Locally Laid chickens engaging in a favorite activity: foraging.

MINNEAPOLIS — Oh, the glamorous world of the chicken farmer.

The calf-deep mud. The subzero-to-sweltering temperatures. The endless, backbreaking work. The, um, fragrance.

Here’s a revealing yardstick: When it came time to clear out winter’s 8 ½ tons of accumulated manure from the plastic solar-fueled "hoop coops" at Locally Laid Egg Co. in Wrenshall, Minn., about a half-hour southwest of Duluth, co-owner Jason Amundsen recruited six local high schoolers for the task. Only one returned the second day. Guess who ended up finishing?

"Not one of the more pleasant jobs," Amundsen said with a laugh. "But that’s the first thing that I learned about farming," he said. "There are no controlled conditions. You nod and smile every time Mother Nature kicks you in the teeth."

Dealing with predatory skunks is no picnic, either. Still, the payoff is significant, certainly for the growing clientele of the 2-year-old farm.

An early devotee was John Hanson, co-owner of the Duluth Grill in Duluth, Minn.

During its peak summer tourist season, the restaurant consumes about 500 dozen eggs per week. Forty percent come from Locally Laid, and Hanson quickly noticed that his kitchen staff was reserving the farm’s brown, bespeckled eggs for the finicky demands of short-order frying and poaching, while steering the cooler’s remaining egg inventory into scrambles, pancakes, baking and other, far less flashy uses. 

"Without any direction from me, they quickly discovered that the Locally Laid eggs were so much easier to use," said Hanson. "The yolks are firm — and they’re so yellow that they’re almost orange — and the whites are durable. Nothing breaks when they hit the grill."

PROOF IS IN THE PAN

Judge for yourself and crack one into a hot skillet; the yolk stands tall and proud. Swirled in simmering water, the egg whites hang together like a cumulus cloud floating across a summer sky. Under the force of a whisk, the egg whites whip into near-Himalayan peaks of remarkable volume and durability; add sugar, and they’re transformed into the most lustrous, satiny meringue imaginable.

"They’re hard to keep on the shelf because people recognize the outstanding flavor and freshness of the eggs," said Shannon Szymkowiak, promotions and education manager of Whole Foods Co-op in Duluth, another Locally Laid customer. "But that’s what happens when chickens are eating well and running around, being happy."

Exactly. Through plenty of research and trial and error, Amundsen and his wife, Lucie, a writer, have created a quality-obsessed operation based on the simple yet nearly forgotten principle of letting chickens be, well, chickens.

"Rather than treat them as a commodity, we allow our ladies to express their natural chicken instincts," said Amundsen. "It’s all the things that confinement doesn’t allow them to do."

Under an open northern Minnesota sky year-round, in pens the size of a baseball infield, enclosed by easily movable plastic mesh fences, the chickens engage in all the activities they can’t do confined in a large factory farm: Move as a flock, dust-bathe and soak up the fresh air and sunshine ("They’re the best disinfectants in the world, and they’re free," said Amundsen).

They also get plenty of exercise, since the birds’ water and their twice-daily feed — a custom mix of alfalfa, soybean meal and corn — are kept on opposite sides of the pen.

But most important, the chickens supplement their daily diet through foraging. "Cage-free," "free-range" and other egg-carton catchphrases are not part of the Locally Laid lexicon. At this 10-acre operation, the passwords are "pasture-raised."

Kept in groups of about 500, the highly vocal choruses of Gold Stars, Production Reds, California Whites and central casting’s idea of a chicken, Barred Rocks, feed their omnivore appetites by nibbling on insects ("They love mosquitoes," said Amundsen) as well as clover, timothy and other grasses until they’ve mowed down everything in the enclosure. That’s the signal for Amundsen to move the fence to greener pastures and restart the process.

"All that nutrition goes right into the egg," he said. "No factory can replicate that."

NEW TO THE LAND

Farming was not part of Amundsen’s career trajectory. "But I got laid off a lot," he said with a laugh. One Great Recession pink slip too many had him connecting the dots between self-employment and the small back-yard flock of chickens that the couple and their two children had started keeping at their Duluth home.

"We were really feeling disconnected from where our food was coming from," Amundsen said.

Amundsen grew up in Edina, Minn., a fine enough launchpad for his former career as a grant writer but not exactly prime training ground for live poultry.

"To be a farmer, you have to be good at problem solving, and you have to fix things," he said. "The learning curve was really steep. It has been an extremely humbling process."

Perhaps out of necessity, Locally Laid is a relatively low-tech operation. Aside from several impressively large vehicles, there are few machines. Most of the never-ending labor — carrying feed, hauling water, collecting eggs — is done by hand, a workload shared by Amundsen and his brother Brian, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Off the farm, in leased quarters in the back of a Duluth supermarket, the eggs are washed, rinsed, bleached and dried, then routed into the Egomatic, a 1950s-era device for sorting, inspecting and grading.

