My wife has become quite addicted to The Hub in Richland, with 'The Hub' being short for The Northwest Regional Food Hub, kind of an indoor Farmers Market/Food Co-op.
I'm fine with a minor addiction...supporting the little guys is important, which is is why I have several Black Heron Distillery products in the house. I'm also a believer in competitive pricing. I know someone on a hobby farm can't match the price of something in the supermarket...but, there is also a limit to how many times I am willing to pay $3.50-$4 for a dozen eggs, when I can get a fully functional 18-pack on sale for $2.
Even more shocking than $3.50 for a dozen is $3.50 for half-a-dozen eggs...which is what my wife paid for duck eggs last week. Not an every week price, but I am fine with it since it let us satisfy a curiosity.
For 2-3 years, ever since Back Woods Home magazine ran an article on Khaki Campbell Ducks, I've been fascinated by the idea of raising ducks. Who cares about chickens...give me ducks. They just sounded so much neater and more fun than chickens. Plus, you can have a drake without him making the same non-city friendly noises that a rooster would make. I guess it's the same reasoning that caused to me to get a .35 Whelen instead of an -06.
The big question though, is, would we use the duck eggs? As far as I am aware, I've never had a duck egg before. Tonight seemed like a good chance to try them out, since I was making corned beef hash with left-overs.
First impression...meh. The eggs looked different...the yolks were a much larger percentage of the egg...and those yolks were TOUGH. In deference to the kids, we made scrambled eggs, and those yolks needed some convincing to break up. I am just not sure that was the right use for duck eggs. These are not just big chicken eggs...the makeup of them is different. The scrambled eggs came out a little...mealy. And very yolky.
I'm not going to give up on the idea of duck eggs after just one try. I have heard that the extra proteins in the egg that make it tough, make duck eggs excellent for baking cakes and brownies.
I've played around with the thought, Apollo LOVES duck meat and that would be an easier way to satisfy that without spending a fortune at the grocery.....the problem is that we LOVE scrambled eggs here, so I'd still be buying chicken eggs to do that with from what you're saying. Hey, if you get a chance try one hardboiled, thats the other "plain egg" way we often do eggs here....
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a teen we raised green heads. I quite liked the duck eggs; I think they have more flavor and character. And duck meat is something I miss quite a bit these days.
ReplyDeleteLike I said, I'm sure we will try them again at some point. I'm not a big hardboiled fan, but I will forward your request to my wife.
ReplyDeleteFor another viewpoint on the scrambled duck eggs, my wife said that they reminded her of the powdered eggs she used to get for breakfast before school...not a ringing endorsement.