WILD HIVE NEWSLETTER 6-19-12
Wild Hive Farm Eggs Win Serious Eats Taste
Test and Why.
Pasture Raised Chickens
It was pretty exciting news. The very popular food blog, NY Serious Eats (9.4 million page views) taste tested eggs from a number of Union Square Greenmarket egg vendors. According to the article, “All taste tests are conducted completely blind and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample 1 first, while taster B will taste sample 6 first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving any one sample an advantage…” Who knew that palate fatigue could be a problem?
Anyway, by carefully cooking each egg to what they determined to be a perfect temperature for a perfectly boiled egg, they peeled, mashed and lightly salted them with exactly 1% salt for the tasting. They concluded that “tasters almost unanimously picked the Wild Hive Farm eggs with super orange yolks as their favorites…when tasters re-tasted eggs 100% blindfolded, they ranked their eggs in the same order.”
According toJ. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s Serious Eats report, “…these were the freshest eggs we found, with tight whites and tall yolks. When mashed and tasted, the richness was the overwhelming consensus. Tons of good yolky flavor combined with a smooth tender, creamy texture put these guys at a clear winning advantage. They cost a buck or two more than the competitors, but I think it’s worth it. With most of the other eggs we tasted, you might as well be getting them in the supermarket.”
Award Winning Egg-Layers
Wow! Strong stuff and the truth is there are a number of good reasons that our eggs taste as good as they do. They are from heritage breeds, Light Brahmas and Black Jersey Giants. These are not huge egg layers, and they take time to mature, but the eggs have extra large yolks and thick shells. The rest of it is down to the lifestyle and food that Wild Hive Farm hens enjoy.
You see you can’t fake a fresh egg. When the test described the tight whites and tall yolks, these are absolutely a function of freshness. As the egg ages, although perfectly edible for quite some time, the gelatinous aspect of the yolk and white diminishes and they get more watery.
You can’t fake the food the hens eat either. In the taste test they photographed eggs from each farm cracked into a white bowl. There was no doubt that Wild Hive eggs had a much more orange yolk, the others were yellow. Orange yolks are determined by the food the chickens eat. The more grass and pasture fed they are, the richer the taste and color of the yolks. Our hens eat some Lightning Tree Farm organic feed and the larger pieces of corn and bran that are a by-product of milling our polenta and some Wild Hive wheat bran. But the key factor is that they are largely pasture fed. They’re happy, healthy omnivores and that makes a tasty egg. It’s as simple as that. Check out the Serious Eats article.
Don Lewis
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Farm Spotlight:
Jake’s Gouda Cheese
Jake’s Gouda Cheese specializes in traditional Pennsylvania Dutch Farmhouse Gouda Cheese. With old-word artisan style imported directly from the Netherlands, Jake’s Gouda Cheese is made with a breathable cream coating, and turned twice daily on pine planks. This treatment gives Jake’s Gouda it’s distinct flavor and naturally smooth texture.
Originally from Lancaster County, Jake Stoltzfus and his family moved to Upstate New York in 1990. While running a small dairy farm in Deansboro, NY, Jake began to wonder if there wasn’t more to be done with the high quality milk they were shipping.
Jake – never one to do things the easy way – fell in love with the idea of traditional style, artisan Gouda. Reaching out for help directly from Holland, Jake and Sylvia began a journey to produce authentic Dutch-style Gouda. Crafted on small, family owned dairy farm in Upstate New York, Jake’s truly is the Goudness of Gouda! www.jakesgoudacheese.com
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This Week at the Hive:
Every evening we serve our Summer Dinner Menu click here for menu
Thursday, June 21st
Mama Mia, It’s Elena’s Magical Meat Lasagna- Wild Hive pasta layered with Elena’s own meat sauce, house made ricotta cheese and tomato sauce, smothered in Mozzarella. Served with a side salad
Sensational Summer Greens Lasagna- Wild Hive pasta layered with succulent local greens, house made ricotta cheese and tomato sauce and smothered in Mozzarella. Served with a side salad
Sizzlin’ Salt Point Steak Stir Fry- Hahn Farm sirloin steak, marinated, grilled and sliced, then flash fried with local mushrooms and vegetables
Great Grilled Marinated Tempeh- Sliced and served atop roasted baby potatoes and wilted greens
Glenna Gibson
Spring into Summer Salad- Local Baby Arugula, Garlic Scapes, Red Onions and Candied Walnuts with goat cheese in our house champagne vinaigrette
Music By:
Glenna Gibson Duo (Jazz)
6:30-9:30pm
Thurs. June 21–Glenna Gibson Duo
Vocalist/guitarist, Glenna Gisbon and her husband, pianist John Ferrara, have worked together since 1967; it is a musical partnership whose longevity is certainly one of the most enduring to be found anywhere on the music scene. He knows more about how to accompany her pianistically as well as in his arrangements than anyone, and Glenna is so familiar with his playing and musical personality that when they perform it is an effortless experience for them. They draw on the deep well of the great American Jazz songbook.
http://www.glennagibson.com
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Friday, June 22nd
Mini Fox Hill Beef Burger with Caramelized Onions and Camembert
Long Steel Rail at the Hive
Mini Bacon Grilled Cheese with Swiss
Grilled Marinated Tempeh with Zakuska
Spring into Summer Salad- Local Baby Arugula, Garlic Scapes, Red Onions and Candied Walnuts with goat cheese in our house champagne vinaigrette
Music by:
Long Steel Rail (Americana)
6:30-9:30pm
Long Steel Rail cultivates and extends the traditions of American Acoustic Roots music. Playing an eclectic mix of traditional and not-so-traditional stringband music, LSR sits at the confluence of many different streams of musical sensibility. They deliver a distinctive and infectious blend of Bluegrass, Folk, Classic Country and String Band music, tinged with Swing, Irish, Blues, Rockabilly and other ingredients that spice up the rich gumbo of American music. Traditional instrumentation is combined with a contemporary sensibility and material is drawn from the whole gamut in between. Featuring Eric Rosi-Marshall on vocals and guitar, and a variety of Hudson Valley musical stalwarts.
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Saturday, June 23
Great Grilled Marinated Tempeh-with roasted potatoes and wilted greens
Spring into Summer Salad- Local Baby Arugula, Garlic Scapes, Red Onions and Candied Walnuts with goat cheese in our house champagne vinaigrette
Music By:
Two of the Four Diablos
Quatros Diablos Acoustic Review
6:30-9:30pm
Dos Diablos Times Two! Norman Deltufo: Percussion. Recorded and toured with Frank Carillo Band,
Eddie Seville and Steel Rodeo. Albert Carey: Bass, vocals. local recording artist and performer. www.albertcarey.com
Bobby MacDougall: Guitar, vocals. Recorded and toured with John Hall Band, Joe Bouchard of Blue Oyster Cult
Kenny Faranda: Guitar, vocals. Local recording artist and performer.
Be on hand for some hot licks and smooth sounds!
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Wild Hive Articles and Recipes Make the News
Every other week the Northern and Southern Dutchess News publishes an article with Farm to Table Recipes and information from Wild Hive. Written by Don Lewis and Phillippa Ewing, the articles are topical, with lots of ideas for seasonal recipes.
You can check them out in PDF form on our Wild Hive Farm website. We hope they’ll get you cooking local, seasonal and sustainable.
We also have a monthly article in the Poughkeepsie Journal and you can link to them on the same page.
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