Petits Croustades De Cailles À La Carême

1. Begin by preheating the oven at 350°
2. For the croustades, take each slice of rye bread and cut 2-inch circles out of it.
3. Press the bread circles into mini muffin tins in the form of a base. Brush the top of the bread with melted butter and place the muffin tins in the oven to bake for 10-15 minutes. Remove the tins from the oven when the bread is lightly toasted.
4. When the bread slices has cooled down, remove from the muffin tins and arrange them in a baking sheet.
5. For quail’s Egg Filling, drop a dollop of crème fraîche and break one quail’s egg in each croustade and season with salt and pepper.
6. On top of the croustades, drizzle with shreds of Swiss cheese and place them in the oven to bake for 6 minutes, or until the cheese melts and the eggs are slightly cooked through.
7. Remove from the oven, garnish with chopped chives and serve!

Trivia:

• Croustades were made popular by the chef-extraordinaire Marie-Antoine Carême.

After years of preparing meals and desserts for royals and elite of France, Carême ironically died from the toxic fumes of the charcoal on which he used to cook.