We’re continuing our series on breakfast with another twist on the traditional (last time, it was toast) with a look at alternatives to traditional chicken eggs. All of these can be prepared in the traditional ways on your cooktop or in your oven—scrambled, fried, etc.—but you may notice a slight difference in color, texture or taste. Consider bringing duck, goose, ostrich or quail eggs to your breakfast table if you’re in the mood for sampling eggs laid by fancier fowl.
Duck: Duck eggs are larger and have a tougher shell than chicken eggs. (That means they’re harder to “quack.” Ha ha ha…) You can cook duck eggs the same ways you’d cook chicken eggs. But since you’re already straying off the beaten breakfast path, why not go a bit more exotic? If you’re into sous vide cooking, ChefSteps recommends serving their sous vide duck eggs over asparagus with olive oil, champagne vinegar, minced chives and chopped black truffle.
Goose: Goose eggs are as big as about three large chicken eggs. They’re likely to be harder to find since geese produce far fewer eggs than chickens. Try this scrambled goose egg recipe from Tastessence, which adds plum tomatoes, girolle mushrooms and chopped garlic for a fresh twist on a breakfast favorite.
Ostrich: Perhaps you’re serving breakfast to a large group of people. Or maybe you’re just really, really hungry. If either one of these is the case, an ostrich egg may be the way to go. And you’ll only need one, because one ostrich egg is equivalent to about two dozen chicken eggs. Are you recovering from a long night out? This ostrich egg omelet recipe, from the Travel Channel, is a traditional hangover cure in South Africa. Ostrich eggs can be tough to crack and you’ll probably need to use a few tools to get the job done.
Quail: It takes about five quail eggs to equal one chicken egg, but the speckled shells add a unique splash of color to your breakfast prep. Use a knife or scissors to penetrate the delicate shell. Use your oven to take your morning egg back to the nest with this recipe from JoCooks: quail eggs in hash brown nests.
Great eggs aren’t just for the oven and range. Take advantage of your smaller appliances, like your blender and immersion blender when you’re making scrambled eggs. And as always, take the time to follow safe cooking practices.
Have you ventured outside the shell of traditional breakfast eggs lately? What’s your favorite egg alternative?
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