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fenderbelly
16th May 2013, 12:39 PM
A local guy is/was selling off his surplus stock. They are dressed ( for dinner ). couldn't resist that :doh:
My lady friend and i decided we would buy some and invite our friends to dinner.
Sounded good, we bought 24 thinking they're not very big so three each and 6 to practise on.

Neither of us have cooked or even eaten quail before.

I searched the net and so we decided we would try two three different ways.
(1) rubbed with olive oil and a bit of salt and cooked in an oven bag. nothing else added in the way of herbs.

(2) coated in a mixture of mustard/ bread crumbs and egg with a spoon of chutney inside to help keep it moist
and roasted in an oven pan.


(3) I cut up each side of the backbone and removed it. Flattened it as best i could and and tried to crisp up the skin in

a hot fry pan then into the oven pan to roast.

all three ways ended up edible (relief ) but number 1 was definitely the most moist and tastiest.


So i have two questions.
(1) Has anyone cooked quail before and do you have tips/hints/recipes.

(2) would you invite friends to dinner to pick up and eat round the bones or how do you eat them.
After all there's not much to use a knife and fork on :U

Skew ChiDAMN!!
16th May 2013, 12:53 PM
Quail is one of those meals where you just need to roll up your sleeves and dig in. A bit like lobster, really.

My family's etiquette for eating quail involves plenty of napkins and finger bowls. :-

But I did find this...

-----8<-----
Small birds, such as squab, quail, and pheasant, are eaten with utensils or fingers.

Table manners for eating game birds at a formal dinner. At a formal dinner, the meat is removed from birds with a fork and a knife. No fingers are used.

Table manners for eating game birds at an informal meal. At an informal meal, a fork and knife are used to remove as much meat as possible; thereafter, the bones are held with the fingers and the remaining meat is taken with the teeth.

Remove bird shot from your mouth with your fingers.
-----8<-----

Bird shot? Ruffed Grouse anyone? :D

Robson Valley
16th May 2013, 02:02 PM
There are three different species of grouse where I live, somewhat separated by altitude. I have been shooting birds for 50+ years and I am very, very good at it.
Best season was 58 birds in the freezer. I do not recall how many we ate fresh.

Normally, we draw the birds in the field so that what comes home is the breast meat on the bone, about the size of your fist or a bit bigger. Final step is to debone the breast meat +/- cut into strips/pieces.

Plan A: Dish #1 is heavily seasoned flour. Dish #2 is an egg wash with milk 1:1.
Dish #3 is 1/2 cornflakes/raw sesame seeds. Fry in coconut oil/corn oil to brown the sesame seeds = meat is done. Plum sauce, sweet chili sauce, Hoisin.

When my kids come to visit, all they want to do is to inhale as many of the old man's birds as they can hold.

Plan B: Dice the meat and build one of the best curries you have ever had. Needs fine dice jalapeno.