Eggs
and
A Slice of Cherry Pie
Fried Duck Eggs on Toast
Off my Book Shelf
A Slice of Cherry Pie
by
Julia Parsons
Duck eggs? My hens hurried off in disgust……”but I need duck eggs” I wail after them…..”I am reviewing a book and trying out some new recipes and I need duck eggs, just for today and NOT always”…….they cluck in noisy unison and make their way to my raspberry canes with evil intent etched on their henny faces and with beaks glistening in the morning sunshine……..
But I procured my duck eggs in the end; a neighbour on the outskirts the village has ducks and we struck a deal, a jar of my Autumn Fruits Chutney for 6 duck eggs ~ yes, I DO love a good barter and I think we should do more of it in everyday life. So having safely returned with my duck eggs, and avoiding my hens as I made my way furtively back into the kitchen, I am ready to cook brunch for us ~ a lovely simple recipe from my new book, a prize from Ren’s Simple and in Season event, A Slice of Cherry Pie by phenomenal food blogger Julia Parsons. I have perused the book over the last week and I LOVE it; it is a warm and friendly cookbook with family photos scattered amongst the recipes…..there are some familiar and classic recipes as well as Julia’s original recipes and the duck egg recipes in the Cherry Blossom chapter intrigued me.
I plan to make many more recipes from the book and will feature my reviews of them here, but for a simple and quite delicious opening recipe, I made Fried Duck Eggs on Toast and served it with lashings of freshly brewed tea for brunch today. The book is separated into chapters with evocative names such as Poppy Fields and Sunshine and Lemons, they all conjure up the style of recipes in the appropriate chapter and give a “feel” and “mood” of food you will be preparing and eating. I was struck by the simple photo of the fried eggs on toast and immediately wanted to recreate that leisurely breakfast/brunch feel with teapot and glass of orange juice.
The cooking instructions are simple and easy to follow and there are interesting introductions to each recipe that I love, I do like to read a recipe before I cook it! I have bookmarked at least half a dozen more that I want to try over the next few weeks and can recommend this book to anyone who wants a change of pace on the cookbook front, it is SO nice to read a non-celebrity cookbook for a change and the contents resonated with me on all levels.
From the back cover:
“A Slice of Cherry Pie’ is the first book of recipes from one of the country’s finest food bloggers, Julia Parsons.
Beautifully composed evocations of places and people layer an assured collection of seasonally tuned recipes: a mix of modern rustic dishes inspired and inflected by a love of eating and sharing.
Sumptuous food photography from Cristian Barnett, set amongst a montage of snapshots and diary notes, provides a perfectly balanced visual echo to an assured and passionate voice.
Julia Parsons is one of the UK’s most recognised and critically acclaimed food bloggers. She is the founder of the UK Food Blogger’s Association. Her blog has featured in many newspapers and periodicals, including the Guardian and Delicious magazine. The Times listed A Slice of Cherry Pie as one of the world’s best food blogs and one of the Top Ten blogs for the home cook.”
Beautifully composed evocations of places and people layer an assured collection of seasonally tuned recipes: a mix of modern rustic dishes inspired and inflected by a love of eating and sharing.
Sumptuous food photography from Cristian Barnett, set amongst a montage of snapshots and diary notes, provides a perfectly balanced visual echo to an assured and passionate voice.
Julia Parsons is one of the UK’s most recognised and critically acclaimed food bloggers. She is the founder of the UK Food Blogger’s Association. Her blog has featured in many newspapers and periodicals, including the Guardian and Delicious magazine. The Times listed A Slice of Cherry Pie as one of the world’s best food blogs and one of the Top Ten blogs for the home cook.”
The book would make a wonderful gift and is an inspiration of just what can be achieved if you put your heart into your dreams…….a wonderful book that I can see myself delving into throughout the seasons.
