In a pickle?

Here is a peek at the lovely eggs I have locally...just beauties!! They are from our Dunbar Community Garden Project (check them out on Facebook here. What a terrific-ly delicious project!) Soooo much nicer and kinder to have these fresh eggs on hand than grocery store eggs or the "floating wonders" I had left in my 'fridge!

Eggselent addition to Our Green Table!

Some of the "gals"

Great idea!!

I didn't dye eggs this year and missed it. I do love using onion skins, berries and beets to swirl up pretty, naturally colored eggs. Next year...

In Wednesday's NYT food section, there was an article about how many families (rural and especially, urban) are now keeping hens and some great recipes on how to enjoy fresh eggs.  Made me miss our sweet hens Johnnie and Georgie. I recognized a name in the article...Ian Knauer and remembered a lovely multi page feature on him and his Pennsylvania farm family's heritage of great food in Gourmet magazine. I grew up with a lot of that wonderful food...shoofly pie, scrabble, sauerkraut. Fortunately, I had saved the issue.

Lovely photo spread...look at eggs on right page

In it is the perfect answer to my wanting to dye up some eggs and maybe, if you did dye a bunch, also the answer of what to do with all the extra hard-boiled eggs you may have hanging around today! In true Pennsylvania Dutch fashion...pickle 'em.

Pennsylvania Beet-Pickled Eggs (adapted from Gourmet Magazine)

3 cups water
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 small beet, peeled and sliced*
1 small shallot, sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
12 hard-boiled large eggs, peeled

Bring water, vinegar, beet, shallot, sugar, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan, then simmer, covered, until beet is tender, about 20 minutes. Cool completely, uncovered. Put beet mixture in a container with eggs and marinate, chilled, gently stirring once or twice, at least 2 hours.

Ian's note:
•Eggs can be marinated, chilled, in an airtight container up to 3 days.

*My Note: I used 2 beets, scooped them out of the brine and then ate them for dinner!! 'Natch, right?  Also, the brine will firm up the egg whites and so to prevent tough, rubber-y eggs, I suggest brining them for no more than a day.  Or, undercook them slightly to begin with. If you choose to devil the yolks, mix a little of the brine into your mayo. Think how gorgeous yellow beets would be here, too! Pretty!

What are some of your ideas for using leftover hard-cooked eggs?