You probably know Terry Golson from her addictive website hencam.com. We were lucky to meet Terry when she was on a book tour here in Los Angeles a few years ago. She’s got a new cookbook out, The Farmstead Egg Guide & Cookbook. The book begins with a purchasing guide to eggs followed by a brief introduction to what’s involved in keeping chickens. Recipes–everything from omelettes to deserts–make up the majority of the book.
Terry is on a blog tour, and has dropped by Root Simple to share a recipe and give away a copy of The Farmstead Egg Guide & Cookbook. To win the book, all you have to do is leave a comment an this post. Tells us something about your own chickens, or tells us whether you’d ever consider keeping chickens. We’ll draw a winner at random.
Here’s one of the recipes from the book:
Zucchini and Mint Frittata
Mint is not just for iced tea and garnishes on plates! Used in a frittata, it adds just the right savory and herbal note to the vegetables. A frittata can be finished in the oven, or it can be flipped over in the pan and finished on the stove. This recipe gives directions for the stovetop version, but you can also finish it in a hot oven as in the previous frittata recipes.
Makes 6 servings
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup sliced onion
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 pound zucchini, sliced
8 large eggs
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet. Sauté the onion and bell pepper until soft and golden. Take your time on this step to fully develop the sweet flavors of these vegetables. Stir in the zucchini and continue to cook over low heat until the edges begin to brown. Set aside in a bowl.
2. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, 3 tablespoons of the Parmesan, the mint, salt, and pepper.
3. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in the skillet. Pour in the eggs and then distribute the vegetables on top. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, until the eggs are set but not yet firm on top. Several times while the eggs are cooking, take a flexible spatula and run it along the edge and under the frittata to make sure the eggs are not sticking to the pan.
4. Take the skillet off the heat. Put a dinner plate over it and flip the frittata onto the plate. Then slip the frittata back into the pan, now with the bottom side up. Top with the remaining 1 tablespoon Parmesan.
Cook for a few minutes more, until the eggs are fully cooked.
I love HenCam and GoatCam. I’ve been wanting to keep chickens for years. I live in Portland, OR and have a front yard edible garden, so it’s pretty much a requirement anyway. But we came to the realization that we would not be good chicken parents. We just couldn’t count on being able to keep up with all the work necessary to keep the chickens healthy, happy and safe all the time. So I have to convince a neighbor to have chickens instead, so I can visit them and trade for eggs. Either that or win the lottery and be able to take care of the urban farmstead full time.
Sob, I got busted my our unenlightened City leaders and had to give up my chickens.
We keep 4 hens on our small-town half acre. Besides the obvious benefit of their eggs, we’ve learned to put them to put the to work on our raised beds. They scratch up the soil in early spring to do the tilling and weeding for us before we plant. Score!
Oh, we love our backyard chickens! We have 15 right now with 5 Newbies in the brooder (although, I’m pretty sure one is a Roo and won’t be giving us any eggs). There really is nothing like fresh eggs for breakfast (or lunch or dinner)!
I covet a small clutch of chickens. Yesterday (before I left Vancouver) my husband had a poached egg for breakfast at a tiny funky diner and it was almost as round and fat as it had been in the shell. The yolk was practically orange. Started my lusting after chickens and really fresh eggs all over again!
But, alas!, we’re semi-nomads going where the work takes us. Moving with cats and dogs is challenging enough, so I’ll have to continue to pine and lust and covet….
(PS Don’t bother including my name in your lottery. I seriously don’t need another cookbook or to fuel my disappointment over this. I just wanted to add my 2¢.)
I had a bantam rooster when I was in the first grade. I won him in an Easter egg hunt, so I named him Easter. It was fun watching the cat stalk him, and then slink away when Easter turned on him.
Of course, the reason the farm donated him to the Easter egg hunt was that he didn’t give eggs, so I didn’t experience farmstead eggs until I grew up and joined a farm share.
Our 6 hens have finally ramped up their egg laying production after a slow winter. Must be the sunshine. Looking forward to frittatting it up this week!
Love hencam, great website. I hope within the year to get a house and already know in MD I can have up to 10 hens. So I cannot wait.
We’re not keeping chickens right now, but are planning to when I retire. We do have a great garden including blueberries and I’m planning on trying strawbale gardening this year.
I just bought my first house, so chickens are finally in my future after years of apartment living! I’m planning to get my first chicks next year (this year my time and money are already spoken for) — city zoning will let me have up to eight hens. …And that would be a lot of eggs to use up!
Just this morning we picked out our chickens for this spring! We were excited to see that McMurray hatchery offers a slightly slower-growing variety of the cornish cross, which is supposed to alleviate some of the health problems and not have such a tough time at high altitudes.