Fried Duck Eggs on Toast
Recipe:
(Serves 1-2)
Ingredients:
olive oil
2 duck eggs
2 slices bread
butter, for spreading
sea salt
Method:
Heat a non-stick medium frying pan over a low to medium heat then add a little olive oil. Carefully crack the eggs open and drop them into the pan without breaking the yolks!
Fry eggs gently until their whites turn opaque, then spoon over a little of the hot oil on to the yolks to help them cook.
While the eggs are cooking, toast and butter the bread and place on a serving plate. When the eggs are ready, remove them from the pan with a slotted spatula and place them on top of the toast. Finally sprinkle over a little sea salt before serving.
I also added a good grinding of fresh black pepper as I love it with eggs ~ and as the toast was spread with local sea salt butter, I did not add extra salt as indicated in the recipe.
A wonderfully simple and yet special recipe to start me off, and I am looking forward to making some more recipes soon.
See you later and enjoy your Wednesday.
Karen
PS: I have tried to ensure that there are no embarrassing typos ~ I have had to delete “dick eggs” on more than one occasion whilst writing this article ~ PLEASE let me know if one escaped ~ my brain works faster than my poor typing fingers and “i” is next to “u” on a Qwerty keyboard!!
Zoe says
It will be very interesting to use and taste duck eggs in chocolate cake! having duck eggs on toast is new to me too.
Marie says
Great barter Karen. I can see running to the expense of a duck egg to eat that way, but not in a cake. I can't really see the difference it would make, or am I missing something??? Mind you when I want a fried egg, or a poached egg, I always go for the best I can get. When I first moved over here I thought it very odd that there were no white eggs, only brown. Now I find it odd to see white eggs when I go back to Canada!
Irma says
I love love duck eggs! Well, actually I love eggs. A duck egg means to me more egg in your egg (if you know what I mean :S)
Karen S Booth says
Thanks Zoe ~ they are just bigger in general and more egg for your money, if that makes sense, but not much difference in flavour that I could find!
Karen S Booth says
Marie ~ I agree, duck eggs simply cooked are divine, but in a cake I am not sure of the taste advantages…..but these came cheap to me, one jar of chutney! I have LOADS of jars of chutney, so a good deal!
Karen S Booth says
Thanks Irma ~ yes, you DO get more egg for your eggs in duck eggs! LOL!
Karen
La Table De Nana says
I've never had a duck egg..you make me so curious!!
One day I'll stumble upon one..
Inspired by eRecipeCards says
I have never had duck eggs either but you make them exactly like I want my hem eggs done… sunny side up and pepper!
Couldn't spot a single dick egg… think you made it!
Karen S Booth says
Thanks Monique ~I hope you stumble on some one day soon, but be careful you don't break them!!
Karen
Karen S Booth says
Thanks Dave ~ phewww………..thank goodness for that, no dick eggs in my post!
Karen
The Cookie Jar says
I got a copy of A Slice of Cherry Pie earlier in the year. The recipes are lovely. The cinnamon hearts on page 28 are gorgeous.
Karen S Booth says
Hi Cookie Jar ~ I saw those, they are on my list for Valentine's Day for sure!
Thanks for stopping by.
Karen
Cathy at Wives with Knives says
I grew up on a farm and my mother did raise a few ducks but I don't remember her ever cooking a duck egg. I'm picturing them much bigger than chicken eggs and imagine their diet could give them a different flavor. I will ask the egg guy at the farmers' market on Saturday if he has any so I can compare them. Lovely post, Karen. I'm off now to check out A Slice of Cherry Pie. I didn't notice any misspellings…LOL
Laura@howtocookgoodfood says
I love the fact that you can pop over to a neighbour and strike up a deal for some duck eggs! Don't you just love the colour of their shell too? What gorgeous photos of those golden yolks too!
Karen S Booth says
Thanks Laura! Yes I love the colour of duck eggs, such a pretty blue colour…..I love to barter, I think in these tough economic times we should barter more!