Roast Quail With Bacon Stuffing

Photo: flickr user FotoosVanRobin

Ingredients

4 quail, glove boned

4 strips of smokey thick-cut bacon

1 1/2 cups of dry bread, sourdough or white, cut into ¼" cubes

1 egg

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon butter

1 small shallot, minced

4 sage leaves, minced

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 sprigs of thyme, leaves only

1/4 cup golden raisins

salt

pepper

coarse sea salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400F.

Thoroughly rinse quail inside and out under cool water.

Pat dry with a paper towel or kitchen cloth.

Season the inside of the birds with salt and pepper, then set them aside.

Put the raisins and the chicken stock in a small saucepan and warm just to a bare simmer. Let the raisins steep in the stock for 2-3 minutes to plump up.

Put the bread in a bowl, whisk the egg and add it to the bread, then add 3/4 cup of the chicken stock slowly just until the bread begins to bind together. You may need more or less depending on how dry the bread was to start. Leave the raisins in the remaining stock.

Dice the bacon into 1/4" squares and cook in a saute pan ove medium heat until just beginning to crisp.

Remove the bacon and place on a paper towel to drain.

Leave 1 tablespoon of bacon fat in the pan and add the minced shallot. Sweat over medium heat until soft.

Add sage, thyme, bacon and raisins, warm through, and then stir the mixture into the bowl with bread mixture.

Sprinkle in cayenne and stir to combine.

Stuff each bird with 1/4 of the mixture. They should be filled to the point that the bodies become roughly spherical, but not so much that the skin is extremely taught like a balloon.

Place the birds on rack in a shallow roasting pan.

Melt the remaining butter and brush it over the birds, then sprinkle each with a pinch of the coarse sea salt.

Place in the oven and roast for 10 minutes.

Lower heat to 350, baste with more melted butter, and roast an additional 10-12 minutes until the skin is golden brown and crisp and the birds are firm to the touch. If the birds are getting too brown too quickly, lower the heat to 300.

Remove from the oven and let rest, covered with a loose tent of foil, for 5-7 minutes before serving.