fEUILLETE of poached quails' eggs with hollandaise sauce
About
Feuillete roughly translates as ‘leaves’, represented in this dish by the layers of puff pastry. The addition of Madeira to the pastry lends this quail egg recipe from Geoffrey Smeddle an enticing sweetness, particularly when smothered with hollandaise sauce. Quail eggs can be difficult to peel, so it’s best to boil a few extra and to use up any broken ones in a salad or sandwich. This is delicious served as a starter.
Type: Starter
Serves: 4
Ingredients
QUAIL EGGS
- 24 quail eggs
- 1 packet of puff pastry
- 1 banana shallot, finely diced
- 1 knob of butter
- 500g of button mushrooms
- 1 tsp thyme leaves, chopped
- 100ml of Madeira
- 1 lemon
- black pepper
HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 banana shallot, peeled and finely sliced
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tarragon stalk
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 150ml of white wine vinegar
- 200g of butter, melted
- salt
Method
Step 1.
Cook the eggs in a pan of boiling water – in batches of six or eight – for 2 minutes 40 seconds, then lift out into iced water. Once all the eggs are cooked, peel them and refrigerate until needed
Requires
- 24 quail eggs
Step 2.
Roll out the pastry into four 4cm x 14cm rectangles, no more than 3mm thick. Transfer to a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, making sure the pastry rectangles do not touch as they cook
Requires
- 1 packet of puff pastry
Step 3.
Refrigerate the tray for at least an hour before baking in the oven at 200°C/Gas mark 6 until golden brown. Cool completely, then store in an airtight container
Step 4.
Fry the diced shallot gently with the butter until soft. Blitz the mushrooms in a food processor and add to the shallot in the pan with the thyme
Requires
- 1 banana shallot
- 1 knob of butter
- 500g of button mushrooms
- 1 tsp thyme leaves
Step 5.
Fry for 10 minutes, adding oil and butter if needed. Add the Madeira and fry until you have a compote-like consistency, then set aside.
Requires
- 100ml of Madeira
Step 6.
To make the hollandaise sauce, whisk the yolks in a bowl over a pan of warm water until doubled in volume. Place the shallot, peppercorns, tarragon stalk and sprig of thyme in a pan with the vinegar. Reduce by half then strain through a sieve, saving the liquid
Requires
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 banana shallot
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tarragon stalk
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 150ml of white wine vinegar
Step 7.
Pour the melted butter over the yolks, whisking all the time. Season with salt, add a little of the vinegar reduction and a squeeze of lemon juice, then whisk and taste
Requires
- 1 lemon
- 200g of butter
- salt
Step 8.
If it tastes fatty, add more vinegar reduction; if it’s too acidic add more butter. Store in a bowl over hot (not boiling) water, covering the surface of the sauce with clingfilm to prevent a skin forming
Step 9.
Warm the pastry in the oven while warming the mushrooms in a pan. Spoon the mushroom mix along the pastry, making indentations in the mix for the eggs to sit
Step 10.
Finish the eggs in a pan of simmering salted water for 45 seconds then lift out, season lightly with pepper and place on the pastry and mushroom base. Spoon on the hollandaise and serve at once
Requires
- salt
- black pepper
VISIT US
The Peat Inn
Peat Inn, Near St. Andrews
Fife, Scotland
KY15 5LH
RESERVATIONS & BOOKINGS
DINING HOURS
Fri and Sat (Lunch)
12.00pm - 1.30pm
Tue - Sat (Dinner)
6.00pm - 9.00pm
We politely ask that children are 7 years old or above to dine in the restaurant in the evening
OFFICE HOURS
Tue - Sat
9am - 7pm