Eggs, eggs, and more eggs, plus some other stuff

Not my eggs, silly.  Duck eggs and chicken eggs.  Charleston's Farmer's Market has opened for the season and we finally got there early enough this Saturday to score some eggs (and meat).  The Charleston Farmer's Market is a nice market; a mix of local produce, meat products (happy animals=happy food) and local artisans. A friend of mine, from the lab, is a loyal market shopper, there every Saturday first thing - rain or shine.  He has been going on and on about the meat and eggs at the market, but the previous Saturday they were sold out by the time we made it to the market. 

Not this Saturday.

I picked up a pound of local grass feed beef, a portion of local grass feed brats, some local peppered bacon, a dozen local free-range chicken eggs, and a dozen local free-range duck eggs.  Yup, duck eggs.  I also bought some local asparagus and cabbage.  Yum.

Sunday morning the bacon was oh so yummy, thick, and full of favor.  Very expensive, but worth trying again.

Now, onto the the eggs.  I poached a chicken egg and a duck egg.  The very first time I've ever poached an egg!  I do need to admit I watched Julie and Julia while at sea and bought two of Julia Child's cookbooks since getting back on shore.  Julia was right on the money, I poached an egg - no problem following her directions.  The spouse and I both tried the eggs - chicken vs. duck.  Both were yummy and easy to poach since they were fresh.  However, the duck egg was much richer and more decadent.  Imagine a chicken egg larger and with a tablespoon of sweet cream butter mixed into the yolk - that's a fresh duck egg compared to a fresh chicken egg.  I then made a duck egg omelet with goat cheese (fresh goat cheese also from the market) that was rich and yummy.

I am a convert - I want only fresh duck eggs from here on out.  Chicken eggs seem so banal in comparison.  What I don't know is how long into the boiling summer of the deep American South ducks will lay eggs????

I also picked up some fresh ravioli at the market.  Black bean, corn, and crawfish ravioli.  We ate it for dinner Saturday night covered in a mushroom cream sauce I made with fresh oyster mushrooms I purchased at the market from Mepkin Abbey.  Yummy is an understatement (those mushrooms where the best I've ever had).

I'll report on the ground beef and fresh brat when we eat them later this week.  The deep south may suck in many ways, but holy cow I can get some damn good food at the Farmer's Market.