Pickled Eggs

Pink, white and black pickled eggs.

Eggs are good lo-cal, high value (ie high protein) snacks. I saw a picture on Facebook recently of some very glamorous looking glossy black pickled eggs, so I decided to try them. I wasn't convinced I'd like them, but actually they are savoury with a pleasant vinegary tang, and I've become a bit of a fan. So, I decided to make them again, but this time get even more creative and we have black, pink and white.

Eggs in a saucepan with a centimetre of water, ready to steam. 

The pencil annotation refers to weight in grams and date laid.

Ingredients
18 hard boiled eggs, peeled (I steamed my eggs, as it makes them easier to peel)

Black pickling liquor
500 ml cheap balsalmic vinegar
250 ml water
1 tsp sugar
6 pickling onions, peeled
1 tsp garlic granules
1 tsp coarse salt
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp lapsang souchong tea leaves
¼ cup whey (the clear liquid that is drained from fresh cheese or settles to the top of buttermilk -- I used the liquid from lait ribot)

White pickling liquor (this is a double quantity because you will use it as the base for the pink as well)
Dill weed, fresh or dried
A pinch of garlic granules
750 ml of white or cider vinegar
250 ml water
1 tsp coarse salt
12 pickling onions, peeled
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup sugar
4 tsp pickling spices (I used equal quantities of cumin seeds, szechuan peppercorns, crushed cardamon pods and yellow mustard, but if I'd had them to hand I would have included or substituted coriander seeds and pimento berries)

Pink pickling liquor
Half of the white pickling liquor above
Half a raw beetroot, julienne grated, plus a round slice

Method

1. To make the black pickling liquor, heat the balsalmic vinegar, water, sugar, onions, garlic granules, salt, bay leaf and tea until boiling and everything dissolved, then set aside to cool.
2. To make the white pickling liquor, heat the vinegar, water, garlic granules, salt, onions, bay leaf, sugar and spices until boiling, simmer for 5 minutes then set aside to cool.
3. Take 3 glass preserving jars (750 ml to one litre capacity each) and place 6 eggs in each.
4. Add the whey to the black pickling liquor.
5. In one jar, add the onions from the black pickling liquor and pour over the liquor plus all the seasonings. 
6. In the second jar, add some dill weed, half the onions and pour over half the liquor, plus half the seasonings.
7. In the third jar, add the julienned beetroot, then half the onions from the white pickling liquor, topped with the slice of beetroot, then pour over the other half of the white pickling liquor and seasonings.
8. Seal the jars and leave them at room temperature for 24 hours, then refrigerate for a week before eating.
9. Tip the jars to and fro once a day to ensure the eggs move around and colour evenly.

The eggs came from friends who have their own hens, and from my laitière, who delivers dairy products and eggs from her farm.

Black eggs.

A young rare breed Géline de Touraine hen, owned by friends Tim and Pauline, who supplied some of the eggs. They got this hen, and her sister, as part of an initiative by the local authority to get households composting. Food waste destined for composting can be made accessible to the hens, who will help to break it down.

Yum

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