Tuesday 5 July 2011

Sale on quail



Our local grocery store has a few refrigerated shelves in the back that are devoted to the, "sell by" items.  When I say "sell by" I mean the, "Oh crap it's about to expire" items.  Every mega-mart has them.  If you seek out the manager's markdowns at your local grocery store you can save yourself a lot of money per week.  Just remember to use what you buy quickly and not to over-buy.  We generally find things like corn-fed chicken, the fancy-brands of yogurt, and little beauties like free range quail from France.  Oooh la la!

The quail were due to expire in a couple days, (i.e. they were still fresh and legal to sell) and had been marked down from 6.59 to 3.29.  We were shopping for dinner that night anyway so we picked them up and cooked them immediately.  I chose to use the little au gratin dish that came with the Staub starter set I purchased years ago while working at Sur Le Table, (can you say discount?)  Personally I prefer Staub, but I think my other half prefers Le Creuset.  They are much of a muchness.

The quail were sprayed lightly with sunflower oil, then stuffed with a chopping board medley of flat-leaf parsley, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary and a couple shallots.  We had half a cauliflower left over (for some reason my grocery store carries cauliflower the size of soccer balls) so that was chopped up and placed around the birds.  A few chestnut brown mushrooms went in to prop up the quail legs and viola!  Cook uncovered for 35 minutes at 200 °C oven (that's about 393 °F) or until well browned.

5 comments:

  1. Mmmm, yummy quail. I'm from Verdi, NV which is just over the Donner Pass - just between Truckee and Reno. Anyway, my Dad used to hunt for quail all the time and we lived off those a lot of the time. Well, not "a lot" of the time but often enough that I know how yum, yum, yummy they are. This dies you created with the parsley, thyme, rosemary and shallots plus cauliflower (which I luv) look soooooooooooo yummy!!!!

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  2. Thank you! Yeah, quail are quickly becoming one of our favorites. That is so cool your Dad went hunting, and might I add--successfully--brought home birds for dinner. Right on! He must have been a good shot. Did you guys use a dog to hunt with?

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  3. MMM,..... that looks good enough to eat! LOL.

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  4. I am so glad that you are finally able to use your beautiful Staub cookware! That was an investment you will appreciate your entire life. The quail dish looks amazing!

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  5. Yes, I am really glad that I bought the Staub pots when I had the chance. My discount helped! haha

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