eggs

While at the Marin farmers market this past weekend, I made friends with Jackie, an adorable farmer who sells eggs under the brand By Cracky It's Jackie's Farm Fresh Eggs. At the end of the market, a few stragglers stopped by her booth requesting chicken eggs. She responded, "Nope, sorry. The weather has been too hot for the chickens to lay eggs. But I have plenty of guinea fowl eggs. They're producing like crazy!" Most refused her offer and walked away disappointed.

While Jackie was gracious enough to give me a dozen guinea fowl eggs at the end of her farmers market run, I'll admit my initial response was not one of excitement: I'd recently encountered a slightly sulfuric-smelling batch of chicken eggs and hadn't quite recovered from the experience. I assumed the eggs from the guinea fowl, which sounded exotic and complicated, must have possessed an equally game taste to match.

"What should I do with them?" I asked Jackie uneasily. "Just cook them like chicken eggs. But remember, the shells are tougher than chicken eggs. So whack 'em to crack 'em, and I mean, really whack 'em," she replied. With that, I gathered my carton of eggs and got cracking. See what guinea fowl eggs look like inside when you read more.

Recently a friend gave me two dozen eggs from her homegrown chickens. Since farm fresh eggs are one of life's little pleasures, I didn't want to waste any part of these eggs. I also wanted to do more with the eggs than eat them fried.

I wound up preparing a pavlova, a dessert that requires egg whites to create a fluffy and marshmallowy meringue. However, I couldn't throw away the precious yolks, so I came up with five ways to use them. Find out what they are after the break.

If you've ever ordered an omelet in Europe, then you know you were served something very unlike the omelets we know and love in America. Many Americans feel squeamish about undercooked eggs (hello, risk of salmonella!), but that custardy, underdone quality is sought out in Europe. Whether you plan to cook one of the styles yourself or experience it at a European restaurant, here are the main differences between American and French omelets.

An American omelet, as pictured on the top, has a speckled golden crust from the pan, and the surface is uneven with craters. This effect occurs because, similar to how steak chars on a pan, the scrambled eggs are cooked over a high heat and left untouched until the eggs set. The round omelet is then folded in half and served. Often, the fillings like meat and vegetables are cooked into the eggs rather than added afterward.

Learn more about the French-style omelet when you keep reading.

When looking to round out a meal come brunch, lunch, or dinnertime, I stick to a simple motto: put an egg on it (not to be confused with "put a bird on it" . . . ). While fried and scrambled are nice, I hold a special place in my heart for the oozing yolks of a perfectly poached egg, but until now I hadn't thought of them as portable. It turns out, with an ingenious kitchen hack, these luscious eggs can become a protein-packed part of the brown-bag lunch rotation. Keep reading to find out the simple secret.