Stuffed Quail Recipe - Delicious Way to Cook This Low-Flying Wild Game Bird

Quail can be prepared and eaten in just every class of restaurant, from the most hidden country cafe, to the most upscale city restaurant. In the southern and southwestern parts of the United States, quail hunting, cooking, and eating is an annual tradition enjoyed by many.

Here is a classic quail recipe that prepares the quail using ingredients and techniques from those regions.

Honey Roasted Quail Recipe

8 quail, plucked, cleaned, and trimmed

Marinade:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Juice of 2 fresh limes

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 fresh serrano pepper

1 fresh jalapeno pepper

Dressing:

4 cups worth of day-old cornbread (make cornbread from a box if needed)

1/2 stick unsalted butter

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 fresh serrano peppers

1 fresh jalapeno pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 1/2 cups unsalted chicken stock

Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a sealable, glass container. At about 8 to 12 hours before cooking, pour the marinade over the quail in a glass dish, cover, and refrigerate. Turn quail over occasionally. Remove the quail from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Grease a large baking dish and the rack of a roasting pan. Crumble the day-old cornbread into a medium bowl.

Melt the butter over medium heat in a heavy skillet. Add the celery, onion, serranos, jalapenos, and garlic. Saute the mix briefly until they become soft. Mix in the chopped pecans, the thyme, and the salt, heating for another minute or so.

Spoon the vegetable mixture over the cornbread, add the egg, and mix lightly. Stir in 1/2 cup of the chicken stock.

Separate out 1 1/2 cups of the dressing to stuff the quail, and reserve it. Add more chicken stock to the rest of the dressing, to the point that it is moist, but not soupy. Spoon this into the baking dish.

Put the dressing in the oven, covered, for 25 minutes, at about 15 to 20 minutes ahead of the quail, so that both are done cooking and can be removed at the same time.

Fill the cavities of each bird with a few tablespoons of the reserved dressing. Do not pack it in. Place the quail on the rack of the roasting pan, and roast for 8 to 10 minutes, until birds are well browned.

Remove the dressing from each quail cavity. Serve two quail per person, with a combination of the dressing that was inside the bird, coupled with that in the baking dish, and serve on the side.