Braised Quail Recipes

BRAISED QUAIL

Steps:

• Clean the quail and pat dry.
• Place a slice of pancetta, a sage and rosemary sprig, and a sliver of garlic.
• Heat the oil in a large, lidded frying pan and brown the quail all over quickly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add extra rosemary and sage leaves and the white wine.
• Put the lid on, turn the heat down to low and cook very slowly adding more wine and chicken stock as needed. Cook until well done.
• Serve with polenta and a salad of radiccio or rocket if you want to.

BRAISED QUAIL WITH WHITE WINE

Steps:

• Wipe the quail dry with paper towels and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Using a frying pan that can go into the oven and on top of the stove (preferably cast iron) soften the shallot in the butter. Add shallots to a bowl with the mushrooms, breadcrumbs, parsley, tarragon, salt and pepper. Mix well and moisten with a little of the white wine. Stuff the mixture into the bird cavities.
• Heat the oil in the skillet. Add the stuffed quail, breast down and brown lightly. Add the remaining wine and the garlic cloves. Cover and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Turn the quail breast up, turn up the heat to 400 and continue cooking for five to 10 minutes or until the quail are cooked.
• Remove the quail to a heated platter. Bring the sauce in the skillet to a boil over high heat and reduce by about a third. Remove the garlic cloves and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the quail, sprinkle with almonds and serve.

BRAISED QUAILS WITH WILD MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Season the quails with salt, and pepper. Melt half the butter with a drop of oil in a heavy casserole, and brown the quails on all sides over medium-high heat. Cook's Note: you could also use lard. Remove the quail from the pan, and set aside. Add the bacon to the pan, brown it, and remove. Finally, fry the onion until golden, adding more fat to the pan beforehand, if needed.
• Stir the flour into the onions, and cook 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with the wine, stirring up the good bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Return the onions, bacon and quails to the pot. Pour over the stock, cover, and simmer until the quails are just cooked through, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat the remaining butter (a little more if you like) and cook each type of mushroom separate, as the various types cook differently. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper as you go, then, at the end, toss them all together with the chopped parsley.
• When the quails are done, remove them from the cooking liquid and keep them warm while you boil the juices, uncovered, to reduce to thin sauce consistency. Add the mushrooms to the sauce. Tilt into a serving dish, set the quails on top, and serve.

QUAIL MEATLOAF ON POLENTA AND BRAISED CABBAGE

Steps:

• To make the quail stock:
• Roast the reserved quail bones and skin in an ovenproof saucepan until the bones take on color. Transfer the pan to the stovetop and set over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, rosemary, and sage. Add the wine and let it evaporate. Add the water and simmer the stock until it has reduced to one-quarter its original volume; you should have about 1 cup of stock. Strain out the solids and reserve.
• To make the meatloaf:
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Grind the reserved quail meat in a meat grinder; you'll need 1 pound of meat. In a medium bowl, immerse the bread in the milk until it's soaked. Meanwhile, combine the quail meat, sausage, eggs, Parmesan, parsley, and 1 teaspoon of the sage in a large bowl. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Squeeze the bread to remove excess milk (discard the milk) and add it to the bowl. Mix well. Divide the mixture in half, and form each half into a loaf no wider than 3-inches in diameter. Roll each loaf in the breadcrumbs. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Melt 4 tablespoons of butter with the olive oil in a large ovenproof saute pan set over medium-high heat. When the butter solids turn brown, sear both meatloafs until browned on all sides (if they don't both fit, sear them one at a time, adding more butter for the second loaf). Add the shallots, garlic, sage sprigs, and rosemary to the pan. When the onion begins to color, add the wine, let it evaporate, and then add 3/4 cup of the quail stock.
• Bake until the juices run clear when pricked with a skewer, 45 to 60 minutes. Transfer the meatloaf to a clean plate, remove and discard the sage and rosemary sprigs, and make the sauce in the pan. Add the cream and use a hand blender to puree the pan sauce. Set the pan over medium heat and let it reduce to a pleasing saucy consistency.
• To make the cabbage:
• Heat the butter and olive oil in a large braising pan set over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, cook until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add the cabbage and carrots, season with salt and pepper, and stir. Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low heat. When the cabbage begins to wilt, add the wine, and let it evaporate. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of quail stock. Let the pan dry out, reduce the heat to very low, cover tightly, and braise until the cabbage is very tender and starts to color and stick to the pan, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• To serve:
• Cut the meatloaf into 1/3-inch thick slices and then cut each slice in half. Use an ice cream scoop to portion about 1/4 cup of polenta in the middle of a plate. Press a piece of plastic wrap on top and flatten the polenta to a circle that's about 4-inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick. Fan the meatloaf slices over the polenta, scoop some braised cabbage alongside and spoon the sauce over everything. Finish with freshly ground pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
• This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.

