Eggs And Baskets

Boil the quail eggs - just bring them to a boil in salted vinegared water, then turn the heat OFF and let them rest for for a few minutes..

Crisp the filo cups in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes.

Peel the quail eggs - this is a little bit of a labor of love because they are teeny, but the shell and that skin stuff inside the shell are thicker than chicken eggs so it is not as bad as you think. If you mangle a couple along the way don't worry - save the yolk for filling!

Cut the eggs in half, and mash the yolks with a dab of creme fraiche, some lemon zest and a little squeeze of lemon juice. It should be rather lemony, as it will soon have some salty caviar on top.

Fill each egg half with yolk mixture - I use an espresso spoon to do this.

Mix together some creme fraiche, lemon zest and juice, and minced chives. Put a dollop of this in each filo cup.

Alternating black and red, put a dab of caviar on each cup and egg. Arrange them on a plate and I like to garnish with additional lemon zest and chives. You can eat them right away or they will hold in the fridge for an hour or so.

Eat them all, they don't make particularly good leftovers :-)