Labskaus with herring and fried quail egg

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 50 g corned beef and 50 g heath breakfast (both cold cuts)
• 3 fish fillets, matjes (double fillets)
• 4 medium-sized potatoes (approx. 300 g)
• 4 gherkins, sweet and sour
• 4 balls of sweet and sour beetroot
• 1 shallot(s)
• 1 garlic clove(s)
• 4 eggs (quail eggs)
• 100 ml milk
• 3 tsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp chives, in rolls

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour

this is an amuse gueule or a starter to a menu

Peel and quarter the potatoes, and boil in salted water for about 15 minutes until tender. Cut the herring fillets into evenly wide, long pieces and press them into 4 dessert rings, skin-side out. The fillet will probably not be long enough to completely fill the ring. Cut the missing piece from another half of the fillet and patch it up so that the ring is completely filled. Don’t worry, it will hold together when the ring is removed later, and the cut will be barely visible. Finely dice the shallot and garlic clove and sauté in a pan with 1 teaspoon of butter until translucent. Dice both cold cuts, add them to the pan, and melt over low heat. Cut the gherkins and beetroot into small cubes and set aside. Drain the potatoes and mash. Add half of the milk and mix thoroughly with the meat mixture from the pan. Add a little more milk until a mushy, not too thin, consistency is achieved. Evenly stir 1 tablespoon each of the cucumber and beetroot cubes into the porridge. Add 2 teaspoons of butter and place the covered pan on a warm stovetop. Once the butter has melted, mix thoroughly with the Labskaus. Lastly, add the fried eggs. Unfortunately, quail eggs aren’t as easy to crack open and add to the pan as you’d expect with chicken eggs. Quail eggs have a tough skin underneath, which doesn’t burst open and release the contents when you simply tap the egg. You have to cut into it with a sharp knife to get the egg out of the shell safely. Since this process takes a while and you’re cooking them for several people, the first fried eggs will already be cooked while the last one isn’t in the pan yet. Therefore, it’s a good idea to first place the insides of the quail eggs in egg cups. From there, they can easily be poured into the pan brushed with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and they will cook at the same time. To serve, fill the dessert rings lined with herring fillets with Labskaus cheese. Remove the dessert ring, place the fried egg on top, and sprinkle with chives. Arrange the remaining cucumber and beetroot cubes around the ring.