Melba's Jammin said:Charles Quinn said:Congratulations, this is your official invite to go hunting with Vice
President Cheney.
OMA! Someboy sent me a link to Jon Stewart's telling of That Story on
www.youtube.com. It's pretty danged funny.
I understand Cheney was trying to bag a former Vice President but got
someone else... big deal!
ObFood: Roast Quail, from "Nose to Tail Eating" by the great Fergus
Henderson.
Bubba
Roast Quail
To serve 4
The quail unfortunately falls into a kind of bird purgatory; it is not a
game bird, though some describe it as such, but is now a thoroughly
farmed bird, so not glamorous enough to warrant the "hand on" battling
that people feel justified to exert on grouse and partridge, and is
denied from joining the chicken gang as it is seen to be too fiddly to
eat. Then finally, to kick it while the quail's down, people say it has
no flavour.
Put all this behind you and let me put forward the case for the joys of
a bowl of thoroughly roasted quails.
10 quails (as there are always those who end up eating 3)
olive oil
sea salt
ground black pepper
Season the quails inside and out very thoroughly, being especially heavy
on the salt. In a hot frying pan, with a small splash of olive oil,
brown the quails all over. When you are satisfied with their colour
place them onto a lightly oiled roasting tray and place in a hot oven
for 20 minutes or so.
Despite the quail's fragile reputation it is robust when it comes to
cooking, not having the drying out potential of the partridge or the
angst of getting the perfect moment of blush in a grouse breast. The
quail wants plenty of cooking, to the point that its legs can be pulled
easily from the ribcage, and the flesh sucked off the leg bone. Salty
and well done, serve the quail in a bowl in the middle of the table and
encourage some hand-on eating.
Serve with a bowl of lentils or simply a watercress salad.
