The Iberian Peninsula - Farced Quail Eggs w/Ham Drizzle

Farced Eggs

12 quail eggs or 4-6 hen’s eggs, hard cooked and peeled.

½ lb country ham, ground

½ lb chicken, venison, beef, or veal, ground

2 tbls sweet herb mixture*

1 tsp nutmeg

½ tsp mace

2 egg yolks

Salt & pepper to taste

Flour for dusting

Oil for frying

Mix the ham, other meat, herbs, and seasonings until well combined.

For quail eggs, take about 1 ½ tablespoons of the mixture and form it into a ball. Adjust accordingly if using hen’s eggs. Flatten the ball in the palm of your hand (it helps if your hands are slightly damp). Place an egg in the center of this patty and wrap the forcemeat around it, keeping the thickness as even as possible and covering the egg completely. Roll in flour, shaking off any excess, and set aside until all the eggs are ready.

Heat enough oil to come halfway up the eggs, until very hot---about 350F. Fry the balls in batches, turning frequently, until golden brown on all sides, about three minutes in total. Drain on a rack.

Serve as a garnish to a fancy dish, or as an appetizer.

For the ham drizzle, minch a shallot very fine and saute it in a little lard or olive oil. Add a handfulf of minced, cooked ham, and cook until warmed through. Sprinkle with a tablespoon or so of flour. Cook another minute to destroy the raw flour taste and add a cup or so of ham stock. Cook until slightly thickened.

Split the eggs the long way. Coat the bottom of a small plate with some of the sauce. Arrange 3 egg halves in a triangle, and, with the tip of a spoon, drizzle addition sauce over them.

Althernatively, use the same forcemeat mixture to make forcemeat balls. Just roll it into small meatballs, about the size of large marbles. Coat and fry the same way. For these I use four as a tapas, arranging three in a triangle and topping them with the fourth one to form a pyramid.