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Capercaillie's nest classic salad

Capercaillie's Nest Salad with Quail Eggs and Chicken

Just a handful of simple ingredients and your party salad is ready! This is one of the best salads for a holiday table — it looks stunning and really does resemble a "capercaillie's nest," complete with speckled quail eggs.

Irisha

Recipe author

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Eggs (hard-boiled)

Chicken breast

300

Potatoes

Cucumbers

Mayonnaise

Onion (small onion)

Fresh herbs

Vegetable oil (for frying)

Salt

Ground hot pepper

Quail eggs (for garnish)

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 33 % 8 g

Fats 33 % 8 g

Carbohydrates 33 % 8 g

131 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Cooking time: 40 min

Step 1:

How do you make Capercaillie's Nest salad? Gather your ingredients.
Step 2:

Finely dice the onion.
Step 3:

To keep the onion from tasting sharp, pour boiling water over it, or pickle it quickly if you prefer.
Step 4:

Boil the chicken breast. Let it cool, then cut it into thin strips.
Step 5:

Peel the cucumbers (optional) and cut them into strips.
Step 6:

Hard-boil the eggs for 8–9 minutes. Separate the whites from the yolks. Dice the whites (or chop them however works for you).
Step 7:

Peel the potatoes and grate them on a julienne (Korean-carrot) grater into long thin shreds. Rinse under cold water and pat thoroughly dry.
Step 8:

Deep-fry the potato shreds in plenty of vegetable oil in small batches. Transfer the finished potatoes to paper towels to drain off the excess oil.
Step 9:

In a bowl, combine the chicken, cucumbers, egg whites, onion, and 3/4 of the fried potatoes.
Step 10:

Dress with mayonnaise and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Step 11:

Mound the salad in a serving bowl. Sprinkle the grated yolk over the top.
Step 12:

Garnish with the remaining fried potatoes, fresh herbs, and hard-boiled quail eggs nestled on top like eggs in a nest. Enjoy!

Homemade mayonnaise is worth the effort here — it tastes better and is lighter. You can also swap in sour cream or plain yogurt for the dressing, either on their own or blended with mayonnaise in any ratio you like, to cut down on the calories.
Every oil is only good up to its smoke point — the temperature at which it starts to burn and form harmful compounds. Use a refined oil with a high smoke point for deep-frying.
A quick tip: the wrong pan can ruin even the best recipe, so use a good deep, heavy skillet for frying the potatoes.