Submitted by

Cornbread with Quail Eggs:

Ingredients

Day of:

  • 24 hard boiled Quail eggs
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup/honey
  • 1/3 cup melted butter
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/4 cups pastry flour
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup corn
  • 1 LB bacon (crispy)
  • 4 tablespoons bacon fat

The night before:

  • 3 cups buttermilk
  • 1 1/2 cups cornmeal

Method

The night before, soak cornmeal in buttermilk. Cover with plastic wrap and leave on counter. Next morning, cook bacon till crispy, crumble and set aside. Be sure to keep 4 tbs. of bacon fat for the recipe. Add water to a large pot and bring to a boil. Add in Quail eggs and lightly boil for 4 minutes. Remove from water and cool under cold water. Peel Quail eggs and set aside. Add bacon fat to a 9x13 casserole dish (I used a cast iron one but you can use glass or ceramic.) and place into a 375F oven. In the cornmeal buttermilk bowl add eggs, maple syrup or honey, melted butter and brown sugar. Mix with a wire whisk till well blended. In a separate bowl combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix together with a wire whisk. Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture. Mix together with a spatula, add in corn and crispy bacon (hold back 3 tbs. of bacon to sprinkle on top. Mix till just combined. Once the bacon fat is smoking in the casserole dish remove from oven. Add about half the batter to the hot casserole dish. Now, sprinkle the boiled Quail eggs on to, pour the rest of the batter over top the Quail eggs. Sprinkle with the 3 tablespoons of bacon. If you want you can add some grated cheese on top also. Bake for 40-45 minutes, if you are using a glass or ceramic dish it may only take 30 - 35 minutes. You want the cornbread to be firm and springy when touched in the middle. The top will have a light brown color. The internal temperature will read between 180 - 185F. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes before cutting.