Blackiston’s Quail Scotch Eggs – Rising to the Challenge of These Tiny Culinary Bastions

My mother-in-law gave me two dozen quail eggs as we left her Boulder home after our summer sojourn to the Front Range. She graciously tucked a pair of quail egg scissors into the classy gift bag as well. “A beautiful present for a cook!” I exalted. I had never before handled quail egg scissors, nor a quail egg for that matter, much less cooked with them. 

I got the eggs home to Norwood, then I quailed. Apprehension filled me whenever I looked at them. So these perfect quail eggs sat on the counter top and, day after day, John reminded me they were there, waiting to be made into breakfast. Or something. But what?

In my ignorance, the tiny, handsomely speckled quail eggs seemed to rise in my mind like little fortified bastions. How to get in? What to do once I was in? But it turns out, they were actually beckoning to me as a gateway to a new culinary experience — if I could just open their tiny shells and come out of my larger one.

Purposefulness overtook me and then, after cruising YouTube, I found Galton Blackiston’s recipe for Quail Scotch Eggs and Dipping Sauce. “Ladies love them,” Blackiston says in his video. I liked that idea. So they’d be good to serve at Bridge Club, a baby or wedding shower as an appetizer or they could help fill out your picnic basket. Blackiston’s results looked and sounded delicious, and so I made the commitment to try his recipe. And now, I can attest they are not only cute and tiny, they ARE delicious — and far less scary than I thought. What’s there not to love? Well, the two hours of preparation for only 5 minutes of cooking, that’s what. But fun, nevertheless. So they should be made for a special event when you have company.

Here is another FFA recipe you can use quail eggs for Poached Eggs with Pesto and Parm

Read more: Blackiston’s Quail Scotch Eggs – Rising to the Challenge of These Tiny Culinary Bastions

Step-by-step Solution to Find Increased Boiling Time at High Altitude

1. Convert initial cooking time to seconds:group

The initial cooking time of 2 minutes and 30 seconds is converted to seconds as follows: 

• 2 minutes × 60 seconds/minute + 30 seconds = 120 seconds + 30 seconds = 150seconds

• Determine the percentage increase in cooking time: A general guideline suggests increasing cooking time by 2% for every 1,000 feet above sea level.

For an altitude of 7,000 feet, the total percentage increase is calculated as: 

       7000 feet               

1.  feet/unit × 2%/unit = 7×2% = 14%

• Calculate the additional cooking time:

The additional cooking time is determined by multiplying the initial cooking time by the percentage increase:

1. seconds × 0.14 = 21 seconds

• Calculate the total cooking time at high altitude:

The additional cooking time is added to the initial cooking time to find the total cooking time at 7000 feet: 

150 seconds +21 seconds = 171seconds

• Convert the total cooking time back to minutes and seconds:

The total cooking time in seconds is converted back to minutes and seconds: 

171 seconds = 60seconds/minute = 2 minutes and 51seconds

Final Answer: It is estimated that the cooking time at 7000 feet above sea level will be approximately 2 minutes and 51seconds.