Here it is Sunday again, and time for our special brunch. It looks like the same old thing, but not so! This time, there are duck eggs! ;->
Lately I have been ordering organic eggs from a local source,
https://www.facebook.com/kovacspecialty.farms
and this week they were out of chicken eggs, so substituted duck eggs. A stroll through Wikipedia was enlightening about the food values, but most surprising was the fact that duck eggs have about three times the cholesterol of chicken eggs. Not sure why this is, but since neither of us has a cholesterol problem, it doesn’t really matter. I probably wouldn’t want to eat a dozen a week, but since they are so large, we each eat only one, and it is plenty.
Everything came together so beautifully this week. The ham was enhanced by the incredible flavor of the pineapple, which was about the sweetest and most flavorful one we have had in a very long time. Tasted like it had been flown in straight from Lana’i.
WOW – what a surprise to read that the island – formerly known as the pineapple-producing capital of the world – is now owned by one person. To wit: Larry Ellison.
http://venturebeat.com/2012/06/21/12-photos-of-larry-ellisons-gorgeous-new-hawaiian-island-lanai/
This is more what I had recalled when I wrote the above:
http://www.aloha-hawaii.com/lanai/pineapple/
Somehow this saddens me, but it looks like Lana’i’s golden years were waning anyway. I wonder where they are grown in such quantities now. They are plentiful in our supermarkets, and at bargain prices, so there must be a booming plantation somewhere. My son in Florida grew one in his yard last year, but there are no huge pineapple plantations in Florida that I ever heard of.
In any case, we are grateful for the deliciousness of this brunch, and for the fact that we can share it with each other, and with our blog friends! ;->
Also: SUNSHINE! ;->
Adventures of Dorrie Anne 
Do duck eggs taste like chicken eggs?
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Truly, blindfolded, I could not tell the difference. I thought they might have a strong taste, but they don’t. They are bigger, and seemed to hold together better in the water while I was poaching them. The whole of the polenta and the runny yolk of the poached egg was just sublime! ;-> But it was the pineapple today that was the big surprise. I have this almost every time with this brunch, but it was just exceptional today.
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Thanks for that! I’m told that even though I react badly to chicken eggs, I should be fine with duck eggs. I can’t stand the taste of chicken eggs and was hoping the taste difference would be enough to entice me to try the duckies. I guess not. 🙂
The pineapple and ham look soooo tasty.
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In reading up on duck eggs this week, I saw the same thing about allergies to eggs. No specific personal experience, though. But, yah, that pineapple was totally and completely deeee-vine! I chopped up the rest of it, and it is waiting in the refrigerator to top off our cereal this coming week. It is probably the most delicious pineapple either of us had ever tasted.
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Ha Ha! I thought the yellow bottom stuff was the scrambled duck egg, and wondered what that white stuff was on top of it. I’ve never had polenta.
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Never had polenta???? Oh, my. One of life’s great (and so very, very easy) joys, especially paired with delicious poached eggs. It is an Italian dish, actually, although I have no idea why. The traditional way to cook it has one stirring and stirring, rather like risotto. But it is really simplicity itself. Just bring four parts water to the boil. Add one part grains and stir it up. Give it another whirl now and then, but be careful it doesn’t get so thick that it burns to the bottom of the pan. Add butter and/or Cheddar (or any kind of) cheese when it is finished. Season it with some lemon pepper, and salt. It is good plain, or with eggs, or with beans, or with pasta sauce. It is rather like grits. In fact “grit” is the name of a grind, not a food. Polenta is just yellow corn ground to “grit” size. I see no reason to eat white grits when there is polenta available. Not sure why the difference, but there seems to be to me. But . . . blindfolded, I could likely be fooled. ;->
The more traditional way to serve it (and I’ve done this only once or twice because I don’t see the point!) is to make it a bit thicker, chill it, and then slice and fry it, covering it with pasta sauce, or mushrooms and onions. This never worked out well for me, took a long time, and wasn’t a bit tastier for all the effort.
If there is any leftover, it can be plopped into a bit of boiling water, stirred a bit and brought back to deliciousness in the wink of an eye. It looks nice on a plate covered in black beans and accompanying a fish dish.
Be sure to try it. You can get plastic tubes of it already prepared at about eight times the price of making it yourself, but they look ghastly to me. I guess you are supposed to slice off medallions and fry them. ‘Twould be quick, but . . . well, see above for my never-to-be-humble opinion! ;->
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I lived in Italy for 3 years. When I visited Rome I enjoyed sliced polenta sautéed in olive oil (in Northern Italy they use butter in lieu of the oil.). Excellent either way,
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Was it very thick? I should try it again. Maybe I wasn’t using the correct technique. Do you have any advice as to how to do this?