We’ve also got a bunch of eggers coming in. The Meyer hatchery catalog we were looking at is much more informative, and Meyer is slightly less expensive than McMurray, but they don’t have quite as good a selection of meat breeds.
I know where I grew up there were families that had chickens but where I am now chicken are not allowed.
I live in an urban area, and the city council has just issued guidelines for chicken keeping. That book sounds as fabulous as her web site.
I love Terry’s website! I am still in the dreaming phase of chicken owning, but I finally see the possibility of me getting to own some on the horizon (just have to move back across the country later this year – thanks Army!).
I have tried repeatedly to get my wife to agree to backyard chickens, but as of yet have not convinced her. One day she will come home to find feathered friends wandering around the yard.
I have wanted chickens for so long, but my city-boy husband can’t seem to get his head around the idea. The other obstacle is that our coop would have to be built like a fortress to keep out the coyotes, bobcats, etc. that we share the neighborhood with. So hubby’s excuse is always that he doesn’t think he can build a secure enough compound for them. But I will persevere and someday I WILL HAVE CHICKENS!
We’ve been keeping chickens for a couple of years, and have just hatched our first batch of ten chicks. Our rooster is a Brahma (the only pedigree thing on our small-holding!) and all the chicks have got feathered feet like Dad, but are otherwise they have a mixed bag of traits – our hens are of unknown breeding but fairly good layers.
Love the chickens, hate the stress of predators, we’ve got a lot of birds of prey in the area. Our dogs keep most other things away.
We have 5 hens: half their eggs are for our consumption while the other half are to keep the neighbors from snitching to the HOA
We have 2 barred rock hens in our small backyard coop in the city. Our friends eagerly await for invites to brunch because they know we have the tastiest eggs in the area!
We bought our farm in July and inherited the chickens that were already here. They’re getting a little old though, and we’ll be ordering many more chicks soon!
We kept chickens where we used to live… until my then six-year old daughter found their little carcasses after a raccoon had gotten them.
We’ve pondered keeping chickens where we now live and this book will probably only increase that desire!
I’m very interested in trying chickens but I don’t feel like I know enough about it yet. This book sounds like it would help out in that regard.
So far one of my favorite things I’ve found on the internet has been the “Whizbang Chicken Plucker” demonstration, and the instructions on how to make one. I told my brother-in-law about it and the concept of chicken tractors, and he looked at me like I was crazy and said “WHERE do you find this stuff?!” haha!
I have one of my original four chicks, Thelma. Plus, I have a hen about one year old. Patsy Cline, that we got for Thelma’s companion as she sat depressed and injured after a raccoon attack got Pepper. Thelma and Patsy Cline are best friends now. Thelma lays just as many eggs at five-years as Patsy Cline does at one-year. I got 35 eggs in February from the two of them. Now that there is more daylight, they are beating that number. I hope it is not too late to register to win the book. I absolutely love the hen cam and Terry’s thoughts.
Love, love, love having chickens! Fun to watch and their eggs can’t be beat.
No chickens of my own yet (no yard to keep them in) but I love visiting friends’ flocks! I look forward to having our own coop one day.
I have no hens yet I have several friends who keep hens and provide beautiful, colorful fresh eggs at a bargain price. Where I live, we are rich with air and ground predators so if I ever decide to live in the company of hens, I would need to prepare a very secure home. For now, I’ll be happy to enjoy the chicken experience vicariously through friends and family.
We just started getting eggs again-it’s really spring! Most winters we have one or two hens lay anyway, but not this winter…READY for spring!
My cluckers weren’t planned to become pets, but they are delightful ones. We visit at least twice daily and they give me such great gifts.
I recently inherited a sizable flock of Ameraucana from a friend-of-a-friend. The gentleman had been keeping them for decades but now he, due to having advanced Lou Gehrig’s disease, is going into a care home. His once proud 80 bird flock was reduced to just less than 20 by his inability to keep the coops defended from a tenacious pod of raccoons.
These lovely birds have been with me for just over two months now and they are doing well. Best of all their former owner has given me his seal of approval after coming for a visit. I’m just happy that they’re safe and secure.
I check out Terry’s blog every day. It’s a great place to learn more about chickens.
I’ve had backyard hens for almost 5 years. They’re still the original girls, so I don’t get too many eggs now. Luckily, I have a wonderful farmer’s market for fresh eggs when my girls don’t provide enough. Even without the eggs, my hens are a wonderful source of entertainment and companionship.
Just added the book to my Goodreads “To Read” list in case I don’t win 🙂 I would so love, love, love to keep chickens one day when I get into a house or property that would allow me too. I love eggs and think it would be amazing to raise my own. I’m not sure if I will be able to get to the point of raising chickens for meat as well, but definately for eggs, I can’t wait!:)
Our chicks are taking up the front room right now. This weekend the run will go up and they’ll get to enjoy some sunshine.
