. Not cool.

Maybe what we both need is to buy a couple dozen eggs and just practice. Oui?

Part 20... I went to lovely Tilikum Place Cafe for lunch yesterday and saw a plate pass by that turned my head and stirred my rumbling tummy. It was a fried egg sitting on top of baked beans and toast. A regular English breakfast, that.

I ended up ordering something else (the special, which was kielbasa, braised red cabbage and perogi, pictured above), but it got me thinking: Why did the English breakfast never take off in this country? With the beans and the fried tomato? I lived in England when I was a college student and flopped at many cheap-o B and Bs. But no matter how tatty the accommodations, I could always look forward to a cooked breakfast. It fueled me until I could ramble into a pub and get a ploughman's lunch. (Pause for nostalgic sigh.)

OK, I'm taking a pledge right now: More beans and eggs in the morning!

The Egg A Day Experiment, Part 18

So, I think I might be onto something with this egg business.

How do I gauge that? One of my most devoted blog buddies just sent me a link to a great piece that appeared earlier this week, dissecting various ways to deal with post-Easter egg overload. Thank you No Sluggo Dave for this link. If he's my thermometer, I think this egg experiment might be pretty hot. If not, heck, I gave it a shot.

Yesterday, I made meatloaf and struggled with the number of eggs to crack. Should it be one or two or even three? I went with one, but will do two next time. I know egg plus ground meat plus bread crumbs is the basic formula for meatballs and meatloaf. Because I rarely use recipes, I sometimes forget what I've done in the past. So what? I like a moving target. I think the end result is almost always better as it evolves over time.

This version including a fistful of fresh herbs from my dinky plot: two kinds of oregano, thyme, a little rosemary. Wish I had Italian parsley growing out there. I'll plant some this season. I add a small can of tomato sauce, juice it with some habanero pepper sauce. Homemade bread crumbs. Salt and pepper and ketchup on top. Organic ketchup, if that makes it seem slightly less kitschy.

I like the idea of baking hard-cooked eggs into a meatloaf. I think it would look really cool. Next time, maybe.

Just thinking about the unlikely pairing of hamburger and eggs suddenly gives me a craving for loco moco, the egg-topped burger from Hawaii. Or the special request I make at Shultzy's for an egg on top of my sausage sandwich. Wouldn't it be sad if you didn't like eggs? Because you would never know how good those dishes taste.