Thursday 25 September 2008

Got a new cookbook!


Well, new to me at least – it came out last year I think: Moro East by Sam & Sam Clark.

I’ve spent the whole week thumbing through the pages and drooling over the beautiful foodie writing and photos since the postman knocked at my door with a sweet birthday parcel from my in-laws in the UK...

So, last night I decided to have a bash at Jamón with quail’s eggs and piquillo peppers... It was just a Wednesday night, but what the heck, I can do special starters on a Wednesday once in a while I guess hehe

I picked up a little tray of quail's eggs my daughter spotted at the supermarket in town - the kiddies love these teeny tiny eggs which I hard boil for festive/party nibbles sometimes, and I loved the sound of the mini crispy fried eggs in the recipe... I didn't have the right kind of Jamón but substituted this with some jewel-like slices of Jambon de Bayonne instead. Also swapped the piquillo peppers for a big red pepper I had in my veggie basket, which I cut into 6 pieces and fried til soft and slightly blackened - deliberate I swear! - then kept warm on a plate covered with foil.

For the toast, I took four slices of bread, cut the crusts off, popped them in my toaster, then rubbed them with cut garlic and drizzled them with a little olive oil as stated in the recipe...

The quail's eggs were pretty fiddly to crack, for my fumbling fingers at least, so I didn't manage to get them all in the frying pan fast enough, and they ended up being well done instead of soft... Next time I will have them all cracked into little bowls and ready to tip into the pan... oh but they were still very pretty and quite delicious!

Then arranged the Jambon, pepper and mini eggs on the plates, with a strategically placed piece of toast, sprinkled with salt and pepper (forgot the cumin! argh!), plonked the plates on the dinner table with pride, then rounded everyone up to come and eat.

Was a hit! Definitely one to perfect and try again! (but hopefully with the exact right ingredients next time at least hehe)


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