Quail Eggs Benedict

[ashnistrike]

Well, that worked.  This is the recipe that I didn't follow.  I used miniature baguette rounds toasted in garlic olive oil instead of croutons, because quail eggs are small but they're not that small.  I used the hollandaise sauce recipe from Lora Brody's Indulgences, and unlike the last 50 million times I've tried to make hollandaise, I actually got hollandaise rather than butter with egg bits in it.  I didn't have any caviar because I spent that money on paying bills.  I used smoked salmon instead--thank you, papersky, for the brilliant suggestion.

I frequently cook by Not Following recipes.  There are several dishes that I can't make without the recipe in front of me, even though my version has little in common with what's written down.  But if I'm not looking at it, I won't remember what I actually need to do.

Comments

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that! I guess I'm not as much of a food snob as I thought.

They were actually pretty easy to poach--the white cooks through so quickly that there's no time to get the little orbiting blobs that I always lose off of chicken eggs.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

Whew--separating quail eggs sounds like a challenge! The shells don't break neatly into two halves, and a normal separator tool is way too big. Maybe you could make one out of wire?

With the whites, I suppose you could make itty bitty meringes... And by "you," I mean "you." I'm no good at getting egg whites to stiffen.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

opening quail eggs

[(Anonymous)]

actually opening the eggs is quite simple, all you need to do is with a very, very sharp knife cut of the top (small end) of the egg and pour out the contents

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I'm very impressed with your poaching abilities, not to mention hollandaise.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

They were actually easier to poach than regular eggs--the white cooks faster, so there's less time for everything to drift away into the pan.

The hollandaise, I was impressed by. I've only screwed it up about 50 times before. Like mayonnaise, I think the secret is a combination of really big egg yolks, and not even trying to do it by hand. Although I probably shouldn't say that until I've managed to replicate my success.