Pastured Egg & Wilted Sorrel atop Toasted Sourdough
By Alison Steele
Eggs on toast with wilted greens is a combination older than the hills enjoyed by folks and farmers everywhere. I heard KBCZ’s Tina Davey raving about toast on the radio stacked with eggs and avocado as a quick nutritious meal while stocking the camper with goodies for our spring campout. Erin Valdivia, bread baker extraordinaire and cohost of The Pintley Perspective on 89.3 FM, alongside her hubby Big Bri, whipped up a poached egg high atop her own toasted sourdough while retreating in Big Sur, steam from the egg rising to the rafters of the Octagon House overlooking the Pacific. Aunt Ethel would soft boil her eggs and toss them with garden greens wilted with hot bacon grease for a flavorful farm meal served up alongside buttered toast.
With the return of sunlight, I can always rely on a fresh egg or two in the lay box this time of year. Along with leafy greens thriving in the frosty mornings and Erin’s sourdough in the breadbasket, the promise of Spring is happily delivered within this small package. Vitamins B and D from fresh egg yolks lift the late winter psyche along with much-needed minerals from the fresh greens. Spring is winking at us from around the corner!
This morning, the lemony garden sorrel, shining in all its bright green glory reminded me that it’s the time of year to be celebrating the sour, bitter, and tender young shoots of mineral-rich greens. As I threw the overgrown chard stalks into a sunny patch of the chicken run I noticed the bright young centers of the early spring and late winter greens. Huge Dinosaur Kale that had wintered over, the new shoots of rainbow chard reseeding from the storms, sweet curly leaf parsley cascading over the ends of the corrugated raised beds, young nettles popping up under the blueberry bushes. All were proudly gleaming in crisp weather of the mornings and evenings. These are the plants that tone and recalibrate our digestive organs, pull toxins out and away from our bodies, and aid in seasonal Spring cleaning.
From three ingredients that have been consumed together for centuries comes a carbon-neutral fuel that will not only extinguish hunger for hours, but leave one feeling delightfully simple and uncluttered, like the minimalist in us all. Add a scoop of pickled veggies or a forkful of homemade kraut and you have a dinner fit for a farming queen.
Pastured Egg & Wilted Sorrel atop Toasted Sourdough
1 fresh egg
1 thick slice of homemade bread
1 large handful of tender greens (sorrel, rainbow chard, nettles, kale)
2 T grass-fed butter (or extra virgin coconut oil)
Dollop cultured sour cream, optional
Pick over the greens, using the tender young leaves. Heat a tablespoon of butter in a small skillet and gently wilt greens stirring with a wooden spoon for a minute or two. Turn off, scraping greens into a small bowl. Stir in a dollop of cream and pinch of salt. Reheat skillet. Fry* the egg and toast the bread to your liking. Slather the toast with the remaining tablespoon of butter, smear with wilted greens, and top with one of the first golden eggs of a bountiful spring laying season. Puncture the yoke, sprinkle with minced parsley and freshly cracked pepper, and eat hot!
*Want your egg without the butter? Bring a small saucepan of water to a rolling boil. Crack the egg into a small tea cup. Quickly stir the water into a vortex and gently slide the egg into the center of the whirlpool. Turn off heat, cover and let sit for a couple minutes depending on how runny you like the yolk…about 1 ½ – 2 minutes for a saucy center and firm whites. Erin swears by the vortex trick for perfectly poached eggs!
A native of Virginia, Alison Steele lives with her husband, two children, and cat in Boulder Creek where she raises quail, chickens, fruit trees, vegetables, and herbs. Alison plays banjo and sings in Sugar by the Pound.
Photos by Alison Steele
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