Pickling is an amazing preservation method that not only extends the life of your food, but also transforms its flavours, giving it an interesting and tasty edge. These are our affectionately named 'Pickled Pink' quail's eggs. In this recipe I have used beetroot as a way of transforming the pickling liquid into a deep pink, almost purple dye, creating deliciously quirky and eye-catching eggs.
I love to serve these little morsels as fun one-bite canapés. It is always fun to hear the chorus of "Oooh," as they enter the room.
Ingredients:
- 18 Quail’s eggs
- 100ml Cider vinegar
- 100ml Water
- 1tbsp Granulated sugar
- 2tsps Sea salt
- 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
- 1tsp Fennel seeds
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1tsp Peppercorns
- 2 Baby purple beetroot, peeled and grated
Method:
1. Bring a deep pan of water to boiling point and prepare an ice water bath on the side. Carefully put the quail eggs into the pot of boiling water and set a timer for four minutes. When the timer goes off remove the eggs from the pan immediately and place in the ice water bath.
2. Once the eggs have cooled, gently peel away the shells. Place the peeled eggs in a bowl and set aside.
3. In a saucepan combine the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, mustard seeds, fennel, bay leaf, peppercorns and grated beetroot. Bring to a boil, making sure all sugar and salt has dissolved. Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature.
4. Place your boiled quail’s eggs in a jar and poor the pickling juice over them. Close the lid of the jar tightly and leave in the fridge for 24 hours.
5. Now your eggs are ready to eat. Cut one open to see the way the white has been dyed a deep pinkish-purple colour, while the yolk remains bright yellow.
It is important to note that the longer you keep the eggs in the pickling liquid, the deeper the colour will penetrate, eventually reaching the yolk. You can keep these for up to a week in the fridge.
