Welcome back to Table Talk, where The Daily Memphian’s food and dining editor Jennifer Biggs sends the latest food news (along with a dash of this and that) to your inbox every Wednesday.

Do you still hide real eggs for the kids at Easter? We stopped doing this some years back, opting for plastic eggs with candy inside. And we stopped because my aunt who always hosted Easter read that it was unsafe to eat the hidden eggs.

That was enough for me. I’m not a stickler for some of the USDA food safety rules — I’m eating my steak medium rare, always, and my burger that way if I trust the source of my meat or the kitchen that’s cooking it. My grandfather never met a home-canned jar of anything he found too risky to eat, so if my family says something is unsafe, you better believe I’m not eating it.

I even, as I publicly admit on Sound Bites with Chris Herrington this week, recently came across an unopened pack of prosciutto in my refrigerator that expired in 2016. 

In my defense, I’m certain that package has lived most of its life at my house in the freezer, but nonetheless, there it was in my fridge. My daughter tried to shame me with it, but I just told her to throw it away. (Actually, I told her there was nothing wrong with it, that she should eat it, but she’s not exactly a kid and I knew she knew better. She said she’d make me a nice charcuterie board with it.)

Back to the eggs: Charlie on Table Talk wants to know if he should make one big batch of egg salad or several smaller batches with his leftover eggs, and that’s inspired lively discussion about the safety of eggs. As loosey-goosey as I might be with temperatures, I’m a stickler when it comes to eggs and chicken. Go weigh in with your thoughts on that. 

Salad sampler at Bread & Butter in Batesville. (Jennifer Biggs/Daily Memphian)

But I would love a bit of egg-and-olive salad for lunch. I went back to Bread & Butter, the adorable bistro in Batesville I told you about a couple of months ago, recently for lunch and had one of the best salad samplers I can remember: Egg and olive, pimento cheese and a nice chicken salad with grapes, something I used to detest but I have come to love a touch of sweetness in my chicken salad over the years. 

When I make it at home, I add a dollop of homemade squash relish, which is a bit sweet, or I chop up a handful of candied jalapeno peppers to add to a basic recipe with chicken, mayo, a little onion and finely chopped celery for a bit of sweet heat. And there’s always the standby curry chicken salad with sultanas. So good. Here’s a detailed recipe that reminded me it’s often called coronation chicken salad. 

Speaking of chicken, I appreciate so many of you emailing to tell me places for Joes’ Fried Chicken to relocate. I promise I passed along the places you sent, and they’ve looked at all them. But no worries; they’re doggedly continuing the search and I expect them to reopen soon. 

I stopped in Taqueria San Felipe last week and found a $4 steal when I was seeking a $10 deal. Head out Summer Avenue toward Bartlett and grab a carnitas torta if you want to try it for yourself; a reader tells me he grabbed a cheese quesadilla that was also very good. 

Peggy Burch told us about the Memphis Farmers Market reopening on Saturday. This year there are 61 vendors at the Downtown market, which is at the corner of G.E. Patterson and South Front. Chris Herrington went on Saturday, and we also talk a bit about that on Sound Bites. 

Briouat, a savory puff pastry, and eggplant puree are two of the appetizers available at Andalusia. (Jennifer Biggs/Daily Memphian)

I was delighted to find that Andalusia, a new Moroccan restaurant, has opened on Sanderlin, over in my neck of these Memphis woods. I went for lunch and will be going back for dinner soon; everything I ate was on point and I’m looking forward to a hearty tagine for dinner.

Have a lovely week, all. Mine will involve more kitchen renovation but before you get the next newsletter, I’ll have new countertops and hopefully the painting the week after that will be the end of it. Of course, then I have to get my house back in order, but that’s a price for progress I’m happy to pay.

.....