We don’t have any chickens at the moment but have had them in the past. My favorite chickens are the ones that lay what we have always called Easter Eggs. The eggs are light blue, light green and sometimes a pinksih color. I’d love to get some more chickens as there is nothing like a fresh egg.
Thanks for the chance to win a copy of this amazing looking book.
Emu: I lay medium size green
eggs and so does my sister Galandria. In May we will be 2 years old.
Alice: I am the senior hen, I’m a buxom blond Orpington. My eggs are large and beige. I’m. Free range but the veggies here are caged….bizarre!
Mini: I sm bantam and when I lay, the eggs are small light beige. I am transgender; some times of each year I crow, but only first thing in the morning. Folks don’t support my crowing, but its who I am.
I really really want backyard chickens. Hoping our next home will have a better space for keeping them.
My town (Cary NC) recently changed its rules to allow urban chickens. I’d love to have them but don’t have enough property under the rules. I go walking around a nearby small pond — one of the neighbors there has several in a very nice yard and coop and they are fun to watch.
We currently have three mostly wyandotte(mutt) chickens, which is a good number for us at the moment. When we do have to replace them, I think we will get four (our city’s limit) since our family has grown. It’s so nice to have them and the eggs they produce.
I became a chicken owner last summer and love every minute of it! I have 4 beautiful girls that I spoil with all organic chicken feed, fruits, veggies, grains and lots of attention. They return the favor by giving me 2 dozen eggs per week.
We started out covert with just a few chickens then moved to the county and out of hiding. Now we have fifteen layers and two roosters. Love our Easter eggers and Marans the best, the egg colors make me happy =)
Since I relocated to Portlandia from. L.A., I’ve been boarding my chickens until we find a chicken friendly place! They actually do exist but the timing, locale, or property never seems to be in our favor…….. Sigh! We did score a community garden plot though. Very lucky we got a great looking raised bed full of worms. One of the plots looked like a submerged rice paddy. :X
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I love Hencam & am enjoying this chance to check out other sites, like yours.
Two of my favorite web sites!
LOVE hencam as I’m an apartment dweller who had a small flock of chickens about 3 years ago. Terry’s knowledge is so extensive and readily shared…as well as her wonderful love of animals of all kinds. Her blog posts will brighten any animal lover’s day! Thank you for supporting her.
I don’t have chickens but I will shortly. We’re in the process of moving from the burbs to the country and the chickens will move in right after we do!
I love hencam.com and I’m looking forward to exploring your site!
I have six hens and enjoy letting a hen set and raise chicks.
I’m here for the giveaway, but with what Terry shared of your blog and your lifestyle, I can’t wait to read much, MUCH more of your blog!
I got busted by my city regs too but just split my flock and moved half of them to an elderly neighbor’s yard. She likes the company and I still care for them and get the eggs!
I can’t wait to get chickens at the next place we move to! We had them when I was younger, but I don’t recall them laying much.
I’m a vicarious chicken watcher so far, but they’re on the list of things we’d like to try when we finally get a yard. Thanks!
Just about to finish building my chicken yard … have always wanted to keep chickens and now, hopefully soon, it’ll be a reality!! I’m a REAL fan of Hen Cam and not a day goes by that my wife and I don’t check in on Terry’s chickens to see what they’re up to!!
Terry’s book is great…I’d love a copy to use up the 6-8 eggs I’m getting a day.
I love chickens. Right now I have 23 babies in my kitchen. It is too cool for them to go to the hen house just yet. I would love to win this book.
I love chickens and started out with 10 Rhode Island Red roosters that was sold as hens when they were a day old. Joke was on me, but I still loved them. Raised them and butchered all but one and ended up not being able to turn a hen down when it was not wanted or when a couple hens sat and hatched their babies I was excited. Now we have 32 hens and 3 roosters. We get brown, green, blue, olive and white eggs. Each chicken has their own personalities and are God creations that truly make me happy and excited to get the couple dozen eggs or more daily. I give a local food pantry the extra eggs I don’t use. I make my own organic feed and baby the chickens. The cookbook would be exciting to get and then I could baby my family, friends and myself as I love to cook and I use your recipes and your bread has been a big hit in my part of the Country. Thanks for sharing the recipes Mr. Homegrown. Thanks for the chance to have an opportunity to win.
My name is Cheryl and I’m a poultry addict….
I bought my first six chicks two years ago, and we have added to them because of both opportunity and attrition (think hawks). We currently have eight adult hens (five breeds) fourteen chicks (half of which we are brooding for a friend) and three ducklings. Needless to say, our friends and neighbors think we are crazy, but we love our fowl!
like to get some chickens
thanks for the giveaway
We have a winner! Congrats to Cheryl Brodzinsky!