If you’ve never tasted a fresh farm egg you have been missing one of life’s wonders. Like a tomato you pluck from the vine or the cob of corn that just came from the field, an egg the hen laid within the hour is remarkably delicious. Intense and flavorful. What the ideal egg should taste like.

And does.

My daughter Meredith and I once had scrambled fresh farm eggs at an inn in southern France. I’d never eaten an egg that tasted better and after that never bought a supermarket egg again. I began to buy organic eggs, which taste closer to what fresh eggs taste like, but even so, they don’t quite make it flavorwise.

So when I can, I buy farm eggs at the farmer’s market, but where I live they don’t always have eggs and the farmer’s markets are only around during the summer.

My daughter Gillian and her family stayed at Kinderhook Farm last weekend. This farm is in Columbia County, NY (about 2-1/2 hours north of NYC). They had their first taste of eggs the chicken just laid. In fact, if you look at the photo you can see my granddaughter Lila’s hand reaching into the coop — they gathered their own eggs for breakfast. In the second photo you see her washing the eggs. 

They brought some home for us and we had plain old eggs. Tender whites, crispy edges, rich runny yolks.ohmyohmyohmy. These were really really good eggs.

They tasted like eggs. Like the fresh eggs I once had many years ago in France.

Get yourself some fresh eggs if you can. Then make some sunnyside ups for yourself.

You don’t need anything fancier. Or more.

Great stuff.

Sunnyside Up Eggs

1 tablespoon butter

4 large eggs

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, crack the eggs into the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes, piercing bubbles that appear in the whites. The eggs are done when the whites are set and look creamy but have crispy brown edges. 

To make eggs over easy, flip the sunnyside up eggs and cook for 30 seconds. Sprinkle the eggs with salt and pepper. Makes 2 servings