I need to eat 36 eggs.

March 22, 2010 4:20 PM

There are three dozen eggs in my refrigerator that will expire about 2.5 weeks from now. What are some easy, different and delicious egg recipes?

Due to some grocery shopping miscommunications and general forgetfulness, I've got eggs up the wazoo. I don't want to waste them, but the idea of eating omelettes and hardboileds every day for weeks does not excite me.

I'm looking for some egg recipes that:
-are different and easy
-include other inexpensive and versatile ingredients
-are mostly vegetarian (though I am not averse to the occasional deli meat.)
-serve one person, or keep well as leftovers

What are some of your favorites? For the record, I find egg salad terrifying.

Thanks in advance!

posted by blackcatcuriouser to Food & Drink (49 answers total)

Quiche. Seriously. Quiche the crap out of the next week.
posted by Hiker at 4:22 PM on March 22, 2010

Frittata! This is the recipe I use, but I don't put in bacon. I like it with red pepper and asparagus (I cook the asparagus a little bit first, but so it's still crunchy).
posted by meerkatty at 4:26 PM on March 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

you need to visit eggs.ca
posted by Danniman at 4:27 PM on March 22, 2010

This old AskMe is almost eggs-actly your question.
posted by Jaltcoh at 4:27 PM on March 22, 2010

Flan
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:27 PM on March 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

Egg yolks + light olive oil = mayonnaise (add garlic for awesomeness).
Then use the egg whites (plus sugar) to make meringues.

Disclaimer: an electric whisk is needed for both of these, otherwise they do not fulfill the "easy" criteria.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:29 PM on March 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

Eggs don't actually really go bad, (Alton Brown says so) as long as they're properly handled (keep them in the fridge, and make sure they don't start growing ick) - they just stop being useful for certain things (like frying) because the yolk membrane breaks down - but the membrane breaking down doesn't actually make them 'bad'.

You can drop a single egg into soup to make a sort-of egg drop soup, or just toss one into stir-fry to add a little bit of protein.

Also, you could scramble a bunch of them, and freeze the scrambled eggs for quick breakfasts later on?
posted by FritoKAL at 4:29 PM on March 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

freeze 'em
posted by nadawi at 4:31 PM on March 22, 2010

Seconding FritoKAL. Just because eggs are "expired" doesn't mean that they've gone bad.
posted by zsazsa at 4:31 PM on March 22, 2010

Separate the whites and freeze them for use later in meringues. Then when summer is here make pavlova.
posted by Kerasia at 4:33 PM on March 22, 2010

If you have some flour, you can make brioche (in five minutes a day!). The recipe uses eight eggs and then you have yummy brioche for toasting bread, donuts, etc. If you can't eat that much bread that quickly freeze the dough until you want some more.
posted by devinemissk at 4:34 PM on March 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

Quiche. Delicious hot or cold, easy to make, very versatile.

Preheat oven to 375F

Get:
*1 premade pie shell (you can also make your own crust, if you like) Put the shell on a baking sheet in case of spills.

Mix:
*3 eggs
*1 cup light creme (or heavy cream if you prefer. half and half might work), you can go as high as 1.5 cups, but I like the thicker texture
*1/2 tsp salt
*a little black pepper
*a little nutmeg

Prepare:
*Some vegetables -- roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, mushrooms, spinach, artichoke hearts, whatever you like. 2-3 items is a good number, maybe 2-4 oz each, maybe 6-8oz total. They should be already cooked, and as dry as you can get them. Leftovers are excellent. put 'em in the bottom of the shell.
*Some grated cheese, if you like. I like Gruyere or Emanthaller, but use what you have, maybe 2 oz worth. Put on top of the vegetables.

Pour the egg mixture into the shell, filling it, but leave a little space at the top. You will probably have a little mixture left over, maybe a lot if you went for the 1.5 cups dairy or you used a lot of vegetables.

Put in the oven for 25-30 minutes. The interior should be 165F. The top should be slightly puffed and a little browned.

You can eat it right away, but it may be a bit runny. Let cool for 10 minutes. You can now slice and serve. The texture improves with cooling, I find, so I like to eat it closer to room temperature, or chill, but that is me.

