With a giant surplus of quail eggs I am always looking for new ways to use these little treasures.  I came across a recipe for “Scotch Eggs”.  They sounded yummy so I tried making some with quail eggs.

First, I hard boiled 20 quail eggs.  Just put them in cold water in a sauce pan and bring the water to a boil.  Let the eggs simmer in boiling water for about 5 minutes.  I live at 9,000 feet elevation, so you may need to adjust your timing a bit.  Go a little longer for harder yolks and a little shorter for softer or even runny yolks.  To each his own.

I keep reading that “you should constantly stir quail eggs while boiling so the yolk doesn’t settle on one side”.  I call BS on this.  I’ve stirred and not stirred and had the exact same results every time, so I no longer bother stirring while boiling my quail eggs.

Next, remove the eggs from the stove and run them under cold water so they cool off.  I usually run water into the pan until the water is cool and then let the eggs sit in water for a while, sometimes hours – it won’t hurt them.

Next is the super-fun part.  Peeling the eggs!  Here’s a little tip that might help.

Once the eggs are cool, roll them gently on your counter to break the shell all over and pinch off the fat end of the shell.  Then toss the egg back into the cool water for a while.  This lets water get in between the shell/membrane and the egg, making it easier to peel later.

OK, so all of your eggs are finally peeled.  Get some ground sausage and make a bunch of patties big enough that you can cover a quail egg with them.  Honestly, I made my sausage patties a little too thick the first time, but they were still yummy.

Season your sausage any way you want.  I bought “hot jalapeno breakfast sausage” for my first try so I didn’t bother seasoning it any further.

Put each egg in the center of a sausage patty and encase each egg with the sausage by rolling it into a ball.

Roll the ball in some flour to lightly coat it, dip into some beaten eggs (quail eggs, of course) and then give them a good coating of bread crumbs.  The process goes right to left in the picture.

Now they’re ready to cook.

I used a pretty standard Hamilton Beach Deep Fryer set at 375 and let them cook for about 4-5 minutes.  You could pan fry these as well, but I haven’t done that.

When they are golden brown and crispy on the outside, pull them out and let them sit for a minute or two, then dig in.  Depending on what kind of sausage you use, a variety of dipping sauces can be served with them (ranch, blue cheese, fancy mustard, etc.).

I used “hot jalapeno breakfast sausage” for mine the first time, but I think a sweeter sausage might be a better choice for next time.

Give it a try!

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