THE QUAIL HAVE HATCHED!

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In my kitchen lab, the egg preceded the bird—last week I had quail eggs, this week I’ve got the birds.

Actually, I bought the eggs and quail at the same time, planning a blog with the “small is delicious” theme. But I got so carried away with those quail eggs, I couldn’t seem to settle on just one recipe.

Stuffed and browned, quail are ready to be stuffed in red peppers.

Cute little quail are farm-raised, so they’re widely available. A single quail, weighing about six ounces, does not a dinner make. So serve quail as a starter or light supper dish or combine them with beans or lentils and vegetables in a stew.

Big bell peppers are the "slipcovers" for small quail.

Quail with beans make a main dish. These are pochas--fresh shelling beans.

Quail in “Slipcovers” of Red Peppers
Codornices con Fundas

Tiny quail does not a dinner make.

Stuffed with sausage, wrapped in bell pepper, quail stay moist.

Red bell peppers flavor the quail and keep them moist. A stuffing with morcilla (blood sausage) bastes them from the inside out. If you cannot get morcilla sausage, add a spoonful of pimentón (paprika) and a pinch of clove and cinnamon to the pork sausage.

Serves 6.

Morcilla, blood sausage, for the stuffing.

6 large (5-6 inch-) red bell peppers
6 quail (about 6 ounces each)
Coarse salt
1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup minced shallot or onion
6 ounces morcilla or pork link sausage, casing removed and chopped
2 tablespoons raisins
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
½ cup white wine
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Place bell peppers on a baking sheet and roast them until skin is slightly blistered (not blackened) and flesh is soft (not collapsing), about 20 minutes.

When peppers have cooled enough to handle them, remove as much of the skin as possible. Cut off tops, discard stems and seeds.

Rinse quail in running water. Drain them and pat dry. Sprinkle with salt.

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a small skillet and sauté the shallot until softened, 1 minute. Add the morcilla and fry for 3 minutes, breaking up the pieces of sausage with a wooden spatula. Add the raisins.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in the bread crumbs. Stuff the quail with the sausage-crumb mixture, using about ¼ cup for each.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet and brown the quail on all sides, about 3 minutes. Remove and reserve.

Working with one quail at a time, tuck the legs against the body and insert the quail, legs first, into a pepper. Place in a baking dish. Pour over the wine and boiling water. Bake the quail-stuffed peppers, uncovered, until peppers are very tender and quail cooked through, about 1 hour. If pan liquid cooks away, add additional ½ cup boiling water.

Allow the peppers to stand 15 minutes. Serve them hot, with pan juices spooned over.

Quail with Shelling Beans
Codornices con Pochas

At the weekly farmers’ market in the Basque town of Guernica, I met a man selling pochas, fresh-podded white beans, also called shelling beans. I asked to buy a half-pound, just to take home a tiny sample. He refused to sell them to me. He swore that his beans were so good that, when I tasted them, I would kill myself for not having purchased more.

They were, indeed, delicious. Thankfully I had purchased a sufficient quantity so that suicide was not contemplated.

I fully intended to let my garden green beans mature so I would have home-grown pochas. As the pods get big and leathery, the beans inside plump up. Depending on the variety, they may be white, green, brown or speckled. But I kept picking the green beans when they were small and tender, so I never got a heap of shelling beans.  However, I found jars of cooked pochas at the grocery store.

Quail legs simmer with beans; breasts are added at the end.

Quail breast, quickly sautéed, is still pink and juicy.

If possible, purchase quail partly boned (breastbone and backbone removed).

Cooked shelling beans from a jar.

6 quail
1 pound shelling beans
2 bay leaves
1 slice onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 ounce diced bacon
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped carrot
½ cup chopped green bell pepper
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper
3 sprigs of thyme
1 cup white wine
Chopped parsley
Mild pickled green chiles (guindillas) as an accompaniment

Cut up the quail. Separate boneless breast fillets and reserve them. Separate the legs and remaining carcass.

Put the beans to cook in water to cover with bay leaves, sprig of thyme and onion slice. Bring to a boil, skim, then cover and simmer. Fresh shelling beans need about 30 minutes cooking time.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet. Sauté the quail legs and carcasses on a high heat until browned. Add them to the beans.

Add the diced bacon, onion, carrot, pepper and garlic to the skillet and fry until lightly browned. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and 1 pinch of thyme. Add the vegetables to the beans with the wine and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and simmer 30 minutes.

Remove and discard the quail carcasses.

Shortly before serving, season reserved quail breasts with a pinch
of thyme, coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat remaining oil in a skillet and sauté the breasts about 2 minutes on each side.

Serve the beans with the quail legs in deep plates and place a sautéed breast on top of each serving. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve green chiles to accompany the beans.

More recipes with quail:

Quail grilled in grape leaves.

Consommé of quail and wild mushrooms.

Quail in escabeche.

 

ESCABECHE--A TANGY MARINADE FOR COOKED FOODS

Quail legs in escabeche marinade make a tasty tapa.

