The great quail experiment

Today was the day I decided to prepare the quail. You might remember that my husband, dad, and father-in-law went hunting this fall. I, feeling unusually adventurous as a cook, asked for all of the quail and pheasant they shot. I was reading Julie and Julia and felt that is a twenty-something secretary in New York could master French cooking for a Julia Child's cookbook, I could figure out how to cook these birds.

Since nestling the birds next to my Tyson 100% natural chicken nuggets in the freezer (and then completely rearranging my freezer over the holiday break - twice), I looked up recipes on the web and asked around knowing that I could easily lose faith and eventually throw them all out.

I defrosted the quail overnight and then put them in salt water for several hours. We had an unplanned trip to my dad's to pick up hay for the alpacas, so I decided to fillet the breast meat off the quail and soak the small quail nuggets in salt water in the fridge until this evening. Anyone with any experience cooking wild bird suggested the salt water bath/brine to take out the gamey flavor.

This evening, I drained the quail, patted them dry with paper towels, and wrapped them half-slices of thick sliced bacon. A toothpick secured the bacon around the quail. They were placed on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and parchment paper.

I put them in a 400 degree oven and baked them for about 20-25 minutes, until the bacon was brown and starting to crisp.

I set them out on a paper towel to drain and then served them up to an apprehensive husband. During the preparation, he told me liked the ratio of bacon to "dove." I had to remind him that it was QUAIL, not dove and he shot them.

Once on the plate, it was a mini-stand off as we waited to see which of us would take the first bite. I started us off. We both agreed that it tasted just like bacon. So, with perhaps a tenth of the effort, I could have made a plate full of bacon and we would have served the same purpose. Except, I really liked learning about cooking a new food and I felt really brave carving up the birds this morning.

Now, on to the great pheasant experiment!

New Year Wishes

One of my favorite magazines if Mary Janes Farm. Her February/March issue is a delight, including the seven tips to tap into your own brilliance. Check them out and be inspired for a great start to 2010.

http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/SimpleSolutions/20-things_we_love-solutions.pdf

Winter Woolfest 2010

Mark your calendars for the second Winter Woolfest on January 9th, 9am-4pm at the Poppyfield Gallery, 514 Lincoln, downtown Wamego. The events include time to work on projects, mini-classes, demonstrations, and vendors. Learn more at http://wickedstitchyarn.com/Winterwoolfest.html or www.winterwoolfest.com

Test #1: Egg-in-the-hole

This morning marked the first test from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Egg-in-the-hole was promoted at a very easy and slightly addictive comfort food. We had some homemade honey wheat bread and plenty of eggs, so I figured it might be an easy place to begin sampling some of the recipes. They were pretty good, but I broke two of the three yolks in the turning process. I need more practice.

Here is a picture of them in the skillet at about step number 3.

This is a picture of my sous-chef, Joey.

Cool find

My previous post about Good Juju spoke of these great bookends by artist Tom Hogan. The glass blocks have decorative stained glass and I love the play of the silver, etched glass, and white. Tom's studio is called Views, 816-509-7332.

I am also in love with my Christmas present from my mom. Check out The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond and her wild ranch life in Oklahoma. http://thepioneerwoman.com/

Her recipes are simple ranch fare and admittedly high calorie. I am looking forward to giving some of her dishes a try over break and going over and over her delightful book. She does her own photography and the pictures from her working ranch are just as beautiful as the pictures of food.

My next food adventure is preparing the quail and pheasant in my freezer. Jeremy, my dad, and my father-in-law went hunting this fall and brought back several birds. I was feeling very confident and dreamy after reading Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously and accepted all of the harvest. (Note: Does anyone else have a requirement of reading the books before seeing the movies? This is a must for me.) If a non-chef can master French cooking a la Julia Childs, I can at least cook some game birds. So, here is my plea...send me your best recipes for pheasant and quail. Let me confess that I love great tasting food that is simple, takes few ingredients, and does not create a million dishes. I want it all! Post them in comments on the blog and I promise to give updates on my progress and the results.

The snow continues...

Our Christmas day included taking care of all the animals in some serious snowfall. We had some major drifts all over the yard, including a drift as tall as our large haybale behind the shed. Jeremy has shoveled and shoveled over the past few days and sadly, the wind had undone most of his work. Perhaps we will invest in that snowblower, after all.

We tried to make quick work of the outside chores, fed hay in the barn, shoveled a path to the water tub, and brought Cy inside to warm up. We also said several prayers of thanks for the water tank heaters. Breaking ice several times a day would not add to our winter weather fun.

We are also pleased that our chickens are still producing eggs, despite the cold temperatures. We are hopeful that warmer weather is coming soon. It will make things so much easier for everyone.


Even though we were freezing while we hurried through chores, this sweet birds nest in our Korean lilac bush was such a wonder. I had to snap a quick picture.

Travel safe, friends!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Mother nature has been dumping a generous amount of snow over northeastern Kansas. We have had record setting snowfalls and cold windchills. Our alpacas have retreated to the barn and even under cover, they managed to get a dusting of snow over their warm fiber coats.

Jeremy has been a trouper about shoveling our drive and walks. We worried that our family would not make it for Christmas, but they did arrive to enjoy lunch together and open gifts. It was a fun time. McKenzy was disappointed that she would not be able to walk the alpacas in the blizzard.

McKenzy got to meet Joey. She is a huge fan of any kind of animal and has been so excited to see the new puppy. She loved playing with him and taking pictures.