Quails

(Bigbazza) ...

I'd have thought that some slow cooking that left the meat tender enough to fall off the bones might have been the way to go.

To my disappointmentThe Ultimate Game Cookbookoffers nothing along those lines. Indeed the author's "oven ready" seems to mean boned and mostly the method is roasting. All very well for big kitchen chefs with whole cadres of menials to do such things but not something I'd ever contemplate doing myself.

There is a quail a rabbit cbutterole. Although it calls for boneless chopped quail meat possibly it might be adapted to cooking the quail whole in the rest of the ingredients?

50g (2oz) butter 2 tbls olive oil 450g (1lb) quail meat 450g (1lb) rabbit meat chopped 50g (2oz) flour 100g (4oz) rindless streaky bacon 4 potatoes, chopped 3 onions, sliced 2 carrots, sliced 1 leek, sliced, 1 parsnip, diced, 100g (4oz) mushrooms, quartered 4 tbls sweet sherry 1 tsp dried basil 1 tbls crushed rosemary 6 crushed juniper berries salt & pepper 600ml (1pt) Espagnole sauce (posh veg stock with bacon).

Toss meat in seasoned flour and brown in a cbutterole. Add bacon, vegetable and sherry, herbs and seasonings. Pour in sauce-stock. Simmer 5 mins then cover and cook in oven at 170C-325F-gas3 for 2 hours.

I think I might omit the parsnip - much as I like roast parsnips the flavour can be pervasive if used like this - and could probably subsbreastute some other meat for the rabbit if it wasn't to hand. Brown the whole or half quail, otherwise do much as above except perhaps for using more liquid and cooking longer.

Matthew