Quail Eggs Benedict

Growing up in the South, my parents’ home didn’t have air conditioning. We slept with the windows open during the hot and humid nights in the summertime during my childhood.

I can well remember the oddly comforting sounds of nature that wafted through the heavy night air that felt as if you could cut it with a knife: bullfrogs in the nearby lake, a pair of owls “who-ing” to each other in the woods behind our house, the eerie whippoorwills and the melancholy call of quail with their distinct “bobwhites” from one covey to another.

On a shopping trip at Publix, I noticed a carton of quail eggs for sale. And just like that, this column was in the works.

The container I purchased contained 15 eggs from Manchester Farms in South Carolina. Their website is a treasure trove of information. I learned some things: Quail eggs have three to four times the nutritional value of regular chicken eggs and five times the iron and potassium.

We’ll start our recipes today with one I adapted from their website.

Instead of poached eggs and an English muffin, I opted for lightly frying the eggs and a baguette slice. The result was yummy!

6 baguette slices, sliced into ¼ inch rounds, toasted

6 slices ham, lightly browned in a skillet (slices should be the same diameter as bread

6 quail eggs

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Place slices of ham onto toasted bread rounds. In a small skillet over medium-low heat, add vegetable oil. Carefully crack an egg into the skillet and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the white is set. With a slotted metal spatula, remove the egg from the skillet and place it on top of the ham slice. Repeat with remaining eggs. Top with hollandaise sauce and serve immediately.

For the hollandaise sauce:

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Dash of salt

Dash of cayenne

1 stick butter, melted

Place egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and cayenne in a blender. Cover. Pulse 5 or 6 times to blend. Remove the top portion of the blender (you know, the plastic or glass part that’s removable, not the entire lid). With the blender set to the low setting, SLOWLY pour in melted butter. The sauce will begin to thicken. Stop blender, scrape down sides and pulse a few more times to blend.

Place sauce into a glass or metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water while you cook the eggs. If sauce thickens too much, whisk in a teaspoon or so of water.