BRAISED QUAIL WITH POBLANO CHILES, SAFFRON, AND CHORIZO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• In a small bowl combine broth or water and saffron.
• Thinly slice enough onion to measure 1 1/2 cups and finely chop garlic. Remove casings from chorizo and cut sausage into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Peel tomatoes *(see below) and seed. Cut enough tomato into 1/4-inch dice to measure 1 1/2 cups.
• With poultry shears or a sharp knife cut off necks, feet, and first 2 wing joints of each quail and discard. Pat quail dry and season with pepper and salt. In a 12-inch heavy skillet heat butter and corn or canola oil over moderately high heat until foam subsides. Add quail, breast sides down, and brown on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes total. Transfer quail to a plate.
• In a large shallow flameproof kettle with a tight-fitting lid cook onion in olive oil over moderate heat, stirring, until pale golden. Add garlic and chorizo and cook, stirring, until garlic is softened but not browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Add cumin, oregano, and bay leaf or leaves and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add saffron mixture, tomato, and pepper and salt to taste and bring to a simmer.
• Add quail to chorizo mixture and braise, covered, in middle of oven, basting every 15 minutes, 1 hour total. While quail is braising, roast and peel poblanos . Wearing rubber gloves, cut chiles into thin strips. Chop cilantro.
• Arrange quail on a platter and keep warm. Discard bay leaf and skim any fat from chorizo mixture, if desired. Stir in chiles, cilantro, and salt to taste and bring mixture to a boil.
• Spoon chorizo mixture around quail and serve with lime wedges and polenta or rice.
• To peel tomatoes:
• Have ready a bowl of ice and cold water. Cut an X in blossom end of each tomato. In a saucepan of boiling water blanch tomatoes 10 seconds. Transfer tomatoes with a slotted spoon to ice water to stop cooking. Peel tomatoes.

BUTTER-BRAISED QUAIL WITH CARROTS AND SOY

Steps:

• Put butter in a large casserole over medium heat; when foam subsides, add quail and raise heat to medium high. Brown quickly on each side, for a total of about 5 minutes. Stir in carrots, then turn heat to medium-low and cover.
• Cook until both birds and carrots are tender, 15 to 20 minutes, turning birds once or twice during that time. Remove cover and put birds and carrots on a platter; keep warm.
• Turn heat to low for a minute, add wine to pan juices and turn heat to high; cook, stirring, until wine is reduced by about half, just a minute or 2. Turn off heat; stir in soy sauce. Spoon sauce over birds and serve immediately.

BRAISED QUAIL

Steps:

• 1 Rinse the quail inside and out and pat them thoroughly dry. Look them over for any pinfeathers and remove them. Stuff each quail with 2 juniper berries, one sage leaf, and some of the garlic slices. Sprinkle the birds with salt and pepper. Place a sage leaf on top of each quail. Unroll the pancetta and wrap a slice around each quail. Tie a piece of kitchen string around the pancetta to hold it in place. 2 In a large skillet with a tight fitting lid, melt the butter with the oil over medium heat. Add the quail and brown the birds on all sides, about 15 minutes. 3 Add the wine and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan, lower the heat, and cook, turning and basting the quail with the liquid several times, 45 to 50 minutes or until the quail are very tender. Add a little water if the pan becomes too dry. Serve hot. From "1,000 Italian Recipes." Copyright 2004 by Michele Scicolone. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.