Pickled Eggs

Chicken keepers know that there often seems to be a feast or famine situation in the egg stash. My hens have finally come around the bend and I get a reasonable amount of laying from them again. Here's what to do with your eggsess, if you keep chickens! 

The How-To: 

Boil 1/2 a cup of water with 2 tsp sea salt. Add one cup of white vinegar and remove from heat, but keep the lid on while it cools down (this helps keep things more sterile).

 Can you guess who just went on yet another trip to Penzey's...

Add 1/2 Tbsp dill seeds, 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 tsp peppercorns, 1 tsp pickling spices and 1/2 tsp mustard seeds to a clean one-quart mason jar. I really recommend a wide-mouth jar. 

Pack 12 boiled and peeled eggs into the jar. 

I boil my eggs by starting them in a pot of cold water, boiling them to a rolling boil, then removing them from heat, lid on, for 17 minutes. Pop them into ice water using a spoon, and keep the hot water*. Just before getting ready to peel them, pop them back into the hot water for just a moment. It will help release the shell. Rinse the eggs and pack into the jar. 

Pour the cooled down water and vinegar mixture over the eggs and refrigerate for a week or two. I shook the jar a bit to distribute the spices. Not sure if it makes a difference but I figure Brownian motion is not crazy much in a packed jar in a refrigerator... it sure won't hurt!

We tasted at about 10 days and the eggs were surprisingly vinegary, and very firm. The kids liked them as a hot-weather camp snack! When I do it again, I'll start tasting them sooner. And I will make them again for sure!

 

*Keep the water and the eggshells! They help prevent blossom end rot on tomatoes and squash, as I've had to learn this season. I spray/poured the cool cooking water on the leaves, and sprinkle the ground up shells around the bases of the plants.