FLEUR DE LOLLY ON FOOD: Quail eggs contain more nutritional benefits than chicken eggs

Growing up in the South, my parents ’ home didn ’ t have breeze condition. We slept with the windows open during the hot and humid nights in the summer during my childhood. I can well remember the queerly comforting sounds of nature that wafted through the heavy night air that felt as if you could cut it with a knife : bullfrogs in the nearby lake, a copulate of owl “ who-ing ” to each other in the woods behind our house, the eerie whippoorwills and the melancholy call of quail with their distinct “ bobwhites ” from one covey to another. recently, on a shop stumble at Publix, I noticed a carton of quail eggs for sale. And just like that, this column was in the works.

The container I purchased contained 15 eggs from Manchester Farms in South Carolina. Their web site is a gem treasure trove of information. I learned some things : Quail eggs have three to four times the nutritional prize of regular chicken eggs and five times the cast-iron and potassium. We ’ ll start our recipes today with one I adapted from their web site. HASH BROWN BASKETS WITH BAKED QUAIL EGGS 2 medium Idaho Russet potatoes ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese ½ teaspoon salt plus extra for serving ⅛ teaspoon impertinently anchor pepper 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 12 quail eggs impertinently chopped chives for garnish Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the potatoes and prick each a few times with a branch. Bake the potatoes until they start to soften, but are not entirely done, for about 20 minutes. Let cool for about half an hour. ( This can be done a sidereal day ahead of time. ) Leave the oven on. Grate the semi-baked potatoes with a hand-held grater ; peel them inaugural if you like, although it ’ s not necessary. Put the grate potatoes, cheese, salt, pepper and butter into a stadium, and convulse well to combine. spray a 12 miniskirt muffin can with nonstick spray. Using about 2 tablespoons of the potato concoction for each miniskirt muffin cup, press the potato mixture into the muffin cup, making a well in the center and pushing the potatoes up and over the sides of the cup. Bake the hash brown “ baskets ” for 20 to 30 minutes, until the undersides are a golden brown and the tops are at least light gold and starting to crisp around the edges. Again, leave the oven on. Remove the baskets from the oven. Carefully crack a flinch egg into a small ramekin and slowly pour the egg into the basket. repeat with remaining eggs. Put the muffin canister back in the oven for precisely 5 minutes ; you want the whites of the quail testis cooked, but the yolks distillery identical fluid. Use an offset spatula to put the hash embrown baskets on a serve plate. Sprinkle with salt and chives and serve immediately. QUAIL EGG IN A HOLE Most of you will be companion with a frog in a Hole. here ’ mho my interpretation ! 6 1/2-inch-thick slices baguet ( sliced on the aslant ) 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons grated white cheddar cheese 6 quail eggs Kosher salt and newly footing black pepper Chopped chives for garnishee position a torment in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Use a paring knife to cut 1-inch circles in the center of each baguet slice. Butter both sides of the bread. Arrange the bread on the baking sheet and crispen lightly in the oven, 3 to 4 minutes. Distribute half of the tall mallow evenly among the bread holes. Crack the eggs, one at a time, into a little ramekin. lento pour the eggs into each hole. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the boodle. Bake until the cheese melts and the egg whites are set, but the yolks are still a piece fluid, 5 to 7 minutes. acme each with chop chives and a small crimp of ocean salt, and serve. — Adapted from Fine Cooking QUAIL EGGS BENEDICT alternatively of poached eggs and an english muffin, I opted for lightly frying the eggs and a baguet slit. The result was delectable ! 6 baguet slices, sliced into ¼ edge rounds, toasted 6 slices ham, lightly browned in a frying pan ( slices should be the lapp diameter as bread ) 6 quail eggs 2 tablespoons vegetable oil topographic point slices of ham onto toasted bread rounds. In a little frying pan over medium-low estrus, add vegetable anoint. Carefully crack an egg into the frying pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the white is set. With a slot metal spatula, remove the testis from the frying pan and place it on crown of the ham piece. recur with remaining eggs. exceed with hollandaise sauce and serve immediately. For the hollandaise sauce : 2 egg yolks 1 tablespoon lemon juice Dash of strategic arms limitation talks Dash of cayenne 1 stick butter, melted

place egg yolks, gamboge juice, strategic arms limitation talks and cayenne in a blender. Cover. Pulse 5 or 6 times to blend. Remove the circus tent dowry of the blender ( you know, the plastic or glass region that ’ second removable, not the entire eyelid ). With the blender set to the low place setting, SLOWLY pour in mellow butter. The sauce will begin to thicken. Stop blender, scrape down sides and pulse a few more times to blend. space sauce into a glass or metallic element bowl set over a saucepan of simmering urine while you cook the eggs. If sauce thickens besides much, whisk in a teaspoon or indeed of water system. Laura Tolbert, besides known as Fleur de Lolly, has been sharing recipes, table interior decoration ideas and advice for mate foodies and novices on her web log, fleurdelolly.blogspot.com for more than eight years. She won the Duke Mayonnaise 100th Anniversary countrywide recipe contest for her Alabama White BBQ Sauce. She besides is a Kansas City BBQ Society Certified Barbeque Judge. You can contact her at facebook.com/fleurde.lolly.5, on Instagram and fleurdelolly @ yahoo.com .