When you write about chickens and eggs (and children and parenting and Lyme disease and books) people tend to send you things to take a look at and/or review.
Ferroni, a self-described egg addict and food writer/photographer from Portand, Oregon and who regularly contributes to Epicurious.com, Portland Monthly, edibleSEATTLE, and Seattle magazine writes:
It never fails. When I look at a menu, my eyes magically zoom to any dish where an egg appears. You might, if you listen closely, even hear a little “oooo” escape my lips. (OK, maybe you don’t have to listen that closely.)
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like a good egg dish but this lady LOVES her some eggs and because of this love she has created a cookbook filled with gorgeous photos (that one would be tempted to call true food porn) and “70 delicious dishes that deserve a sunny topping.”
It’s a beautiful book with a proper heft to it. In it, Ferroni covers:
- Egg basics
- Breakfasts
- Starters
- Salads & soups
- Lunches
- Sweets, and yes,
- Cocktails
For those who are new to egg cooking, the basics covers everything from how to pick an egg (including a bit on egg safety) to what the various ways of preparing eggs are (including pickling, coddling, and how to make a basic meringue – something that I’m still too scared to try, so I really appreciated the photos.)
Her recipes are exciting because she’s taken a different take on cooking eggs. Instead of creating a dish in which eggs are an afterthought, she has created dishes in which eggs are an integral ingredient. It’s not just that you add an egg to a sauce, you create the shakshuka (Israeli eggs in peppers and tomatoes) sauce and then gently include the eggs which are as important as the tahini that is drizzled over the top.
Other recipes include fried egg tacos, pork stew with rice and poached eggs, and white beans with bacon, poached eggs, and harissa butter.
Simply put, these ain’t your grandma’s eggs.
Shrimp and grits – credit L. Ferroni
Each of the recipes are also introduced by a short story or bit of advice which makes this a book as lovely to look at as it is to read (“be sure not to overcook the faro, the grain should still have a nice bite.) Her story about ordering a (what turned out to be very messy) hot dog with a fried egg on it (okay not my cup of tea, but whatever) and then going home to modify the recipe so that she could still have an “egg hotdog” without it dripping all over the place speaks loudly to this woman’s creativity, spontaneity, and love of all things eggs.
Put an egg on it is a sophisticated and unique approach to viewing eggs as more than just something that sits scrambled alongside bacon. Put an egg on it is a good one which belongs in any egg lover’s cookbook collection.
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Wendy Thomas writes about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact her at [email protected]
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