Delicious with a nice salad. It's also, after refrigeration, solid enough to pack in Tupperware and take to work as a nice lunch. A nice white wine or light pilsner optional (well, for a work lunch).
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:40 PM on March 22, 2010 [4 favorites]

Lemon curd!
You could probably double or triple that recipe. Do it over a pot of simmering water to ensure it doesn't curdle and take it off the heat as soon as you the slightest sign of thickening. If you do leave it on a little too long straining through a wire mesh can sometimes rescue it.
Beautiful golden stuff!
posted by peacheater at 4:41 PM on March 22, 2010 [2 favorites]

Not only is quiche delicious, nutritious and easy to make, it also freezes really well. You can slice it before you freeze it to make single-serving frozen quiche.
posted by OLechat at 4:45 PM on March 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

Bread pudding and strata, which is like a a savory bread pudding.
posted by drlith at 4:55 PM on March 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

That's not really all that many. I can easily eat 6 scrambled eggs in one sitting and I am a pretty slight girl. Scrambled eggs for breakfast every few days and they will be gone in plenty of time before the deadline. They're easily modified, can be vegetarian, and are delicious.

Also, this website suggests that eggs can keep far longer than the suggested time with no adverse consequences.
posted by hepta at 4:55 PM on March 22, 2010

Not sure how you feel about dairy, but this reasonably awesome buttermilk ice cream takes a dozen egg yolks (still haven't figured out what to do with my dozen egg whites, tho)
posted by nonliteral at 4:58 PM on March 22, 2010

Keep in mind that older eggs are actually better for boiling, because they are easier to peel, for one thing.

I don't understand your aversion to egg salad, but there are other uses for boiled eggs (deviled, for example).

Eggs can also be roasted (baked).
posted by trip and a half at 4:58 PM on March 22, 2010

Here's my favorite meringue recipe. It has never served me wrong and explains in detail what to do. You can make them pretty big.

They don't stay good more than a few days, but they make good gifts.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 4:59 PM on March 22, 2010

We semi-regularly don't eat enough of our eggs quickly here at the Kwine household, and this dead simple Red Bell Pepper Fritatta is a good way to take down seven eggs using ingredients I always have around.
posted by Kwine at 5:08 PM on March 22, 2010

(I should say, we don't always have red bell pepper-it's often green bell pepper, or cucumber, or zucchini, or etc.) It should be called Vegetable-of-the-moment Fritatta.
posted by Kwine at 5:11 PM on March 22, 2010

Oh and I guess this might be a good place to recount the standard test to see whether your eggs have gone bad:

Fill a large bowl/pan/whatever with water and carefully place the egg inside. If it floats to the top of the water, you should probably not use it. It if settles to the bottom, you're good to go.
posted by trip and a half at 5:22 PM on March 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

I got some great suggestions when I asked a similar question a couple of years ago. It was the start of my clafouti addiction.
posted by maudlin at 5:33 PM on March 22, 2010

Tortilla espanola is reasonably easy to cook and is unbearably delicious cold the next morning on some toasted french bread rubbed with fresh tomatoes and olive oil and salt. NOM.

Also, "keeps, covered and chilled, 2 days"? This is a shameful lie. It lasts at least 5.
posted by elizardbits at 5:39 PM on March 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

Easter is the first weekend of April, which falls within your deadline! So don't forget to dye and hide some of them.
posted by xo at 5:45 PM on March 22, 2010

Angel food cake recipes usually call for about a dozen egg whites, and the cake lasts for days!
posted by Maarika at 5:46 PM on March 22, 2010

make some creme brulee with the yolks and macaroons with the whites.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 5:57 PM on March 22, 2010

Angel food cake recipes usually call for about a dozen egg whites, and the cake lasts for days!

And use those twelve egg yolks to make creme brulee.
posted by mmascolino at 5:58 PM on March 22, 2010

Quindim! A traditional Brazilian dessert:

1 cup of water
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 Tbs butter
12 egg yolks - through a strainer
2 cups of grated coconut

Boil water and sugar for about 5 minutes or until it's thick. Remove from the heat and mix in the butter. Once it's warm to the touch, but not quite cool yet. Mix in the coconut and the egg yolks until it's uniform. [It's very important to strain the yolks through the strainer before adding them, it removes the outside "film" of the yolk and also the strong egg-yolk taste. If you're going to skip this step, just skip the recipe all together!]
Poor mixture in a sugared and buttered bundt pan, and bake in a double boiler in pre-heated (350) oven for 30 minutes.
Refrigerate over night. Remove from pan. Enjoy!

