Local Quail Eggs

Yesterday I mentioned the lamb I found at DinhDinh's but I also found some lovely, quaint, small speckled quail eggs while shopping there :)  Packed 18 to a small carton, I noticed they're shipped direct from a quail farm in the Niagara region.

Quail eggs are very healthy (nutrition information below) but according to Chef Mark Picone this lesser-known poultry offers some other benefits as well: "[Quail] is a very versatile protein.,” he says. “It is in season 12 months of the year. Health and wellness are really big today and quail is an alternative option; it has a good fat to protein ratio. The portion size of quail lends itself to not overeating,”  Chef Mark is now a teacher at Niagara College, and often takes his culinary students on tours of CroQuail Farms in St Anns, Ontario.  As a supplier of the restaurant industry, CroQuail has grown from a family business into a modernized operation but from their own carefully selected Coturnix Quail breeding stock, to the specialized hatchery, and on site processing, everything to do with the birds is still done “home on the farm.”  The modernized facility has even remained low impact by installing a wetland biofilter to process abattoir wastewater.  I like to be conscientious with my food purchases, and these quail eggs are pretty well ideal for my regional, health, and environmental demands when it comes to how my food is produced :)  For now I've simply hard boiled them, but foodgawker is just brimming with charming ideas!

Nutrition Information : Quail egg (whole, fresh, raw)

Water (g/100g)74.35Food Energy (Calories) (kcal/100g)158
Protein (g/100g)13.05
Total Lipid (fat)(g/100g)11.09
Ash (g/100g)1.1
Carbohydrate (g/100g)0.41
Total Dietary Fibre (g/100g)0
Total Sugars (g/100g)0.41
Calcium (mg/100g)64
Iron (mg/100g)3.65
Magnesium (mg/100g)13
Phosphorus (mg/100g)226
Potassium (mg/100g)132
Sodium (mg/100g)141
Zinc (mg/100g)1.47
Copper(mg/100g)0.062
Manganese(mg/100g)0.038
Selenium(µ/100g)32
Vitamin C (mg/100g)0
Thiamin (mg/100g)0.13
Riboflavin (mg/100g)0.79
Niacin (mg/100g)0.15
Pantothenic Acid (mg/100g)1.761
Vitamin B6 (mg/100g)0.15
Folate (µg/100g)66
Folic Acid (µg/100g)0
Food Folate (µg/100g)66
Folate (Dietary Folate Equivalents/100g)66
Vitamin B12 (µg/100g)1.58
Vitamin A (µg/100g)543
Vitamin A (IU/100g)156
Retinol (µg/100g)155
Vitamin E (µg/100g)1.08
Vitamin K (µg/100g)0.3
Alpha-carotene (µg/100g)0
Beta-carotene (µg/100g)11
Beta_crytoxanthin (µg/100g)10
Lycopene (µg/100g)0
Lutein & Zeazanthin (µg/100g)369
Saturated Fatty Acid (g/100g)3.557
Monosaturated Fatty Acids (g/100g)4.324
Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (g/100g)1.324