Herb-crusted quail eggs

1 cup rice bran oil

1 handful each saltbush and native parsley leaves, washed, thoroughly dried

20 quail eggs

Coating

3 cups fresh breadcrumbs from

a good sourdough bread 3 quail eggs, beaten with

a little water

½ cup nely chopped fresh

or dried native parsley leaves 1 teaspoon native parsley seeds salt and native pepper, to taste

1. Place oil in a small saucepan and heat until quite hot. Fry leaves, a few at a time, for 20–30 seconds. Beware, as they will spit! Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Repeat until all are done, and arrange on a serving plate. Leave oil in the saucepan for frying the eggs. 2. Boil eggs in water for 1½ minutes, then quickly cool under cold, running water. Carefully peel, and set aside.

3. Mix the breadcrumbs, beaten eggs, chopped native parsley leaves, seeds, salt and pepper with a fork. With wet hands, coat each egg with herb mix.

Use as little as you can to get a sealed coating. For a crispy, crunchy crust, you can also roll the crumbed eggs in Bush Tukka Dukka (recipe in book – see box). Place eggs on a plate, making sure that they are kept apart.

4. Reheat the oil to hot and fry the eggs, a few at a time, for just a minute or so until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. 5. To serve, cut the eggs in half, to show the layers of yellow yolk, egg white and the green-flecked crust.

6. These are fabulous hot or cold with a range of sauces or chutneys. They are shown here with Magenta Madness Rhagodia Sauce (recipe in book).

These are edited recipes from Eat Wild Tasmanian by Rees Campbell, which also includes bush food growing info, maps and colour photos. feistytasmanian.com