Roasted Quail With Wild Mushroom Cream

Warning: This post contains descriptions of processing live backyard quail for consumption. 

I hadn’t imagined I was going to be making this post any time soon, and rather believed it would have been much later in the year (or even the next) as my quail reach the end of their lifespan. However, yesterday one of my remaining two quails had escaped their cage, and when I put it back, the one that hadn’t ended up aggressively trying to cannibalize it, unbeknownst to me. I woke up this morning to the poor thing bleeding and struggling, so after a long internal debate, decided to process both since if I were to try and raise another batch this year, I wouldn’t have a free cage to do so if I kept the uninjured one.

While I had processed two of my ducks this winter due to them being badly frost-bitten, and have been fishing for the better part of this year, for some reason I just couldn’t do it with the quail. Using the knife on them terrified me so I went back inside and announced to my husband that I was instead planning on letting them go in the woods behind my house since they’re good for tick control, despite knowing the uncomfortable truth that they will, eventually, be eaten by a predator.

My husband chose instead to look up ways to process quail that did not involve using sharp objects, and found that either helium, or an air rifle into the head would suffice. He had an air rifle, and with me holding the quail, we put them down together.

The rest of the process, compared to ducks, was easy and clean. I scalded the bodies in boiling water and the feathers came off quickly. Gutting them was a little tricky because the body cavity is much smaller, but they were eventually done.

I decided to roast them and pair with a mushroom cream made with the boletes I collected from my backyard.

Eating them was a little tricky as the meat was fresh and these weren’t young birds, so they were a little firmer than I expected. I also didn’t allow them to pass rigor and instead cooked them immediately, but perhaps a brining process would make them much more tender, or should I choose to cook them so fresh, a long braise might do better.

However, the flavor was delicious and the hesitation at possibly raising more for protein consumption disappeared out the window. I also served it with some leftover polenta, blistered tomatoes, and sauteed kale. This is where the boletes truly shine as an intensely fragrant and mushroom-y cream sauce.

Ingredients for the Quail

• 2 quail, cleaned
• salt and pepper to taste
• corn starch
• 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, rub quail with olive oil, salt, and pepper and then dredge in corn starch.
2. Place 1/2 tablespoon of butter, chopped garlic, and sprig of thyme in each of the body cavities.
3. Roast breast side up, for 20 -30 minutes or until juices run clear.

Ingredients for Wild Mushroom Cream

• 1/2 cup boletes, chopped
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon white wine
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Over medium heat, sautee garlic and boletes until fragrant, add flour and cook until flour is golden.
2. Add white wine to deglaze the pan and then add milk and cook until sauce has thickened.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with roasted quail.