Sunday, August 7, 2011

Cute quail shots... (non alcoholic)



Quail egg shots…




If
I was an egg… it would definitely be quail. Seriously they are mega and
not just because of their taste. For me, it is more so to do with their
speckled shell, their pettiness, their… eh cuteness (can food be
cute?)… They are a banging little ingredient that lend themselves
proudly to fine dining menus around the world.

So
I have heard of many quail recipes… but until a couple of days ago
doing egg shots was an alien concept. Well I have done egg shots and the
good news is I did not get drunk… and was amazed by the strange, silky
textures, foreign flavour… so much so I tried another one, and another,
and another trying to put my finger on what it was my taste buds
searched for... until I finally arrived at the conclusion, they are a
smashing little canopy and then I had another (just to make sure!)




Just like I mentioned in my cod
quail egg post. Do not be discouraged by ingredients like quail eggs.
They are easily accessible. It is just knowing where to reach. Your
local oriental store, gourmet supermarket or farmers market and trust me
they are inexpensive (I usually pay less than two euro for a baker’s
dozen!)







So cute...





Ingredients




14 cute quail eggs

2-4 streaky rasher…. Fat removed



2tsp finely chopped chives




Coarse sea salt to serve









How to



So simple, so succulent and so, so tasty… Here we go..




Pot
of water on high heat… Pan on its neighbouring stove ring and bang in
some oil… small bit of butter just before you add the bacon. Cook to
crisp leave to one side…

Lower
the quail eggs into your boiling water… Now this may seem slightly anal
but trust me you want twenty seconds (not a second more or less)…in
order to achieve the perfect egg, so I would recommend a timer… and
doing them in batches on say a slotted spoon or sieve… Once boiled
straight into a large bowl of iced water to refresh… Perfectly cooked
quail egg… Bang!





Dice up crisped bacon… finer the better and likewise with your chive… Nearly there…

So
this is the tricky part, well I say tricky. I mean fiddly… be prepared
to lose a few little soldiers. So we want to cut the eggs about two
thirds the ways up. Scissors work… but I think a good sharp knife should
be your weapon of choice and like I said be prepared to lose a few
little soldiers (perks of the job)





To
serve… spoon the sea salt on to a serving dish, cut the tops off the
quails' eggs, stand them in the salt and spoon the bacon mixture on top
of each one… Done!  












Subject to the aforementioned

If
you do decide to make this at home… I would recommend a pea puree (nice
and runny) in a shot glass to accompany. Apart from the fact of looking
banging, stood side by side, I just think the eggs need something to
lift their silky subtle flavours which do tend to get monotonous after
munching on about seven or eight of the little devils… so yeah that is
what I will be doing the next time I knock this puppy out… Bang!

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