Quail with Red Wine Sauce
Most husbands bring their wives flowers. Mine? He brings me meat that he has hunted and proudly places it on the kitchen counter with this "stone age" grin. When I don't get really excited, his face drops with such disappointment that you would have thought I'd turned down his first born son. So, in order to preserve my marriage (especially since it's only 2 months old) I prepare a meal fit for a king. I must say this one even surprised me. If you don't like quail, or can't find it, you can make this with cornish hens, just increase the time in the oven until the hens are cooked.
Quail with Red Wine Sauce
8 to 10 Quail
Sea salt & freshly ground pepper (as needed)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup olive oil
10 sprigs fresh thyme
1 cup red wine (preferable dry)
1 cup chicken stock
3 tablespoons butter
Preheat oven to 350
Season quail with salt and pepper then dredge with flour. Heat oil in large fryer and brown the quail to a rich golden brown (about 3 minutes on each side). Remove from stove/oil and place into a shallow baking dish, add thyme sprigs and place in oven for 10 minutes. Once cooked in the oven, remove and set aside.
Next, pour off the oil in the fryer, but save all drippings. Add red wine, scrapping the bottom of the pan and reduce the wine, about 10 minutes or so.
Add chicken broth and reduce by half. Whisk in butter (the French version would add a bit of heavy cream to the sauce at this point, but I stuck with the traditional Italian recipe, it's your choice). Return the quail to the sauce and simmer for 10 minutes, coating the quail with the sauce several times. I served this with polenta and it was unbelievably delicious!
Helen Kenney
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