"We found it in a pole barn, and it hadn’t been used for 40 years, but it works just fine, so why not?" said Amundsen.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

A pair of food wholesalers handle the shipping duties. 

CHANGE, ONE EGG AT A TIME

During peak warm-weather periods, the farm’s output hovers somewhere around 200 dozen eggs a day, which represents less than a drop in the ocean that is Minnesota’s overall egg output. With roughly 10.4 million egg-laying hens producing nearly 2.9 billion eggs each year, the state ranks 11th in production nationally (by comparison, No. 1 Iowa produces more than five times that amount) and account for roughly 3 percent of all eggs produced annually in the United States.

Due to the company’s cheeky name, strong social media presence (that’s Lucie’s handiwork) and eye-catching logo (the result of a contest, won by Duluth graphic designer Matthew Olin), the farm’s T-shirts are a hot item, with sales accounting for several percentage points of Locally Laid’s revenues. Another boost to the balance sheet is a soon-to-be-launched chicken feed line, targeted at back-yard enthusiasts. 

But major growth is projected to come via agreements with other small family farms adapting Locally Laid practices. Starting in a few weeks, an arrangement with an Iowa farmer will help supply a handful of Twin Cities natural food co-ops and several restaurants; a second Midwestern farm should come under the Locally Laid umbrella by year’s end.

PAY FOR THE DIFFERENCE

Locally Laid’s hands-on approach comes at a price, and there’s some sticker shock involved: It’s roughly twice the amount associated with conventionally raised eggs. Locally Laid’s first — and currently only — Twin Cities outlet, Linden Hills Co-op, sells them for $4.49 per dozen. The price hasn’t been a stumbling block, at least not yet.

"We have heard nothing but rave reviews from customers, many of whom are willing to pay more for a higher-quality egg and from a place they trust," said Jane Jefferson, the co-op’s dairy buyer. "I often tell people Locally Laid eggs are the best ones we carry."

You don’t have to look across the chicken pen at Locally Laid to realize that all eggs aren’t the same, and that cheapest isn’t necessarily better. After all, eggs are one of nature’s most highly efficient nutrition delivery systems.

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"There’s a saying in the sustainable farming industry," said Amundsen. "You can pay the farmer, or you can pay the doctor."

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PERFECT HARD-COOKED EGGS

Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water, about 1 inch above eggs. Bring water to a boil over high heat.

Once water reaches a boil, remove pan from heat and cover for 15 minutes.

Run cold water over eggs until eggs feel cool. Drain and refrigerate, preferably overnight.

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SARDINIAN HARD-COOKED EGGS

Makes 16 hard-cooked egg halves.

Note: From "The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper," by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift (Clarkson Potter, $35).

8 hard-cooked eggs (see sidebar at left)

Olive oil

¼ c. white wine vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

3 tbsp. freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley

½ c. fresh bread crumbs

Directions:

Peel eggs under cold running water to remove any small pieces of shell. Cut hard-cooked eggs in half lengthwise. Over medium heat, film a large nonstick skillet lightly with olive oil, then add vinegar. Heat until vinegar is bubbling. Sprinkle pan with salt and pepper and add eggs, cut side down. Cook eggs, turning them gently a few times, until vinegar has evaporated and they are golden. Transfer eggs to a platter, arranging them yolk-side up.

Add garlic, parsley and bread crumbs to the skillet and sauté until bread crumbs are golden, taking care not to burn the garlic. Scrape crumb mixture over eggs and serve.

Nutrition information per egg half:

Calories: 63; Fat: 4 g; Sodium 56 mg; Carbohydrates 3 g; Saturated fat 1 g; Calcium 20 mg

Protein 4 g; Cholesterol 93 mg; Dietary fiber 0 g

Diabetic exchanges per serving: ½ medium-fat meat, ½ fat.

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GRILLED VEGETABLE EGG FOO YOUNG

Serves 4.

Note: From "L.A.’s Original Farmers Market Cookbook," by JoAnn Cianciulli (Chronicle Books, $22.95).

2 c. finely shredded cabbage

1 c. bean sprouts

1 green onion, white and green parts, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, shredded

½ small zucchini, shredded

¼ c. flour

3 eggs, beaten

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Canola oil for brushing

1 ½ c. low-sodium chicken broth

2 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Pat cabbage, bean sprouts, onion, carrot and zucchini with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Spread vegetables on a baking pan to air-dry for about 1 hour (for patties to hold together, it is important that vegetables are completely dry).

