How cute are baby animals? Is that a rhetorical question?
Seriously, folks, baby animals are cute. I like to ogle chicks and pet baby lambs and coo over puppies and sneeze around kitties. Everything small just turns me into a big blob of goo.
Small foods have the same effect. Mini cookies, mini pancakes (coming up), mini pastries, I'll take them over their larger counterparts any day of the week. So when I saw these quail eggs a few days ago I took special notice.
I know quail are full-blown animals in their own right. I don't mean to infantilize them by implying that they're not rough and tumble and able to stand up for themselves in the quail schoolyard, or its poultry equivalent. In fact, I'm sure a quail could take my pug down in two seconds flat. (Sorry, Simon.)
But you've got to admit they lay adorable eggs. And at $1.25 for 10, the price was right. Cheaper than a puppy, for sure.
I was afraid of what would happen if I tried to poach them or fry them or otherwise exert my culinary brawn on their delicate yolkettes and teaspoon-sized albumen, so all I did was give them a gentle little boil.
And pair them with bacony mayo and tiny rounds of toast.
...
Recipe for Quail Eggs with Bacony Mayonnaise
These pretty eggs develop a slightly bluish tint after boiling. Be sure to exert a very gentle touch, or use your fingernails, when peeling the papery shells.
Serves 2
6 quail eggs
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 slice cooked bacon, crumbled
2 slices whole wheat toast
butter and jelly, optional, for serving
Place eggs in a small saucepan and cover with cold water by about an inch. Bring to a boil. Cover the pot, remove from the heat, and let stand in the hot water for 6 minutes. Rinse eggs under cool running water.
Carefully peel the shells and discard. Slice eggs in half and arrange decoratively on two plates.
Stir the bacon into the mayo and dollop beside the eggs.
Serve with toast. If you want to be extra dainty, use your smallest round cutter to make little toast circles, which you can then smear with butter and jelly.
