You can always count on “quail” to get some easy points in scrabble, but what do you know about quail eggs?
Big news! We will start having quail eggs available at Just Farmin’. These eggs will be a new product for us, so we’re anxious to get your feedback if you decide to try them out. Suppose you’ve never had quail eggs before; here are a few things to get you started.
Quail eggs are significantly smaller than chicken eggs (and some would argue much better looking!). It takes about three quail eggs to equal the volume of one chicken egg. You won’t notice a big difference in taste, but you will see a difference in texture. The yolk to white ratio is much higher in quail eggs than in other poultry. More yolk makes for a creamier texture and more nutrient-dense egg.
One quail egg contains only 14 calories making it a protein-rich, low-calorie snack. At the same time, it’s rich in a variety of vitamins and minerals, including selenium, riboflavin, vitamin B12, and choline.
Besides their unique speckled colors, quail eggshells are harder than chicken or duck eggshells. And the membrane under the shell is a bit thicker as well. You’ll need to use a knife or cigar cutter to break open the egg’s tip to use it.
You can prepare quail eggs any way you would prepare chicken eggs, hard-boiled, soft-boiled, scrambled, fried, or poached. You can even pickle them with some beet juice in the mix to make tiny pink pickled eggs. Cooking times will be significantly less since they are only about one third the size of chicken eggs.
Here’s a hint if you hard boil them: Place the quail eggs in cold water and then gently stir them around in a vortex with a wooden spoon as the water comes to a boil. The motion will keep the yolks centered in the eggs as they cook. Only boil them for about 3 minutes and then cool them down quickly in ice water. They’ll be a little harder to “peel” than your chicken eggs, but it will be worth the trouble.
They’re great for cute bite-size versions of any of your favorite egg dishes such as deviled eggs, Scotch eggs, or egg in a basket. Traditionally raw quail eggs are used on top of steak tartare. In Spain, tapas are often topped with fried quail eggs because of their compact size. In Asian cuisines, they’re usually pickled or hard-boiled and topped with sesame oil and sesame seeds.
They would be great to use hard-boiled in a potato salad with small new potatoes or fried on top of sliders. Or how about as a garnish on a great Just Farmin’ salad mix salad with some lovely vinaigrette.
Let us know if you like quail eggs and how you prepared them. If you send us pictures, we’ll post them on our Facebook page.
See you at the farm.