Place vegetables in a large bowl, sprinkle with flour and toss with your hands to combine and coat evenly. Season eggs with a pinch each of salt and pepper. Fold eggs into vegetables. The mixture should look thick and feel sticky, almost like dough, and definitely have more vegetables than eggs.

Place a griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium heat and brush with oil. Set a 4-inch ring mold in pan and pack it tightly with vegetable mixture. Remove ring and make a second patty (if you don’t have a mold, press mixture into free-form patties). Remove ring again and season tops of patties with salt and pepper. Cook until patties are set and undersides are crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes. Flip with a spatula, season again, and cook the second side until browned, about 3 minutes longer. Repeat to make 2 more patties, adding more oil as needed. Set aside and keep warm (egg foo young can be made up to 2 hours ahead and kept in a warm oven).

In a pot over medium heat, combine broth, soy sauce, cornstarch and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring often, until gravy thickens, about 3 minutes. Place an egg foo young patty on each of 4 plates. Spoon gravy over patties and serve immediately.

Nutrition information per serving:

Calories: 140; Fat: 6 g; Sodium: 516 mg; Carbohydrates: 15 g; Saturated fat: 1 g; Calcium: 49 mg

Protein: 8 g; Cholesterol: 140 mg; Dietary fiber: 2 g

Diabetic exchanges per serving: 1 vegetable, ½ bread/starch, 1 medium-fat meat.

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HERBED SKILLET SOUFFLÉ

Serves 3 to 4.

Note: "This is like a hybrid of a soufflé and a frittata, but much easier to prepare than either," writes Jerry Traunfeld in "The Herbal Kitchen" (William Morrow, $34.95). "Add whatever combination of herbs you like, but for a good balance remember to take into consideration the strength of the particular leaves. For example, you can add big handfuls of sorrel, chervil, basil or parsley to the mix because they are mild, but don’t use more than a tablespoon of more assertive herbs like marjoram or tarragon. Chives and dill fall in between."

3 tbsp. fine dry bread crumbs

½ c. whole or low-fat milk

8 eggs, separated

½ to ¾ c. chopped mixture of soft-leaved herbs, such as basil, chervil, parsley, sorrel, chives, dill, marjoram or tarragon

¾ tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

¾ c. shredded Gruyère cheese, divided

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, stir bread crumbs into milk and let them soak until they become pasty, 10 to 15 minutes. Whisk in egg yolks, herbs, salt and pepper. Stir in ½ cup of cheese.

Just before you’re ready to cook, beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, until they form very soft (not stiff) peaks (when you scoop up some on a rubber spatula, they should hold their shape in mounds, but the peak at the top of the spatula should flop over instead of standing straight up; any stiffer and they won’t incorporate as easily). Scoop whites into yolk mixture and quickly fold them in.

Heat a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add butter when pan is hot enough for it to sizzle but not brown, and swirl until it melts. Pour batter into pan and sprinkle with remaining ¼ cup cheese. Immediately put skillet in middle rack of oven and bake until soufflé is puffed and deeply browned, about 15 to 17 minutes. Serve immediately, spooned from the skillet, or at room temperature, cut into wedges.

Nutrition information per each of 4 servings:

Calories: 330; Fat: 24 g; Sodium: 575 mg; Carbohydrates: 7 g; Saturated fat: 11 g; Calcium: 310 mg

Protein: 20 g; Cholesterol: 414 mg; Dietary fiber: 0 g

Diabetic exchanges per serving: ½ bread/starch, 3 medium-fat meat, 2 fat.

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BACON AND EGG SALAD SANDWICHES

Makes 4 sandwiches.

Note: "I’ve spent a good portion of my life searching for the perfect egg salad sandwich," writes Gale Gand in "Gale Gand’s Brunch" (Clarkson Potter, $27.50). "I finally found one in New York City, at a deli on 7th Avenue, somewhere in the low 40s. Since then I’ve thought about ways I could make egg salad more of a breakfast food, so I could have it for every meal if I wanted."

8 hard-cooked eggs

4 strips bacon, cooked and chopped

¾ c. mayonnaise

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 slices white bread, crusts removed

Directions:

Peel eggs under cold running water to remove any small pieces of shell. Rough chop eggs and put them in a medium bowl. Sprinkle in bacon, add mayonnaise and mustard, and stir with a fork. Taste, and season with salt and pepper.

Spread egg salad on each of 4 slices of bread, top each sandwich with another slice of bread, and cut corner to corner to make triangles. Serve immediately.

Nutrition information per serving:

Calories: 616 Fat: 49 g; Sodium: 1,110 mg; Carbohydrates: 24 g; Saturated fat: 10 g; Calcium: 123 mg

Protein: 20 g; Cholesterol: 400 mg; Dietary fiber: 1 g

Diabetic exchanges per serving: 1 ½ bread/starch, 2 medium-fat meat, 8 fat.