KrisB
Ten Pointer
I found a box of 4 quails in one of the freezers at the grocery store yesterday and decided to try it for tonight's supper. I looked at the recipes in the quail, partridge, and chukars section in Hank Shaw's Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail: Upland Birds and Small Game from Field to Feast (2018) and found one called Partridge with Cranberries and Rosemary on p. 171. He says you could use 2 whole, skin-on chukars or 4 quails, or you could substitute pheasant, ruffed grouse, blue grouse, spruce grouse, sage grouse, partridge, sharptails, ptarmigan, prairie chickens, doves, pigeons, snipe, woodcock, or rails.
The other ingredients called for are 1/3 cup high-quality unsalted butter, 1 heaping cup cranberries, 1 cup (loosely packed) fresh rosemary, kept as little bunches on the stem, 1 tablespoon maple sugar or brown sugar, and black pepper and pickled mustard seeds for garnish. I didn't have pickled mustard seeds or fresh rosemary, so I substituted caraway seeds and thyme. I just eyeballed them and threw in a few shakes of them. I substituted that Earth Balance vegan stuff for the butter just to give it a try and I did not add the brown sugar. I had to add about a 1/3 cup more "butter" about halfway through the recipe and it turned out fine.
The recipe is a bit fiddly, but pretty simple. All you do is put the butter in a pan and then sear the different parts of the quail on medium high heat for a few minutes at a time (sides, then "heads", then backs, then legs, then sides again, then each side of the breasts, and, lastly, the backs again). You baste the quail with the hot butter when it is on its sides at one point and on its back, so you baste the breast meat.
Then you take the quail out and set it aside on a cutting board while you make the sauce real quick. You put the cranberries and rosemary and sugar in the leftover butter and simmer it for a couple minutes. Then put it on the quail and you are done.
Very simple, but absolutely outstanding! My version tasted like Christmas! Made me think of the old tradition in Britain of eating a goose at Christmas. The meat was perfectly done and it tastes sweet on its own, but it was out of the ballpark with the sauce. I think I liked my substitutes better than I would have liked the original recipe. Highly recommend!
The other ingredients called for are 1/3 cup high-quality unsalted butter, 1 heaping cup cranberries, 1 cup (loosely packed) fresh rosemary, kept as little bunches on the stem, 1 tablespoon maple sugar or brown sugar, and black pepper and pickled mustard seeds for garnish. I didn't have pickled mustard seeds or fresh rosemary, so I substituted caraway seeds and thyme. I just eyeballed them and threw in a few shakes of them. I substituted that Earth Balance vegan stuff for the butter just to give it a try and I did not add the brown sugar. I had to add about a 1/3 cup more "butter" about halfway through the recipe and it turned out fine.
The recipe is a bit fiddly, but pretty simple. All you do is put the butter in a pan and then sear the different parts of the quail on medium high heat for a few minutes at a time (sides, then "heads", then backs, then legs, then sides again, then each side of the breasts, and, lastly, the backs again). You baste the quail with the hot butter when it is on its sides at one point and on its back, so you baste the breast meat.
Then you take the quail out and set it aside on a cutting board while you make the sauce real quick. You put the cranberries and rosemary and sugar in the leftover butter and simmer it for a couple minutes. Then put it on the quail and you are done.
Very simple, but absolutely outstanding! My version tasted like Christmas! Made me think of the old tradition in Britain of eating a goose at Christmas. The meat was perfectly done and it tastes sweet on its own, but it was out of the ballpark with the sauce. I think I liked my substitutes better than I would have liked the original recipe. Highly recommend!
Attachments
Last edited:
