Can you pre-sear a pan roasted quail?

[Tuber magnatum]

I just hosted a dinner party and served a stuffed glove deboned quail. Deboning was a pain but if I say so, the finished product was delicious (links below for those interested in how). The quail was pan seared and finished in the oven, ie pan roasted, which I did a la minute smoking up the kitchen and dining area! So ... if I were to do this again, could I "pre-sear" the quail in advance before guests arrive and just finish the roasting part a la minute so less smoke and less time away from quests? My worry was that the skin would get limp and not re-crisp in the oven. (Also how to deal with it once seared; refrigerate, bring back to room temperature?) Curious how those in the restaurant biz might partially cook skin on poultry before service. I served with a demiglace made from the bones which was plated table side on bed of wild rice and spinach. (For those interested, this is recipe I used: https://www.dartagnan.com/roasted-quail-stuffed-with-fig-and-prosciutto-recipe.html  and for the glove deboning technique: 

 

[weinoo]

Quail (especially glove boned) cooks so quickly that I doubt most restaurants par cook quail.

 

What about just pan roasting it in a very hot oven, without the sear on the stove-top?

[btbyrd]

If you could deep fry them in schmaltz, that’d be winning. I’d salt them and put them on a rack in the fridge overnight, pop them in the freezer for like 15 minutes and then deep fry as your pre sear. You don’t get a pan sauce, but the uniformity of the sear is superior and there’s less worry about overcooking. You could even shock them in an ice bath after frying and quickly blot them dry.