And you can use or freeze the egg white for other recipes/later.
posted by Neekee at 6:05 PM on March 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

key lime pie!
posted by toodleydoodley at 6:13 PM on March 22, 2010

Seconding that the expiration date is just a suggestion. I've used eggs a month or more past their date with no ill effects.
posted by chrisamiller at 6:14 PM on March 22, 2010

Bobotie. South African dish; main ingredient is ground protein (this recipe says beef, I usually use lean lamb, can easily substitute TVP). Freezes really well. I use 3 eggs instead of 2 and add 1 tart green apple into the mix. Can also add 1/4 cup of chopped almonds.
posted by Anali at 6:16 PM on March 22, 2010

Tea eggs are similar to hard boiled but better, especially if your looking for a taste change. I personally use the joy of cooking reciepe, but this looks close.
posted by Black_Umbrella at 6:50 PM on March 22, 2010

Nthing that you don't have to eat them in quite such a hurry.

There was a fine bit of breakfast porn in the New York Times magazine yesterday; the hash browns were the heart of the action, but I was more interested in the recipe for scrambled eggs with trout roe. Only marginally, though, I liked the look of both of them.

Less extravagantly, scrambled eggs are also delicious with a bit of chopped dill cooked gently in the butter before you add the eggs (and served with ketchup, a miracle-combination). The key with scrambled eggs, of course, is to cook them as slowly as you can bear, and to stir frequently. The classic œufs brouillés would be done over a bain marie, and take about three quarters of an hour to cook. Doubters, believe me: it is worth the wait.

Eggs benedict and florentine are also worth your time. There must be recipes out there.
posted by lapsangsouchong at 8:21 PM on March 22, 2010

Chocolate mousse (I replace the milk with liquor and do not bother with the heating step).

Alternately, instead of lemon curd, you could make a passionfruit curd.
posted by novalis_dt at 9:42 PM on March 22, 2010

This olive oil cake is AMAZING, and requires nine eggs. I always feel guilty when I make it, because it uses so many eggs. You have an excellent excuse to enjoy it without guilt.

You could also try spaghetti (or angel hair) with eggs. You cook the pasta as usual, and then when it's done, toss it into a medium-hot frying pan with some butter, and pour a few mixed-up eggs over it. Keep it moving while the eggs cook, so they coat the pasta. Add some grated cheese and some veggies (garlicky roasted tomatoes are perfect), and it's a delicious, quick meal that's appropriate for breakfast or dinner. Or lunch, I suppose.

If you're feeling fancy, you could also make carbonara, but that's a whole lot more work.

(And as others have said, your eggs will keep long past the expiration date. Hard-boiled, they'll keep even longer than they would otherwise.)
posted by dizziest at 9:47 PM on March 22, 2010

I find if I hard boil a mess of eggs (up to a dozen) I manage to go through them fairly quickly. They can be crumbled on salads, deviled, or just eaten with a bit of salt and pepper as a snack.

One of the more intriguing uses-lots-of-eggs recipes I've found so far is Italian Cream Cake. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks delicious!

Eggs really don't go bad the way that, say, meat will go bad. They slowly dry out and become less palatable, though. The standard advice among chicken owners is to crack them into a bowl or into ice cube trays and pop them in the freezer if you need to store them a long time.
posted by ErikaB at 10:00 PM on March 22, 2010

Egg aviyal (with alternative transliterations of avial or avyal) is pretty good and a quite surprising use for eggs.
posted by themel at 4:46 AM on March 23, 2010

Egg aviyal, I meant. As an apology for my bad previewing style, I'll direct your attention especially to this result, which has a huge list of Keralan egg recipes.
posted by themel at 4:48 AM on March 23, 2010

Have a friend over for brunch and make Dutch Babies.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:18 AM on March 23, 2010 [2 favorites]

You could also make little Quindims, by using cupcake tins then you can freeze them and eat at your leisure. ;)
posted by Neekee at 7:46 AM on March 23, 2010

French-style soft-scrambled eggs are WHOA delicious--I never much cared for scrambled eggs and wasn't good at cooking them to boot, then I found out about how to do it this way and it's both more foolproof for me and makes the eggs so much silkier, less like dry protein-cotton candy, ha. It's an excellent supper for one over toast or baguette rounds, with (if you're feeling fancy) lightly sauteed stuff like onions or leeks.

