Suddenly found inspiration this afternoon. So I speed-defrosted six free-range quail. Put them in running water and blew a fan on them for thirty minutes.
I marinated them with a combination of tamari sauce, english mustard, dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, garlic, and sea salt.
Side dishes were indian-style carrots, baked with mustard seed, crushed coriander, and roasted cumin seed. And a side of spinach salad, tossed with feta cheese, an old, softened onion, and some nasty quasi-bacon.
Quails were amazing. Roasted them hard (220C) in a La Cruset roasting pan for 25 minutes. Skin was puffed and crisp. Let them sit while I deglazed the copious drippings with a handful of our dinner wine and tossed in some roux I had frozen a couple months ago. Made a nice side sauce.
Quail really tasted nice. You have to eat a quail with hands.. it’s too tiny, too crispy, and too raw (lots of spines and innards left) to eat daintily with a fork. Think KFC, not Christmas turkey.
I thought Shyan Woei was eating with us. I was decanting the wine, pulled out three glasses (me, Ling’s Mom, and Woei) when Matilda said that Woei was long-gone in my car. Now I had way too much food. I bullied Ling’s mom into eat a quail and help me drain the wine. I guess she’ll sleep well tonight. What we didn’t finish with dinner we finished with a dessert of Jean-Paul Hevin chocolates.
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