Quick, make a juicy quail for dinner

TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICESE

Ever since my brother began carting home dozens of quail from his annual Texas hunting trips, I never cared much for the bony little buggers. Slow roasted, grilled, sauteed, or deep-fried — no matter how hard mom and I tried, they inevitably turned into dry, stringy, two-bite disappointments.

Yet when Joel Robuchon, Las Vegas’ only Michelin three-star chef, deemed the bird worthy of a decadent foie gras stuffing, when New York’s David Burke affectionately showered it with crushed gingersnaps, and Mario Batali and Nancy Silverton methodically swaddled it in pancetta at their ultra-hip new bistro, Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles, I began to reconsider my antipathy to quail. Perhaps it was time for another taste.

So I headed to the Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena in Napa Valley, where I’d heard Michelin two-star chef Joseph Humphrey knew a thing or two about cooking quail. Since then, Mr. Humphrey has left to open a restaurant in Marin County.

I wasn’t disappointed. Juicy, tender and meaty, with a subtle, pleasant gaminess, Mr. Humphrey’s grilled quail with Romesco sauce, dry-cured olives and Swiss chard was a far cry from the buckshot-peppered birds I remembered from my childhood. “Most people are afraid of quail,” says Mr. Humphrey. “But done right, they’re flavorful and really easy to prepare. The key is to cook it quickly to keep the juices inside it.”

According to Mr. Humphrey, “quickly” equates to all of 10 minutes. I was used to cooking quail at least twice as long. Could the shorter cooking time really be the secret to tender, juicy quail?

Back home, I put Mr. Humphrey’s restaurant advice to the test. He butterflies the semiboned birds, a simple technique, to insure they cook quickly and evenly. But first, you’ve got to find the quail.

Many gourmet supermarkets and online retailers carry or will make a special order for frozen quail that’s already semiboned. If you’re lucky enough to find whole, fresh quail, it’s easy to bone it yourself. Using a sharp knife, slice straight down the breastbone to open the breast cavity. Remove the rib cage so you have a boneless breast attached to the bone-in legs and wings (if the breast breaks away from the legs, which can happen with such a small bird, cook each portion separately). Lay the bird flat on the grill, close to the heat source, for quick, uniform cooking. That’s pretty much it.

My first attempt yielded fall-off-the-bone-tender birds. Maybe cooking quail wasn’t as difficult as I thought. Paired with Mr. Humphrey’s make-ahead roasted tomato, red onion and red pepper Romesco sauce, suddenly a dish that couldn’t pass muster at a casual family supper was worthy of a special-occasion dinner party.

With a newfound confidence in my game bird cooking skills, I sauteed, roasted and fried my way through dozens of farm-raised quail. On weeknights, keeping Mr. Humphrey’s quick-cooking advice in mind, I sauteed or grilled them, drizzling each with beurre blanc (the classic French sauce made by reducing half a cup white wine in the pan drippings and adding several tablespoons of butter) or showering them with fresh herbs and olive oil.

When I was feeling more ambitious on a leisurely weekend evening, I’d pull out the deep fryer. The tiny beer-battered birds cooked up crispy and golden brown, without the hassle of deep-frying chicken, which can be all too easy to undercook or burn beyond recognition due to its large size.

Roasting was a bit trickier. Similar to their much larger cousin, the turkey, small game birds tend to dry out the longer they roast (10 minutes is a relatively long cooking time for a 6-inch bird). Chef Bertrand Bouquin of Summit restaurant in Colorado Springs recommends stuffing the boned breast cavity to keep it moist. A combination of savory and sweet ingredients, such as his house-made seasonal chutneys, complement the meat’s gamy flavor.

This year, Mr. Bouquin’s favorite is a spicy mango and onion chutney. He scoops the mixture into balls and freezes them for several hours (a handy preparty trick that makes stuffing the birds fast and easy at game time), then wraps a slice of prosciutto around the frozen orbs.

Your favorite combination of dried fruits, nuts and herbs moistened with port wine or reduced balsamic vinegar would also be tasty, but skip the freezer step and stuff the filling directly into the bird.

When the party hour draws near, sear the quail ahead of time until it’s golden brown, then pop the birds in the oven to finish cooking. You’ll need to baste them every few minutes, a small sacrifice when the roasting time is only 10 minutes. Check to make sure they’re cooked through — with the frozen filling the time can vary depending on the accuracy of your oven temperature.

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