Quail Egg & Avocado Crostini

I received a basket of Quail Eggs as a wedding present from my niece (through friendship) Diana, a very talented artist. I came up with a simple recipe appetizer using Quail Eggs as the crowning ingredient.

If you can toast bread, slice an avocado, and fry an egg then this recipe is for you. A Crostini is a small slice of toasted French bread with a delectable topping or two and I couldn't think of a better combination than a fried egg with mashed avocado.

My Quail Egg and Avocado Crostini looks as good as it tastes. A small Quail Egg is the perfect size for an appetizer bite. And any recipe that uses a creamy pale green avocado deserves top billing. 

Can't say I see Quail Eggs very often on any grocery shelf. I have run across them at local Japanese groceries and other ethnic markets. I first had a Quail Egg served raw on sushi. Kinda extreme for a first bite, but I grew to crave them. I cannot tell much difference in taste to a regular egg.

A Quail Egg is quite smaller than a chicken egg, about the size of your thumbnail.

Quail Eggs have a harder shell with a tough inner membrane that surrounds the yolk and albumen or clear fluid. Once the egg is cracked, I use a sharp knife tip to pierce the membrane. This will release the egg interior for frying. 

Avocados are easy to come by and they are still reasonably priced, especially at my local Latin Superior Grocers.

I get my sourdough flute from the day-old bakery deli bin at my local grocery supermarket, Ralphs. Since the slices of bread are toasted, I cannot really tell when the bread is old or not. You can use any cheap and tasty bread you like for my recipe. If the bread slices are large then cut them down to fit a fried Quail Egg, or add a couple of Quail Eggs to a larger slice

I like my Quail Egg and Avocado Crostini with a fried egg, but you can scramble the egg, too. Make my recipe the way you like it. 

Quail Egg & Avocado Crostini - VIDEO          Play it here. The video runs for 1 minute and 59 seconds.

To view or embed from youtube, click here.

Ingredients

• Quail Eggs - one fried quail egg per Crostini.
• Avocado - add a slice or two of ripe avocado to a toasted bread slice. 
• Bread Slice Toasted - I used a small sourdough loaf called a "flute". The bread diameter is about 2 inches across. You can slice the loaf as thick as you like. Okay to use any favorite slice of bread. A French baguette is easy to find.
• Salt and Pepper - sprinkle on fried egg or smashed avocado on toast.
• Cooking oil - just a teaspoon to fry Quail Egg.
• Lemon Juice - optional. Drizzle a teaspoon amount and mix into a smashed avocado if you are making Crostini ahead of time, to keep the avocado from quickly turning brown.

Directions

Slice bread and avocado. Start toasting the slices of bread, in a toaster, grill, or frying pan.

Add oil to a medium-heated frying pan. Break the Quail eggshell and piece the inner membrane, if necessary, to release the yolk and albumen or clear liquid onto the frying pan.

As the egg fries finish toasting the bread and smear on a generous slice of avocado. A Quail Egg fries quickly in a couple of minutes, depending on how hot the frying pan is. You can scramble the Quail Egg if you like. 

When the Quail Egg is fried (I like a runny yolk) just slip it on the toast with avocado. That's it.

French Onion Soup

Onions are the cheapest produce you can get, and brown onions are the cheapest onion. You will shed a few tears chopping an onion; but caramelized onion is so sweet and flavorful you will make extra to add in an omelet, pita pizza, or as an extra cheese burger topping!

The Chef's French Onion Soup recipe is simple to make -- although you will be cooking onions for a half hour, so tune in your favorite radio program and start sauteing; time will fly.




My local Latin market practically gives brown onions away, and all you need for this dish is a measly half dozen. The other main ingredients are French bread and cheese. Less expensive day old bread is perfect to toast, melt cheese onto, then float in the finished French onion soup. For this recipe the Chef used a six ounce block of white cheddar from the 99c only Store; try out your favorite cheese, or even leave it out to cut calories.

Onions are sauteed in half a stick of butter or olive oil. I also used beef bouillon cubes, but you can use vegetable broth to keep it vegetarian; it will taste delicious either way.

 
Ingredients (3-4 servings)

• 6 brown onions, roughly chopped (throw in a couple extra to caramelize and use later)
• 1/2 stick of butter - OK to substitute 1/4 cup of olive or vegetable oil
• 6 cups of water with 6 beef bouillon cubes or vegetable broth /water
• 1 cup of 99.99 cent red wine
• 1 tbsp. of flour
• 1 bay leaf (optional)
• A few thick slices of French bread
• 6 oz. of cheese -- white cheddar or your favorite vegan substitute
• Pepper to taste - no salt, as you get plenty from bouillon cubes and cheese

  








 

 
Directions
Start heating water with bouillon cubes over low temperature. Melt butter and add chopped onion and a bay leaf over medium heat in a large soup pot. This is the long part so put on the tunes, or, if you're like me, NPR radio. 

Stir onions so they don't stick to the pot and burn too much. After about a half hour the onions should be medium to dark brown and taste deliciously sweet. At this point you can set a little aside for your future grilled cheese burger! 

Next, add flour, cook for couple more minutes, then add 99.99 cent red wine to browned onions to dislodge brown tasty bits. 

Finally add broth to onions and cook for half hour to an hour at a low simmer - the longer the better as the flavor will intensify when soup is reduced by about a third.

You can serve French onion soup with a thick slice of toasted French bread topped with melted cheese floating on top, or not. Toast French bread in a pan or your broiler. Flip toast when brown and add sliced cheese to toasted side.

For the broiler, toast one side, flip and add cheese, cooking until melted. 

Hey, go crazy and add sliced hunks of cheese to piping hot French onion soup; the bread just gets in the way! As this recipe is so cheap, you may as well use a time-honored French Gruyere cheese from your local favorite deli.