Stuffed Quail Gumbo Recipes

STUFFED QUAIL

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Place the bread on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and salt. Toast for 5 to 8 minutes, until crisp. Transfer to a large bowl.
• In a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, heat the butter until it's melted and foamy. Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley, sage and chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper. Add the toasted bread and toss to combine. If you need more liquid for the bread, add more chicken stock 1/4 cup at a time. Remove pan from heat and allow to cool to room temperature
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Once the stuffing is cool, wear kitchen rubber gloves to stuff the cavity of the quails with about 1 cup of stuffing per quail. Place the remaining stuffing on the bottom of a roasting pan or large cast-iron skillet. Season the quail with salt and pepper and rest on top of the stuffing. Roast the quail for 15 to 20 minutes or until juices run clear when you pierce the skin. Serve right away.

BACON-WRAPPED QUAIL STUFFED WITH GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• Season each quail inside and out with salt and pepper. Transfer to 1 to 2 large bowls, add oil, thyme, and garlic, and toss to combine. Refrigerate, covered, at least 1 hour and up to 48 hours.
• Preheat oven to 500°F. Remove 1 quail from marinade. Stuff cavity with 1 ounce goat cheese and 1 sprig rosemary and tie legs together loosely with kitchen string. Wrap 1 strip bacon around breast and transfer quail, breast side up, to rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining quail, using 2 to 3 baking sheets. Roast until just cooked through (cut into inner thigh; meat will still be slightly pink), about 15 minutes.

STUFFED QUAIL GUMBO

Steps:

• Put quail on a flat surface and sprinkle cavity of each with salt and pepper and a pinch of file powder.
• Put rice in a bowl and add salt, pepper and a pinch of file powder.
• Open up cavity of each quail and spoon 2 level tablespoons of rice in. Place one slice sausage and one oyster on the layer of rice. Spoon 2 more tablespoons rice into each cavity, pressing down with fingers. Press all around openings of cavities to seal.
• Arrange quail breast up and close together in one layer in a baking dish. Sprinkle breasts with salt, pepper and a pinch of file powder. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the melted butter on top of each quail.
• Combine onion, green pepper, celery and garlic in a mixing bowl and set aside.
• Bring enough water to boil in a saucepan to cover four remaining slices of sausage. Add sausage slices and simmer gently about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a wide, heavy skillet and add the flour, stirring rapidly all around bottom with a wire whisk. Cook, stirring constantly, until flour turns light caramel in color. Reduce heat and continue stirring. Pay strict attention to the color, which will now deepen rapidly. The flour, when ready, should be dark brown; it should not blacken. Total cooking time is about 6 minutes.
• Immediately add onion mixture and continue stirring vigorously 3 to 4 minutes. Add broth while stirring rapidly. Bring to boil and cook, stirring, about 3 minutes. Add the oyster liquor, bay leaves and thyme sprigs and let simmer about 35 minutes. Be sure to scrape bottom of pan to prevent sticking and lumping.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Place quail in oven and bake 30 minutes or until breasts are nicely browned.
• Carefully transfer quail to the simmering liquid and continue cooking 5 minutes. Remove bay leaves. Serve one quail and one slice of sausage with equal amounts of the gumbo liquid in four soup bowls.

STUFFED BONELESS QUAIL WITH WILD RICE AND SAGE STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a roasting pan.
• Wash quail and rub the inside cavities with salt and 1 teaspoon of orange zest.
• In a medium saucepan bring vegetable broth and rice to a boil. Add the bay leaf and reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 35 to 40 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Saute onions until translucent; add celery and sage and saute 2 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in the egg white, remaining orange zest, walnuts, black pepper, cooked rice and parsley; mix well. Stuff the cavities of the quail with the rice mixture. Lightly season the skins with salt and cracked black pepper.
• Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through.
• Remove quail from pan and de glaze with the chicken broth. Strain and ladle over the quail.

SOUTHERN STUFFED QUAIL

Steps:

• Preheat the oven broiler.
• In a bowl, mix the pork, parsley, carrots, celery, garlic, bread crumbs, and pepper.
• Arrange the quail in a baking dish. Separate the skin from the breast of each quail, and stuff with equal amounts of the stuffing mixture. Brush with bacon drippings.
• Broil the quail 7 minutes on each side in the preheated oven, or to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (85 degrees C).

CHARCOAL-GRILLED STUFFED QUAIL

Steps:

• Heat a charcoal grill until white ash forms on top of the coals.
• Split each quail neatly along the backbone. Set aside.
• Put the bacon or salt pork and garlic on a flat surface and chop until almost a paste. Put the mixture in a mixing bowl and add the bread crumbs, carrot, celery, basil, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Blend thoroughly with the fingers.
• By hand, carefully separate a portion of the breast meat from the bone, to form a small pocket. Push equal portions of the pork stuffing into the cavities. Push any additional stuffing under the skin of the birds without breaking the skin. Brush the birds all over with bacon fat or oil.
• Place the quail skin side down on the grill and cook until nicely browned on one side, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn and press the outer portions together to give the bodies more of their original shape. Let cook 4 to 5 minutes on the second side, or until the desired doneness is reached.

STUFFED ROAST QUAIL WITH MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and shallot and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid has cooked away and the mushrooms are tender, 5 minutes. Add the bourbon and cook until it has evaporated, 45 to 60 seconds. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate to cool, 10 minutes. Once cooled, add the ground chicken and herbs. Season with salt and pepper. (To taste and adjust the seasoning, simply zap a teaspoon or so of the mixture in a bowl in the microwave to cook it through. Season with salt and pepper as needed.)
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Using a tablespoon, stuff the interior of each quail with the mushroom-chicken mixture. Using kitchen twine, tie the legs of each bird together, and then flip the wingtips under the back of each bird to hold the wings in place. Brush the birds with the melted butter, and then season heartily with salt and pepper. Roast, basting occasionally with the melted butter, until the birds are pale golden brown and the interior of the stuffing registers 165 degrees F when measured with an instant-read thermometer, 30 minutes.
• Switch the oven to broil and place the birds under the broiler to darken the skin, if desired, for 45 to 60 seconds depending on the strength of your broiler. Serve immediately.