Quail Recipes and Cooking Advice

[mrbigjas]

excellent tips, thanks derek.  you're definitely not too late--i'll be doing them again, and soon too.  i'm not sure about boning them quite yet, because i'm not sure i have the energy on a given day--i generally give myself about an hour to prepare dinner, and while that's feasible on a general basis, it gets kinda sketchy when it comes to prep like boning quails.

ok my childish side just can't believe i wrote that last bit.

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In direct contradiction to the French, I buy the quail on Saturday, bone & brine them that day, then freeze them. Maybe it's the brining, but I can't tell the difference between these quail and those I've cooked fresh (which is pretty infrequent, to be fair).

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heh. yeah, in contradiction to that these came pre-frozen from the asian grocery. so i have no idea when they were killed...

[Derek]

There's also this thread: Quail How to, de-boning and cooking. Should you bone out the quail, save the bones (works best if you bone 6 or so) and make a quail stock, then reduce it and work it into any sauce you make.

[chromedome]

Boning the wee buggers isn't as hard as it sounds, it's just fiddly. I did it for the first time in a "black box" scenario at cooking school, with my clumsy arthritic fingers (and under time pressure at that), so there's hope for anyone! Just make sure your boning knife is really, *really* sharp at the tip.

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

Sorry I didn't see this earlier...I make quail stuffed with a hazelnut mouselline that is really awesome.

[mrbigjas]

don't worry whitetrufflegirl, i'll be making them again soon! feel free to post your recipe, unless it's copyrighted or something.