Sunday, February 8, 2009

Pheasant and Quail

Yesterday, Donnie went hunting up in Arkansas on White Oak Lake. He brought home pheasant and quail that he had shot on the trip. Now, I am a farm girl and I remember mama cooking quail when I was little,but not sure how she did it. Thank goodness for the Internet! I immediately went to Food network and looked up recipes for ideas. After washing them really well. I marinated them in Italian dressing, salt and pepper for a couple of hours.
While they were in the marinade. I made a glaze of orange juice, orange zest, whiskey,brown sugar and garlic. I simmered it in a small pan until reduced by 50%. Then cooled it. I took the birds, wrapped them in maple smoked bacon and placed on a medium hot grill. About 10 minutes before they were done, I brushed on the orange glaze and cooked them until done. I wished that I had some wild rice to go with them, but instead I made baked potato, and some baked beans. When I am cooking, I just cannot stop in the middle and rush off to the store.
Well, I have to admit, they were wonderful. The bacon gave them just enough fat to be moist and the glaze sweetened them with extra flavor. Donnie was very happy with them. I think he had fried all of the birds before, so this was a little different. If I remember correctly mama fried hers also. But all of the 5 star recipes on the Internet called for them to be grilled or roasted.
Next time, I will have some Uncle Ben's wild rice on hand. I think it would make it a perfect dish!
Hope your day has been wonderful
Lorri

3 comments:

Cottage Rose said...

Hello Lorri; I have never had Quail before, but your recipe sounded pretty good, I bet I could use it on Cornish Hens. So what does quail taste like, like chicken? and is it good.. sorry for all the questions.. hehe

Hugs;
Alaura

Chanda said...

Hi Lorri, It is so nice to meet you and my hubby is a bird hunter also. He just recently purchased a pr. of hunting dogs from a breeder in Michigan. He is very pleased with them and sometimes he hunts locally twice per day for quail. You had ask about the dishes. They are new and I purchased them last weekend at Tuesday Morning in Jefferson City. The sales lady told me they had been in the store since mid October. I told her that mist folks aren't in the market for pink dishes in the fall and I was lucky they were still there because I loved them. They are stamped American Atelier Ironstone. I am not for sure, but I thought I saw some white and lavender ones in a JC penney Catalog that they called JCP Country. The lavender ones sure caught my eye and they were beautiful as well. I plan on using these for this Valentines day and also for Easter Dinner. I think they will also be nice to use for girly lunches on my screened in porch. I ask my hubby if he would mind eating on pink dishes for awhile and he was cool with it. He doesn't care, he's only after the food anyway. It was nice visiting with you and thank you for visiting me.
Shanda

Terri Steffes said...

I just got a bunch of quail from my assistant principal. I am going to try your recipe. Thanks for posting it!

I grew up with wild meat. I didn't have a beef hamburger until I was 16!