Amish Egg Recipes
Chickens are an intrinsic part of the Amish farmstead providing meat and eggs for the family. Today, the egg you buy from the store mostly comes from the Leghorn breed of chicken, a smaller, white chicken which lays white eggs. Until commercial sized chicken farms took over chicken production in the 1940’s, most chickens were dual-purpose breeds which laid brown eggs.
Many of the chickens found on the Amish farm are from one of theses dual purpose breeds. Layers are specially bred to be prolific egg layers, while being skimpy as meat producers. Meat type-birds have been bred to gain weight quickly on the least amount of feed, but the hens cannot be expected to produce a large quantity of eggs.
The dual-purpose breeds have the best of both the meat-type bird and the layer. However, they don’t gain weight as quickly as the meat-bird nor do they lay as heavily as the layers. The dual-purpose breeds found in the United States are primarily of the American class: Barred Plymouth Rocks, White Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, New Hampshire, and Wyandotte.
Today’s chicken has its roots in the jungle of Southeast Asia. Both the red jungle fowl and the gray jungle fowl contributed to the gene pool of the modern chicken. The red jungle fowl gave us the white skinned chicken, while the gray jungle fowl gives us yellow skinned chicken.
The scientific name for the domestic chicken is Gallus domesticus. They come in different types: show or ornamental breeds, bantams, layers, meat-type, and dual-purpose. The show, ornamental and bantams are primarily raised for breeding and showing at fairs and competitions.
A layer of any breed on the Amish farm needs to do her job at producing at least five eggs a week to supply the family. The Amish make great use of eggs which is a staple at breakfast time. Eggs are also used to make many baked goods or to make delicious Amish egg noodles. Here are a couple of recipes which are favorites in Amish homes.
Amish Breakfast Sandwiches
12 slices bacon
1 small can chopped mushrooms, drained
1 small onion, fine chopped
4 large eggs
2 tbsp. milk
1 c. grated cheddar cheese
4 slices ripe tomato
4 slices thick sliced bread
Fry bacon in large skillet until crisp. Remove and set aside. Sauté onions and mushrooms in the skillet with bacon grease until onions are clear. Use slotted spoon to remove and set aside. Place egg and milk into a bowl and whip. Add onions and mushrooms to eggs, then return to skillet and cook until set. Remove from skillet. Toast bread in toaster oven or toaster until browned. Place on cookie sheet. Place three slices of bacon on the toast. Cover with equal parts of scrambled eggs. Salt and pepper to taste. Place tomato slices on top of eggs. Cover each sandwich with ¼ c. grated cheese. Broil the sandwiches until cheese is melted.
Amish Egg Noodles
3 eggs
2 c. flour
½ tsp. salt
2 quarts chicken stock
Place the eggs into a medium bowl. Whip well. Add flour and salt and mix. This will form a dough. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead well. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough until thin. Turn dough and add small amounts of flour to the surface. Roll until thin. Let the dough dry for 45 minutes. Carefully turn and let dry 30 minutes.
Heat chicken stock in a large pot and bring to a boil. Use a knife or pizza cutter to cut dough into ¼ inch wide noodles. Drop noodles into boiling chicken stock. Reduce heat and cook at a roiling boil for 20 minutes. The liquid will thicken to gravy consistency as this cooks. Remove from heat and ladle into bowls for serving. Season with pepper and salt. Add a dollop of sour cream for a tangy bite to the noodles.