Escabeche is one of my favorite cooking methods. I use it for fish, poultry and game. The procedure, which involves putting cooked food into a vinegar marinade, makes tangy foods that are great for tapas and for salads.

Escabeche is an ancient way of preserving foods. Hunting once was much a part of rural life in every region of Spain. where small game—rabbit, hare, partridge and quail—were free for the taking on scrubby hillsides and in dry ravines. During the season when hunters returned with an abundance, the game would be dressed-out and cooked in a marinade, then packed into clay pots. Olive oil in the marinade would rise to the top and create a protective seal, allowing the escabeche foods to be kept for several months during the cold season. Chunks of marinated meat could be reheated with beans or added, cold, to salads.

Typically, escabeche is made with white wine, vinegar, olive oil, onion, garlic, salt, peppercorns, pimentón or dried chile, cloves and bay leaf. In order to conserve the game, the marinade needed to be very strong in vinegar. Nowadays, with refrigeration, the escabeche is not so sharp.

Escabeche marinade is also used with fish, both fresh water trout, pike and tench, and seafood such as mackerel, sardines and oysters. Fish is gutted, floured and fried until thoroughly cooked. Then hot escabeche marinade is poured over the pieces of fish. Left to marinate for a day or two, the fish acquires a delicious tang. Escabeche fish is usually served as a cold dish, on a bed of lettuce and garnished with lemon and sliced tomatoes.

When  preparing escabeche marinades, use nonreactive pans and bowls—glass or ceramic. Dusting the fish or poultry pieces with flour before frying keeps them from splattering in the hot oil and allows them to brown nicely. If using leftover cooked food (for example, roast turkey), simply add it to the marinade and bring to a boil. It does not need to cook further. Warming escabeche before serving helps to liquefy the jellied marinade. The foods can can be served warm or room temperature. 


ChupaChups de Codorniz en Escabeche
Lollipops of Quail in Escabeche Marinade

ChupaChups is a popular brand of lollipop. Eat these miniscule quail legs right off the bone like a lolly, a two-bite tapa. Leave drumstick and thigh connected if you’re cutting them from whole quail. This recipe can also be prepared using chicken drumettes, the thick, first joint of a chicken wing. 

To serve as finger food, reheat the legs or wings to liquefy the sauce and skim them out of the liquid. If desired, wrap ends in foil, and serve with paper napkins, as they are a bit messy. They can also be used in the following recipe for Salad of Pickled Partridge or Chicken.

Makes 12 tapas.

12 whole quail legs or chicken wings
Flour for dredging
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 leek (white part only), sliced
1 carrot, sliced crosswise
1 slice of onion
1 slice of lemon
2 cloves garlic, slivered lengthwise
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon pimentón (paprika) stirred into 1 tablespoon water
1 small dry red chile (optional)
10 peppercorns
1 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup water
 ½ cup white wine
½ cup wine vinegar
Salad greens and cherry tomatoes, to serve

Sprinkle the quail legs with salt and pepper. Dredge them in flour and shake off excess. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet on medium heat. Brown the quail on both sides, about 2 minutes. Remove. Wipe out the pan.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan with the leek, carrot, onion, lemon, garlic, bay leaf, pimentón, chile, if using; peppercorns, oregano, salt, water, wine and vinegar. Bring to a boil. Return the quail to the pan. Cover and simmer until quail is tender, but not falling off the bone, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the quail to cool in the marinade.

Cover and refrigerate at least 24 hours or up to 48 hours. Serve cold or room temperature, garnished with salad leaves and tomatoes.

Salad of chicken wing escabeche.

Ensalada con Escabeche
Escabeche Salad

Partridge in spiced escabeche is an emblematic dish of La Mancha (central Spain). If you find canned pickled partridge at gourmet shops, serve it in this delectable salad. The salad is almost as good made with chicken wings in escabeche. Strip the meat from the bones, discarding most of the skin too. You’ll need the meat from about 8 wings (16 wing pieces) to serve 4. Use some of the carrots from the marinade in the salad too. The salad can be garnished with pickled mushrooms and onions. Or, omit the pickles and scatter pomegranate seeds over the salad.

Serves 4.

4 cups mixed salad greens
3 cups boned partridge or chicken wings in escabeche plus pickling liquid
8 hard-cooked quail eggs, halved, or 4 hard-cooked eggs, quartered
Cherry tomatoes or sliced plum tomatoes
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons chopped scallions
Pickled mushrooms, optional
Pickled onions, optional
Olives or capers
4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Divide the salad greens between 4 salad plates. Divide the boned partridge or chicken between the plates. If there are carrot pieces in the escabeche, scatter them around the partridge or chicken.

Garnish the partridge with hard-cooked eggs, tomatoes, oregano, scallions, pickled mushrooms and onions, if using, olives or capers.

If escabeche liquid is jellied, heat it briefly in microwave or in a saucepan to liquefy. Drizzle 2 teaspoons of the pickling liquid over each salad. Dribble 1 teaspoon oil over each. Garnish with chopped parsley.