In the Foodspiration Kitchens, we like to re-savor our winners, and this weekend was no exception. Hungry and remembering the Croque Madame that Lauren had made, I decided it was not too soon for a replay. On my side was the fact that we had plenty of ham, Gruyere, and left over bechamel sauce. What wasn't helping was the lack of eggs . . . apparently we'd used just a few (16!) the day before in a baking spree . . . and after a few calls to the neighbors I was still coming up
goose eggs. Luckily the night before we purchased a pack of quail eggs on a whim at Whole Foods. Now a deepening need for breakfast goodness would dictate their use.
As I examined our carton of eggs and I wondered exactly how I was going to open them . . . I opted for the standard approach of lightly cracking them into a small bowl as the frying pan heated up. The membrane in these quail eggs was a little more robust than your typical chicken egg so I had to carefully pry them open and coax out the contents. While I fussed to keep the miniature yolks intact, Lauren prepped the sandwich for the panini maker.
A quick fry in a pat of butter is all that it took. I didn't want to risk flipping these little guys over easy because fried eggs cooked hard through aren't my style . . .
Viola! A tag-team, next day, Croque Madam with quail eggs . . . I think I'll stick with the chicken eggs because the quail eggs didn't offer up enough runny yolkiness, however, in a pinch they saved the day.
In the Foodspiration Kitchens, we like to re-savor our winners, and this weekend was no exception. Hungry and remembering the Croque Madame that Lauren had made, I decided it was not too soon for a replay. On my side was the fact that we had plenty of ham, Gruyere, and left over bechamel sauce. What wasn't helping was the lack of eggs . . . apparently we'd used just a few (16!) the day before in a baking spree . . . and after a few calls to the neighbors I was still coming up goose eggs. Luckily the night before we purchased a pack of quail eggs on a whim at Whole Foods. Now a deepening need for breakfast goodness would dictate their use.
As I examined our carton of eggs and I wondered exactly how I was going to open them . . . I opted for the standard approach of lightly cracking them into a small bowl as the frying pan heated up. The membrane in these quail eggs was a little more robust than your typical chicken egg so I had to carefully pry them open and coax out the contents. While I fussed to keep the miniature yolks intact, Lauren prepped the sandwich for the panini maker.
A quick fry in a pat of butter is all that it took. I didn't want to risk flipping these little guys over easy because fried eggs cooked hard through aren't my style . . .
Viola! A tag-team, next day, Croque Madam with quail eggs . . . I think I'll stick with the chicken eggs because the quail eggs didn't offer up enough runny yolkiness, however, in a pinch they saved the day.
