Did you know it’s egg season? That idea always cracks me up. (Ouch, bad joke, but it’s true!) Anyway, the daylight hours are getting longer—today is the vernal equinox—and the chickens are getting back in the groove. I’ve been getting some beautiful chicken eggs from my neighbors, pictured on the left. I always enjoy getting duck eggs, center dozen, and found some the other day from Glenerie Farms in Saugerties. They also had goose eggs, which were a spectacular treat. I don’t need to tell you which ones they are. I was pretty shocked to hold one in my hand. Geese only lay about thirty eggs a year depending on breed, so around now is when you might be able to get your hands on one. The egg weighed 7.4 ounces. Without the shell, which I had to crack open with my large knife, it was 6. The yolk is a monster. The egg is mostly yolk, and the white is somewhat thin. I have read that when hard cooked the white is strangely translucent. Not clear, but not a truly opaque white like a chicken egg.
I thought the best thing to do with at least one of them was to make fresh pasta. The ratio for fresh pasta dough is 3:2, three parts flour to two parts egg. So this equation was easy: if my egg was six ounces then my flour ratio was 1.5 times that, or nine ounces. I added a pinch of salt, and proceeded as usual in my pasta making. I like to mix it in a bowl, because that old school right on the table thing is a mess, although that’s how my family did it when I was a kid. I rolled it out using my pasta machine, but hand cut it into thick noodles—not quite pappardelle. After cooking them, which took all of two minutes, I tossed them with butter, parmesan cheese and a little bit of cooking water. Served with chopped parsley and fresh pepper, it was a study in simplicity.
Food Notes:
I suggest following Glenerie Farm on Instagram (@gleneriefarm) right away, as they have baby goats right now, and they are SO adorable. It’s a beautiful farm with chickens, ducks, geese, goats and horses. The animals are so well taken care of that you can feel it. A place so nice that E.B. White would have enjoyed writing about it.
Also, for the first time I tapped a few trees on my property yesterday. I don’t know why it took me so long–I have so many maple trees! Always planned it, never got around to actually doing it. A friend handed me a few spiles with tubing attached, and I figured even though it is late in the season, it was high time I explored this. I’ll keep you posted!
Julia Sforza 
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