My Little Chicken Coop: 2014

Are you a pickled Egg Eater?? Here are a few recipes I have tried out.

B & B Style Pickle Eggs Ingredients 3 dozen eggs (medium best for size of jar)1 large jar jalapeno peppers (18-22 oz)1 large jar hot pepper rings (banana peppers)1 qt. jar of Vlasic Hot Garden Mix or generic jar of hot gardenia mix Brine to fill remainder of jar. Ratio of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water Boil your eggs, peel ‘em. Pour the liquid from the peppers and garden mix into a gallon jar, adding some of the veggies. Alternate layers of eggs and veggies in the jar. Cover the eggs with the remaining veggies and fill with enough brine solution to cover the eggs. Store at room temperature. Wait at least 5-7 days before serving, although my wife and I often need to perform quality control testing on days 2-4.The Hardy’s site across from the B&B bar was previously occupied by a Conaco station and repair shop. I used to take my cars there – the B&B made a great waiting room. My car was in the shop the last week before the building was razed for the new restaurant. I picked up my car with several eggs in hand. The Conaco owner started talking about the B&B and old Mr. Wade, who used to take a couple of trip to Vegas each year on his egg profits. He has since departed this world and the bar is run/managed/owned (not sure which) by his nephew. Bless Mr. Wade for setting the standard for all egg bearers. I commented on how secretive Mr. Wade was with his recipe. The garage owner said one day a tipsy Mr. Wade came into the shop and disclosed his recipe. Since he was closing and moving out of town, he felt it was okay to share it with me me. Please keep in mind he gave only ingredients, not measurements. Those are mine and a result of trial and error. This’s the basic recipe shared by this grease-monkey Judas, whom I tipped handsomely. He added that Mr. Wade claimed it was the hot oils in the peppers and solution that gave the coated the eggs and supplied their kick. He also said that there was no boiling of ingredients except for the eggs. The original version didn’t contain the garden mix but I like the veritable cornucopia of tangy veggies and how they enhance the presentation. Now many people add salt, hot sauce, onions, etc. and boil their Macbethian concoctions but I don’t. There are many “B&B” recipes out there and I don’t know if this one is the Holy Grail for Tech eggophiles. When I shared this story with Mr. Wade’s nephew several years later, he said the shop owner was full of auto shineola and didn’t know what he was talking about. When asked as to how this recipe veered from the original, young Mr. Wade nephew just smiled and walked away. I guess it all boils down to how do you like your eggs? Then fix ‘em that way and enjoy them.*******************************************************************************************

Pink Pickled Eggs Recipe Ingredients and method. Step 1 Place eggs in saucepan; cover with water. Add about a teaspoon of white vinegar to the water. Step 2 Heat the water just to a boil. Cover the pan and remove from heat. Set the timer for 10 minutes. Step 3 After 10 minutes are up, uncover the pan and run cold water over the eggs as you empty the hot water into the sink. Run the cold water for a couple of minutes, until the eggs begin to cool. Empty the water from the pan. The eggs are now ready to peel and use in a recipe, or store them in the refrigerator, in a covered bowl, until ready to peel and eat. TIP: Use eggs that are a week or so old. They’ll peel easier than eggs that are fresh. Ingredients6 hard-boiled eggs – peeled1 cup cider vinegar1 can whole beets with liquid (approx. 1 cup)1/3 cup granulated sugar1/2 tsp salt1 small onion – chopped4 whole cloves shredded lettuce or greens**We had 1 small jar of Sweet banana pepper rings and juice** 1/2 small jar of Jalenpano peppers and juice to our mixture it needed more kick so this did and my husband loves this recipe!!!Instructions Place peeled eggs (whole) in a bowl or jar. Mix vinegar, beet liquid, sugar, salt, onion, and cloves; pour over eggs. Add beets. Cover and refrigerate 2 to 3 days. Slice eggs and beets; serve on a bed of lettuce or greens. This is a great recipe to make with kids. Since the eggs need to “pickle” in the refrigerator for two or three days before they’re nice and pink and ready to eat, let the kids keep an eye on them, checking them each day to see how the color changes. ************************************************************************ Veggie Style Pickled Eggs dozen hard-boiled eggs4 cups vinegar1 onion, sliced8 habanero peppers7 jalapenos1/2 cup pickled jalapeno pepper2 tablespoons red pepper flakes5 dashes hot sauce2 tablespoons salt3 tablespoons mustard seeds3 pinches alum4 tablespoons peppercorns5 cloves garlic2 cups sliced carrots or 2 cups cauliflower (or both)Change Measurements: US | Metric Directions:Prep Time: 40 mins Total Time: 1 1/4 hr1 boil everything except the eggs for about 15 minutes.2 put the eggs in a huge jar.3 pour the hot brine on top of the eggs.4 top off with hot water to completely cover the eggs.5 let sit in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.

**Have you noticed this?**

How do you tell what color eggs a hen will lay? You can tell by the color of the earlobes in general. A white lobed hen will lay white eggs, while a red lobed hen will lay brown eggs.The exception to this would be the Easter Egger, Ameraucana, and Araucana breeds. They will lay eggs in colors ranging from khaki green to sky blue, to pink tinted, to occasionally lavender tinted. they will usually have red ear lobes. Of course this is not set in stone and exceptions always apply!

A chicken will carry the genetic code which instructs its body to create a certain amount of brown coating for its eggs.

The Dorking and Aracuana breeds are two exceptions to this rule. Dorkings have red earlobes, but lay white-shelled eggs. Aracuanas (from Chile) have red earlobes but lay green-shelled eggs.