Quail Eggs Benedict

Yes, quail eggs! I know, it's bizarre to see someone using quail eggs. Aren't they only in kitchens of Food network stars?!

 I was so surprised/excited to see that someone in my home church raises quail and had taken the time to make deviled quail eggs! These guys are tiny. They should just be called bite-size deviled eggs. I'm pretty sure it would take 3 of them to equal one chicken egg. 

(poor photo quality blamed on basic smartphone)

So cute! 

My mom asked Angie, the quail raiser, if she had any eggs to sell. We got lucky and Angie had 8 for us! Now, you should know that Angie raises so much more than quail. They call their farm a zoo which kinda makes sense when you realize all they do out there. They raise and sell fancy chickens (silkies), quail, groom dogs, have many cats and more importantly, have 11 blonde hair/blue eyed children! I don't know how she and her husband do it but they do it well. 

Little perspective on their tiny-ness!

James 4:14-15 "You don't even know what tomorrow will bring - what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that".

I'm a mental planner. I keep my plans for the day in my mental calendar. I try to stay on time and organized with what I do. Now, this is not reflected in my cleanliness. My bedroom and office are organized messes. I know where most things are and I'm okay with that. 

I think it's good to be organized and have plans for how to spend time but that also causes me to be controlling of my time. I also somehow expect the rest of the world to function on my timetable. I get frustrated with slow traffic or delayed events. Yet I'm often 2 minutes late for church...

Anyway, James encourages us to live day by day. I don't need to cling to my weekly or even daily plans. I need to stay flexible to what God brings into my day and not mutter under my breath when He changes my "plans". 

Back to these guys! I was so excited about them, I told mom I'd make breakfast for us with them. There's no way I was going to scramble these cuties. Sunny-side up is the only way to go.

Quail eggs don't taste different to me but their shell is a bit tougher than chicken eggs. The membrane is strong too. 

Eggs benedict made sense because you'd have to eat so many of these to really fill up on eggs alone. I used bacon rather than ham because it's what mom had in the fridge. Ham would taste great too!

Quail Eggs Benedict

makes 2 sandwiches

4 quail eggs (or 2 chicken eggs)

2 strips of bacon

2 English muffins

For the hollandaise:

3 egg yolks (chicken eggs)

1/4 cup melted butter

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp dried parsley

Cook the bacon and toast the muffin so they are ready for assembly as soon as the eggs are cooked. 

To make the hollandaise, separate the egg yolks in a bowl or pan to be used as a double boiler. Put about an inch of water in another pan and let it boil. Hold the bowl with the yolks over the steam from the water and stir constantly. This allows the yolks to slowly cook without becoming scrambled. 

After about 2 minutes, pour in the melted butter. The butter should not be hot when you pour it in, we don't want it over cooking the eggs. Continue to stir and let thicken. After another 2 minutes or so remove from heat and stir in the seasonings. Most recipes mix lemon juice in with the yolks but we didn't have any and it tastes fine still. 

Have another pan on the stove on a med-low heat. Lightly spray the pan or use a good non-stick pan for cooking the eggs. Crack the eggs into the pan with care to avoid breaking the yolk. Let cook for 2-3 minutes and then the eggs should be ready to assemble on your sandwich!

Pour on the hollandaise and top muffin and enjoy!