Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Stuffed Quail (or Cornish Hens)
A favorite for the holidays. My dad makes this when he has quail from a hunting trip. I often make this for Thanksgiving but I use cornish hens instead of quail. Chickens would be too big.
Speaking from experience, you can half-ass every step of this recipe and it'll still turn out really yummy as long as you don't burn anything.
If you've never made gravy before, here's a link with instructions: How to Make Gravy. For this recipe I use flour to make the gravy.
12 quail
12 slices bacon
1-2 sticks butter
1 pound pork sausage
2 cups flour
2 cups red wine (or enough to come to the top of the birds)
toothpicks or cooking twine
Stuff quail with sausage, then wrap with bacon and secure the bacon onto the birds with toothpicks or cooking twine. Season the flour with salt and pepper. Roll quail in flour. Melt butter in skillet and brown quail. Remove quail to a deep baking dish -- pack them closely together in the dish. Add flour to drippings in skillet to make brown gravy to cover birds. Add wine and pour gravy over birds. Cover pan with aluminum foil. Bake in slow oven (300 degrees) for 2-3 hours or more.
NOTES
I usually use 2-4 cornish hens, 2 slices of bacon for each bird, and maybe 1/4 pound of sausage per bird. I pretty much end up using the same amounts of the other ingredients. When you pour the wine & gravy over the birds, you should end up with liquid in the bottom of the dish - if you don't, add some more wine or some chicken broth and bring the liquid level up to about half an inch, maybe more. You don't want them to dry out.
Don't try to rush this recipe by turning the heat up higher - it'll just make them turn out tough and dry. If you follow the recipe they turn out really tender.
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