Amanda's Duck and Quail Egg Salad

When my friend Amanda came into work one morning telling me about a delicious sounding salad she had made, there was only one thing to do... I shamelessly used my blog as a way of not only acquiring the recipe (and some really great photos), but also scoring  a serve for lunch, and it did not disappoint... It was reduckulously good (I know, that one was bad). Here is the recipe, make it quack smart!

Here's what you'll need (serves 6):

• 1 roast duck from your Asian Grocer. (Amanda gets hers "chop chop", and says that they will even debone it for you if you ask).
• 9 quail eggs (if you can't get hold of Leanne's itty bitty silkie chook eggs because she won't answer her phone).
• 2 bunches of watercress
• 4 sticks of celery
• 4 carrots
• 3 tbsp pickled pink sushi ginger
• Coriander leaves
• Birdseye chili (optional)

      Dressing

• 1 nip Rum
• 1 cup Coke
• 1 slice of lemon
• Ice
• Sesame oil
• Soy sauce
• Liquid from pickled pink sushi ginger
• Rice wine vinegar
• White sugar

Method:

Wash salad veg and chill in the fridge.

Prepare dressing. Start with a base ratio of about 3:2 / sesame:soy in a small jug. Mix.

Combine the rum and coke in a glass and pour over ice. Garnish with lemon. Drink (this is a very important step in Amanda's recipe. She stated that this is crucial in preparing your taste buds for the following, and who am I to argue). Add the remaining ingredients and combine to taste.

Cover the eggs with cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 seconds then run under  cold water so they don't continue to cook.

 While the eggs are cooking slice the carrots and celery into thin sticks. Slice chili. Arrange the watercress in a bowl and add the celery and carrot sticks. Peel the eggs and halve.

If the duck is not warm, give it a quick blast in the oven. Remove the bones if not already deboned and toss into salad.

Add the eggs, pickled pink ginger, coriander and chili.

Pour over the dressing, toss salad, pour another rum and serve.

Most Eggsellent Pumpkin, Broccoli and Mushroom Frittata

A couple of weeks ago, my work colleague Leanne generously (and most kindly) gave me a dozen eggs laid by her very own Chinese Silkie hens.

Not only are these hens the most adorable little chickens I have ever seen (I just want to pick one up and give it a cuddle), but the eggs they lay are just as cute...

Cute and also delicious, which is how I prefer all my food to be. To take full advantage of this most eggseptional gift I decided to make an eggstremely tasty frittata.


Here's What You'll Need (Serves 4):

• 1 1/2 tbs butter
• 1 1/2 tbs brown sugar
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 500g piece butternut pumpkin, cut into 2cm pieces
• 2 heads of broccoli, roughly chopped
• 200g mushroom, sliced
• 1/2 cup thickened cream
• 6 eggs
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan

Melt the butter into a frying pan over low heat. Add the sugar and stir until it dissolves. Increase the heat and add the onion, garlic and mushrooms. Cook, stirring for 10 minutes or until onion has softened and caramalised. 

Meanwhile, add the pumpkin and broccoli to a saucepan of salted boiling water and boil for 5 minutes or until tender. Drain and then add to onions in the frying pan.

Whisk the eggs and cream togethe and season with salt and pepper. Pour mixture over the veggies and cook uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes or until egg mixture is almost set but the top is still runny. 

Sprinkle the frittata with the parmesan and cook under the grill for 5 minutes or until the top is golden. Take out of the grill and let it rest for 5 minutes. Eat with the realisation that it doesn't matter what came first the chicken or the egg, because either way you end up with something delicious.