As far as I am concerned, anything involving butter is perfect! Butter is my favorite flavor! And if it turns out crunchy . . . BONUS! ;->
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Could it be that duck eggs have more cholesterol because they are larger?
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Probably not. They are larger, but not by a lot, and certainly not three times larger. I’ll use them for a while to see how it goes.
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Duck eggs, interesting. Breakfast looks good. Got me thinking of tomorrow morning!
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I love breakfast best of all meals! Hope yours is great tomorrow!
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Do these eggs taste differently, too? Looks yummy what you made. Have a nice day, virtual hugs Mitza
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They taste exactly the same to me. They poach up nicely.
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I’ve never seen polenta in dry, grit form, but I have seen it pre-cooked in sausage-like tubes. I tried it once. Thought it was rather bland. I guess it needs a lot of doctoring up. I may try it again once I get home. The thought of eating duck eggs doesn’t do wonders to my internal organs. I’m sure an egg is an egg is an egg, but to eat anything other than chicken eggs, I think I’d have to be blindfolded. So, why don’t they sell turkey eggs? We raise and eat turkey the same as chicken, so why not sell their eggs, too?
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Good question about the turkey eggs, Di. Here’s the first reference I came to on Google. Apparently there isn’t enough profit in it. Can’t say that I’ve ever seen eggs lying about on the street, even where there are turkeys walking around, which I HAVE seen! ;-> Early people seem to have taken advantage of this free food source, though. I never really thought about seeing a turkey sitting on a nest to incubate eggs, but apparently they do.
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/explainer/2012/11/why_don_t_we_eat_turkey_eggs_the_differences_among_chicken_duck_goose_and.html
There really is no way for me to tell the difference between the chicken eggs and the duck eggs. But I think I will make a post showing the two in their cartons. They look pretty much alike in the shells, just as they do after they are broken into a bowl and cooked.
As for the polenta . . . well, I’ve been eating it like Southern grits for decades, and really like it. I tend to melt a big blob of sharp Cheddar on top of it, and when it is good and gooey, I mix it in. At the table I grind up some lemon pepper on it. I’m not much on salt, and the lemon pepper has rock salt in it, so I don’t add any additional salt.
The poached eggs mix with the polenta and cheesy goodness and, well, for me, it’s just delightful. It really is a tummy warmer in cold weather. It isn’t low in calories, and I always get organic because almost everything with corn in it these days is GMO, but it is filling and satisfying. The cost is ridiculously low. It takes only a half cup of grain to two cups of water. That is more than Gary and I can eat together, and we are hearty eaters. There is always one serving left over, which usually finds its way into one of our tummies pretty quickly the next day. It reheats well, and accepts all manner of bits and pieces of other foods to round out a meal – even another egg!
The tube packages are outrageously priced, but making it from scratch takes about ten minutes (longer, if you want it to), and you can doctor it up however pleases you. I’ve never purchased the tube kind, so have no idea what it tastes like, but I would guess it would taste mostly like the preservatives that they would need to put in it to make it shelf stable.
When it is red pepper season, I pan roast some of them to put in it, and that is just so delicious. Might not do that for breakfast, but why not? If you like onions, green pepper – any kind of a sofrito – that is very good mixed in and served as a side dish with dinner. We just went through a plethora of red peppers, so I roasted about 16 of them in my cast iron frying pan, and put them in little baggies in the freezer. One baggy is good for about two additions to something – not always polenta. Really good with rice, and if you are in a Mexican mood, add some salsa, and when it is crackly, melt some cheese on top. Slurp! ;->
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Judie, all that info was new to me — and fascinating.
Also, I am curious about the duck eggs. Were they stronger flavored than chicken eggs?
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Oops. I just read your earlier reply where you answered my question
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No worries! ;->
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Not in the slightest. I could not tell any difference in taste, only that they tasted very good.
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Thanks. I probably don’t need to know that — but just in case! 🙂
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Well, ya’ Just never know when you might run into a duck egg!
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I’ve tried duck eggs once and I too thought the difference in taste was hardly noticeable.
Your polenta looks so very creamy and tasty. 🙂
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I use mostly water, or sometimes bone broth, but then thin it with about one-sixth volume of milk, and then enrich it with the Cheddar. Very flavorful!
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