Quail?

jmcquown said:

Scott has a package of quail in his freezer that needs to be used up. I've
never cooked quail before. Should I treat it like squab? Emeril did a
squab in red wine reduction sauce, thusly:

1/4 cup olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup dried figs, stems removed and diced
3 cups fruity red wine
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
2 cups dark chicken stock
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 squab
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the
shallots to the pan and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the garlic and
cook for 30 seconds. Add the figs, wine, and thyme, and cook, stirring, to
deglaze the pan. Cook at a brisk simmer until wine has reduced enough to
coat the back of a spoon and the figs are tender, 25 minutes. Add the
chicken stock and cook again until the sauce is thick enough to coat the
back of a spoon, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat, add the
butter and stir until the butter is melted and the sauce is thickened.
Adjust the seasoning, to taste and set aside, covered, to keep warm. Do not
allow the sauce to boil or it will separate.
Cut the backbone out of the squab and gently flatten with the palm of your
hand. Lightly season the squab on both sides with salt and ground black
pepper.

Heat the remaining oil in a large saute pan or skillet over medium-high
heat. Add the squab, skin-side down, and cook for 3 minutes. Turn and place
in the oven. Roast until the birds are cooked through and tender, about 7
minutes. Remove from the oven, transfer to a platter, and set aside to rest
for 5 minutes before serving. Drain the remaining fat from the skillet and
add the sauce to the skillet to rewarm, scraping to dislodge any browned
particles clinging to the bottom of the pan.

Serve the squab with the sauce ladled over all.

Jill

I'm pretty sure that recipe will work well with the quail.

Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not
so great) words of knowledge:

On the occasions I have acquired quail (hunting), I always treated them
like a squab or a small cornish game hen.

Quoted message said:

Scott has a package of quail in his freezer that needs to be used up. I've
never cooked quail before. Should I treat it like squab? Emeril did a
squab in red wine reduction sauce, thusly:

1/4 cup olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup dried figs, stems removed and diced
3 cups fruity red wine
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
2 cups dark chicken stock
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 squab
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the
shallots to the pan and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the garlic and
cook for 30 seconds. Add the figs, wine, and thyme, and cook, stirring, to
deglaze the pan. Cook at a brisk simmer until wine has reduced enough to
coat the back of a spoon and the figs are tender, 25 minutes. Add the
chicken stock and cook again until the sauce is thick enough to coat the
back of a spoon, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat, add the
butter and stir until the butter is melted and the sauce is thickened.
Adjust the seasoning, to taste and set aside, covered, to keep warm. Do not
allow the sauce to boil or it will separate.
Cut the backbone out of the squab and gently flatten with the palm of your
hand. Lightly season the squab on both sides with salt and ground black
pepper.

Heat the remaining oil in a large saute pan or skillet over medium-high
heat. Add the squab, skin-side down, and cook for 3 minutes. Turn and place
in the oven. Roast until the birds are cooked through and tender, about 7
minutes. Remove from the oven, transfer to a platter, and set aside to rest
for 5 minutes before serving. Drain the remaining fat from the skillet and
add the sauce to the skillet to rewarm, scraping to dislodge any browned
particles clinging to the bottom of the pan.

Serve the squab with the sauce ladled over all.

Jill

I love quail -- so sweet and tender. I have only eaten it breaded
and fried with gravy and biscuits. I'm sure it lends itself to any
small bird recipe.

Tara

Google dove. Recipes for dove abound but not quail. Same quality.
-g

jmcquown said:

Scott has a package of quail in his freezer that needs to be used up. I've
never cooked quail before. Should I treat it like squab? Emeril did a
squab in red wine reduction sauce, thusly:

1/4 cup olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup dried figs, stems removed and diced
3 cups fruity red wine
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
2 cups dark chicken stock
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 squab
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the
shallots to the pan and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the garlic and
cook for 30 seconds. Add the figs, wine, and thyme, and cook, stirring, to
deglaze the pan. Cook at a brisk simmer until wine has reduced enough to
coat the back of a spoon and the figs are tender, 25 minutes. Add the
chicken stock and cook again until the sauce is thick enough to coat the
back of a spoon, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat, add the
butter and stir until the butter is melted and the sauce is thickened.
Adjust the seasoning, to taste and set aside, covered, to keep warm. Do not
allow the sauce to boil or it will separate.
Cut the backbone out of the squab and gently flatten with the palm of your
hand. Lightly season the squab on both sides with salt and ground black
pepper.

Heat the remaining oil in a large saute pan or skillet over medium-high
heat. Add the squab, skin-side down, and cook for 3 minutes. Turn and place
in the oven. Roast until the birds are cooked through and tender, about 7
minutes. Remove from the oven, transfer to a platter, and set aside to rest
for 5 minutes before serving. Drain the remaining fat from the skillet and
add the sauce to the skillet to rewarm, scraping to dislodge any browned
particles clinging to the bottom of the pan.

Serve the squab with the sauce ladled over all.

Jill

I was married to an avid hunter for many years! He brought home tons
of Quails, Pheasants, Doves, etc. One of my favorite ways to cook
Quails, was to quarter them, flour them, and then saute in butter.
Then into the pan, went sliced or chopped onions, sliced
mushrooms. . .Continue to saute. Add some chicken broth, white wine,
and sour cream. Then salt and pepper to taste. Continue simmering
until the Quail is done.

I cooked Doves the same way, but always protested that he shouldn't
hunt them, because they mated for life. Years, later, he brought me a
scientific article, stating it wasn't necessarily so!

Alas, Doves - like man, aren't always devoted animals;-(

I served them over Rice or Wild Rice. . . The Quails and the Doves -
not men!

Tara said:

I love quail -- so sweet and tender. I have only eaten it breaded
and fried with gravy and biscuits. I'm sure it lends itself to any
small bird recipe.

Tara

LOL that reminds me of a trip out to Shiloh (Civil War Battleground) with my
(now ex) Ray. We stopped and a diner that had a big banner out front,
"Thursday: All You Can Eat Quail and Gravy!" We had breakfast and they
served the biscuits with brown gravy. I joked, "This must be quail gravy"
but honestly, I think it was.

Jill

jmcquown said:

Scott has a package of quail in his freezer that needs to be used up. I've
never cooked quail before.

Here are two tried 'n' true recipes, the first from _Nose to Tail
Eating_ by the great Fergus Henderson, the second from _The Cuisine of
Hungary_ by George Lang.

Take Henderson's salt advice with a grain of the same. Quail is as easy
to oversalt as any other bird. Also, the sea salt as he he means it is
usually coarse, so use "kosher" salt or similar.

Victor

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 hands-on eating.

Serve with a bowl of lentils or simply a watercress salad.

________________________________________________________________________

Quail Soup
Becsinált fogoleves

6 servings

3 quail
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon lard or bacon drippings
2 carrots, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1 cup shelled peas
4 mushroom caps (if possible Boletus), sliced
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon chopped flat parsley
Pinch of salt
6 cups quail broth, or meat stock or water
1/4 cup sour cream

1. Clean the quail and cut into serving pieces.

2. In a heavy-lidded soup pot melt butter and lard. Brown the quail
very rapidly for a few minutes; then add vegetables and mushrooms and
1/2 cup water.

3. Cook slowly, covered, until water almost disappears. By this time,
quail should be quite done.

4. Add flour, parsley and salt; stir well. Add quail broth or meat
stock or water; bring to a boil. Cook over very low heat for a few more
minutes.

5. Just before serving mix in the sour cream. Serve liver dumplings or
marrow dumplings in the soup.