Frittata or Spanish tortilla. Yum. You can make it with pretty much anything you have lying around--red pepper, kale or Swiss chard or other greens, green apple (so good, my favorite), sharp cheddar, zucchini, whatever. Easy peasy.

Wine, bread, and cheese souffle--more like welsh rarebit than finicky airy souffles. You take baguette rounds, rub them liberally with cloves of garlic, form a "crust" in a souffle dish or big ramekin climbing up the walls to the top, and then fill with a typical cheesy, eggy, mixture that includes a splash of dry wine. Then just bake. Delicious, easy but feels oddly special and romantic, and doesn't leave leftovers.

It sounds dumb, too obvious, but sometimes there is nothing more delicious than a toasted English muffin topped with a poached or lightly beaten, microwave-zapped (careful, under 2 minutes and only in a microwaveable glass bowl or measuring cup sprayed with nonstick) egg or two. A couple thin slices of tomato, or a wee bit of chopped olives, or some fresh crisp greens, a sprinkle of cheese, some chopped fresh herbs--you can go in any direction, and it's always delicious and hearty. Awesome weekend lunch.

Yes to dutch babies, my favorite breakfast treat.

Eggy cakes--I went through a period recently where I baked a LOT and you'll burn through eggs markedly faster if you even make just 1 or 2 cakes a week. And you can always share half a cake or so with friends, neighbors--everybody welcomes free dessert. (: Actually, someone in this MeTa mentioned an olive oil cake from Luques that had 9 eggs (!) in it.

Pie or tart crusts you can then freeze and pop out and dump any seasonal goodies into on the spur this spring, yay. Ditto slice and bake cookies; they'll keep frozen in a log for quite some time.

And if by any chance you find yourself in the predicament of having leftover whites or yolks but not both:
Pavlova. Zabaglione. Egg washes for breaded and fried meats or veggies, croquettes, etc, as well as to glaze baked bread, scones, pie crusts, or popovers etc. for that shiny yummy top. The oft-disdained but handy-in-spring angel food cake, topped with the season's burgeoning fresh fruit.
posted by ifjuly at 8:52 AM on March 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

Oh, and spaghetti carbonara! Latkes maybe, or the oven-baked casserole version sometimes claimed to be a form of kugel. Speaking of, heh, kugel.
posted by ifjuly at 8:53 AM on March 23, 2010

Nthing the advice to not worry about the expiration date. I routinely keep eggs for six weeks without refrigeration. They lose some moisture and the membrane gets tougher, but I've never encountered a rotten egg.

As to recipes, I really like fried egg sandwiches. I could easily eat two or three per meal, two or three times a day.
posted by Bruce H. at 10:36 AM on March 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

Avgolemono. Simply the most awesome lemon-egg-chicken-rice soup for when you're not feeling well.
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:43 PM on March 23, 2010

Frozen custard; the kind that you need to cook. Delicious, and some recipes will use a dozen eggs per batch. Plus, bonus - you can add most types of fresh fruit for some flavor beyond vanilla.
posted by owls at 3:31 PM on March 23, 2010

While you're making your eggs, you should visit this site.
posted by colorproof at 12:27 AM on March 24, 2010

This blog tracks all the various foods upon which the author has placed a fried egg.
posted by JJtheJetPlane at 7:22 AM on March 24, 2010

If you have questions about the age of an egg, you can easily tell how bad its gotten by putting it in a pot of cold water.

If it sinks completely its good
If its sinks but the pointy end of it tries to float its still good for things like Quiche
If it floats to the surface you should dispose of it properly
posted by Blasdelb at 10:15 AM on March 24, 2010