This spring, when the eggs were plentiful, we salt cured egg yolks. The idea was sparked from an article in the New York Times, and right away Matt thought it was a good idea for us to try. A few other articles and videos later a plan was made. It was actually quite simple, the steps we used are listed below and I can now confidently say I the best ceasar salad I have ever had… I made at home.

The chickens always lay the most eggs in spring.  They have had a break in the winter – even though we use a light to encourage laying (it’s not the most convincing). The spring grass and bugs are plentiful and the yolks are the most brilliant orange. To me, the whole point of the egg is the yolk and one of the main reasons we have chickens. We had more eggs than we knew what to do with and if you have chickens of your own I highly encourage giving this a try!

Make a mixture of salt and sugar that is 50/ 50 (the ratio really depends on if you want a saltier/sweeter cured egg) and fill the bottom of a pan with about an inch of the salt & sugar mixture.

Separate the yolk from an egg and gently place in prepared pan and repeat for as many yolks as you plan to cure. Space yolks at least 1/2 inch apart and cover with remaining salt and sugar mixture so they are well covered. Put the pan on a shelf in the fridge and leave it alone.

7 Days later check on the yolks.  With the moisture the yolks are releasing the mixture can get wet.  If the mixture is wet just take it out and replace it with new new salt & sugar mixture and re-cover the yolks.

After 21 days in the fridge take out the yolks and carefully uncover them – better yet – pretend your an archeologist while you do this and gently dig around them. Gently brush off excess salt – some people wash off yolks to completely remove the salt but I think the salted yolks have better flavor – and wrap each yolk in small piece of cheese cloth.

Tie a string around the little cheese cloth purse and hang to dry at least 7 days, then enjoy! Use a microplane to grate dried yolk on to whatever you desire – cesar salad + pasta carbonana are a good place to start. (Microplane is suggested as you need a very fine grater for these.)