Ingredients
Quail eggs are a perfect size for open sandwiches. Here they are paired with a creamy egg salad with pickled cucumber and chives from the garden. The round bread gives the sandwiches a neat round shape and a good base for the salad and topping.
When you are cooking for many and have lots of eggs to spare
Do you have plenty of quail eggs and wonder what to use them for? A homemade egg salad is a great way to use up several at once. It works well on a larger buffet, as finger food or as an extra special sandwich topping.
In our house, the bowl is usually scraped clean long before the egg salad has a chance to go stale. It simply disappears in no time!
When you are cooking for many and have lots of eggs to spare
The idea for these sandwiches came when I was recently put on a bingo committee and asked to bring open sandwiches. My quails were at their most productive and the surplus of quail eggs had grown large, so it was natural to find a way to use many eggs at once.
The result was a fresh egg salad with crunchy pieces of pickled cucumber and chives from the garden. The combination of the rich salad, the quail eggs and a good herring bite on top earned plenty of praise around the table.
Instructions
Boiling and cooling
Boil a total of 45 quail eggs (15 for the salad, 30 for topping the sandwiches). They should not be soft-boiled, but rather fairly firm, so they hold their shape well when cut. Feel free to read more about boiling quail eggs. Cool them immediately in ice-cold water after boiling to stop the cooking and make them easier to peel.
Prepare the pickled cucumber
Finely chop the pickled cucumber. Spread the pieces out on a tea towel or kitchen paper and let the liquid drain out properly. This keeps the egg salad from becoming too runny.
Prepare the chives
Snip or cut the chives into fine pieces. If you have washed them, lay them on a cloth too so they dry well before going into the salad.
Mix the base
Put a whole pouch of mayonnaise, a whole tub of crème fraîche and 1 tsp lemon juice in a bowl. Use a spoon or spatula to stir it lightly together. The base should not be whisked, just gently folded together. Also stir in 1 tsp sugar.
Add the flavours
Stir the dry chives and the well-drained pickled cucumber pieces into the mayonnaise and crème fraîche mixture.
Fold in the eggs
Peel 15 of the quail eggs, cut each into about 4 pieces, and gently fold them into the mixture with a spatula.
Season to taste
Season the egg salad with salt and freshly ground black pepper as desired.
Chilling and resting
Cover the bowl with cling film and place it in the fridge.
Prepare the topping
Peel the remaining 30 quail eggs. Slice the eggs with an egg slicer if you have one, or cut them neatly in half lengthways with a sharp knife.
Assembly and garnish
Lay out the slices of round bread. Spread the cold, delicious egg salad evenly over the 30 sandwiches. Garnish each slice with slices from 1 whole quail egg and 1 herring bite. Sprinkle a little fresh chives on top just before serving for the perfect, fresh finish.
Tips
- The egg salad becomes noticeably firmer and more stable after it has been chilled for a while.
- Buy fresh round bread, cut it into slices and put them in the freezer. I spread the cold egg salad on frozen slices, so the sandwiches stay cold for longer. The thin slices thaw in time for serving, and help keep the egg salad firmer.
Serving suggestions
Use the type of herring you prefer, or swap the herring for fresh shrimp, hot-smoked salmon or smoked trout.
Try the recipe next time you want to serve something extra tasty, and let me know how it went!
