Hello friends. Just Jeremy again. Nothing much bro about this bromantic episode. But I want to share what is probably the best dish I've ever made. My father in law gave me about 6 quail this weekend and this is what I did with it. I'd never had quail before, so this was definitely an adventure. I decided to make a bacon wrapped quail with simple risotto. The gravy was a last minute decision, but a wise one.
Here it is...
You will need:
- About 6 Quail
- 8-10 sprigs of fresh
rosemary
- About 7 cloves of fresh
garlic
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- 1 and ½ sticks of butter
- Salt
- Fresh ground pepper
- Red pepper flakes
- 2 cups chicken broth
- Flour
- 1 pack thick cut bacon
- 1 small yellow onion
- About a handful of fresh
basil
- 1 cup fresh or frozen
peas
Let’s get started. First we are working on the quail.
- Preheat your oven to 325
- Finely chop 4 cloves of
garlic
- Finely chop 5 sprigs of
rosemary
- Melt 1 stick of butter
in a mixing bowl (I used the microwave)
- Add the garlic,
rosemary, salt to taste, about 5 grinds of the pepper mill, and about a
tablespoon of red pepper flakes to the mixing bowl and whisk well
- Now clean your quail
- Now toss your quail in
the butter bath, toss it good, real good
- Now get a large
casserole dish
- Line it with bacon
- Wrap one quail for every
two pieces of bacon
- If you are using a
standard pack of bacon you will end up having one extra piece. I just wrapped the 6th quail in 3
pieces.
- Now put it in the oven
- Set the kitchen timer
for 45 minutes
Now it’s risotto time!!!!
- Get your chicken broth
warming in a small sauce pot, about medium heat, then reduce to low when it’s
cooking time.
- Chop the rest of that
garlic, rosemary, basil, and the little onion.
- Chopped? Good.
Put that ½ stick of butter in a large skillet.
- Add the onion, rosemary,
basil, and garlic.
- Get that business
simmering on medium high.
- Let this simmer until
the onion is translucent.
- Translucent now? Add the cup of Arborio.
- Using a ladle scoop out
one ladle of broth and add it to the skillet.
- Stir constantly (I like
to risotto with a wooden spoon).
- Continue to stir, when
it appears that the Arborio has absorbed that ladle of broth, add another and continue
the process.
- Keep going until you are
almost out of broth.
- Keep stirring.
- On the last ladle (by
this time your quail should be about 2 minutes away from being done), add the
peas.
- Stir it in really well
and turn off the heat.
- Take the quail out of
the oven.
- Empty the broth pot.
It’s GRAVY TIME!!!!
- Add the drippings to the
broth pot.
- Turn burner on medium
low.
- Add about ¼ cup of flour
at a time to the pot and whisk.
- Continue until the gravy
is either as thick or thin as you like it.
Now plate it up and enjoy.
