Duck Egg Recipes - Thinking Outside the Shell

[quackiemama]

My egg shells always got to the girls or to the compost!

 

[2 many chickens]

Oh my lord
I don't know you but come to my house and make this lol

 

[3bird]

Oh my lord
I don't know you but come to my house and make this lol

Try it! It's really easy, and it's a hit in our house.

 

[3bird]

Hi, Guys! We're back with another "Eggs! It's What's for Dinner" recipe. We'd love to see some of your recipes as well...feel free to add them to this thread, but in the interim, here's a twist on one of our favourite eggs-for-dinner dishes: Shakshuka.

From the Southeast Asian country of Burma and the egg curry we made in the previous recipe, we travel over 6000 miles to the west and land on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. I travelled here during college and was fortunate to explore some fairly remote villages where I was introduced to many new recipes. When we first got our ducks, I began revisiting some of the recipes from my various travels around the globe that included eggs, and a shakshuka may have been the first.

The traditional shakshuka (the etymology I've been told is Arabic and means either "stick together, clump together, adhere or coalesce" or "a mixture") is a tomato-based affair. It's sort of a thick stew with eggs poached directly in the stew at the end of cooking. The traditional flavor profile tends toward spicy, and you can expect cumin, cayenne and paprika. I've made shakshuka in both a traditional tagine and in a cast iron pan--both work great, although I may use the cast iron more for this dish.

Before you get started, preheat your oven to 375F.

I said up front that this shakshuka recipe is one with a twist (I'll post a more traditional one later), and the first thing you'll notice is that there are no tomatoes. Instead, I start with two large leaks, a celery stalk and a giant handful of mushrooms.

I cook this down with some olive oil over med-low heat for 15 or 20 minutes. You want the leaks and celery to soften and the mushrooms to release and reabsorb their water.

Then I had three minced garlic cloves and a minced chili pepper and cook while stirring for a few minutes. You'll start to smell the garlic!

Next I add a good handful of chopped fresh spinach and a big handful of Swiss chard cut lengthwise to form large strips. Allow the spinach and chard to wilt down--a few minutes.

While the veggies are wilting, start your cous cous. I use pearled cous with this dish, and I start it dry in a large skillet with a little butter. Keep it moving over medium heat until it's browned all over. Then add water, bring it to a boil, put the top on and turn the heat off.

When the veggies are wilted, gently pat the mixture down into the pan, making sure none is left on the sides.

If you can get your hands on some ayibe (an African cheese), sprinkle some on the top. I use feta more often than not, and its saltiness is perfect for this shakshuka.

Gently make four small wells in the mixture and crack a duck egg into each, then pop the whole thing in the pre-heated over for 6-10 minutes (depending on how runny you want your eggs--we like them runny!).

Serve the shakshuka over the cous cous with toasted wedges of pita bread. Garnish with a liberal amount of fresh mint and enjoy!

Do you have a favorite eggs-for-dinner recipe? We'd love to see it!

 

[Miss Lydia]

That looks so delish. Whos the cook? I am not big on cooking since it's just my dh and I. My thing with eggs is over easy with grits or hash browns. Or egg salad or deviled eggs. But boy that dish looks good.

 

[3bird]

That looks so delish. Whos the cook? I am not big on cooking since it's just my dh and I. My thing with eggs is over easy with grits or hash browns. Or egg salad or deviled eggs. But boy that dish looks good.

We both love to cook, but I (Ret) tend to do most of the dinners. Karen is the soup master, and I need to get her to write up her duck egg drop soup! It's amazing!

 

[Miss Lydia]

You should do a cook book with those beautiful pics. I love egg drop soup.

 

[quackiemama]

Very impressive. I make a similar version of this myself but gees my pics don't look like this! It looks like you are the place to go to for dinner!

 

[3bird]

We're back with another duck egg recipe. I had hoped this one might work as a first course at a dinner party, but with the duck egg, it's really a meal in and of itself. Anyway, it was delicious and would make an awesome breakfast or brunch item! I have not named it yet. ;-)

The impetus behind this dish was a recent purchase of the cutest little ramekins the world has ever seen. I have so many ideas, but the inaugural recipe included crab and a duck egg.

First I preheated the oven to 375F. Then I greased each of the ramekins with unsalted butter and made my crab mixture. I used local crabmeat (we live in Maine) and mixed it with a spot of mayo, green onion, Dijon mustard, Italian parsley, and a few shakes of Old Bay. Basically it's a crab imperial without the egg yolk--that comes in a minute! I then filled each ramekin with a layer of the crab mixture, making sure to leave a depression in the center.

Into each ramekin, I then cracked a duck egg, making sure the yolk was centered. I'm noticing now that I'm looking at the pictures that I was neglecting my beer (which, incidentally, is served in an Angler's Pint--shameless self-promotion www.AnglersPint.com).

I then drizzled some cream over the top because....well why not?!

The ramekins then went in a Pyrex (or other baking dish with high enough sides would work). I filled the Pyrex with boiling water so that just the top quarter of the ramekins were exposed. Then I popped the Pyrex into the oven for ~15 minutes. We like the whites set and the yolks runny, but adjust cooking time as you see fit!

And that's it! Garnish with green onion, Old Bay, etc., and serve with a salad and crusty bread for a full meal.

What fun duck egg recipes have you made recently?

 

[casportpony]

That looks great! The other night we made this using duck eggs and asparagus from the garden:
http://www.vegwithanedge.com/2013/08/22/outdoing-martha-egg-asparagus-charred-tomato/