The cuter the animal revisted: buttermilk fried quail

While not all of us will admit it, every cook has his or her strong spots, and then weak spots. I count many familiar dishes as amongst my weak spots: for example, I can put a pan of brownies in the oven, where the starting ingredients weigh four pounds, and come out with something that weighs 8. I swear, it's true. Guy makes better brownies than I do, no ifs, ands or buts. Similarly, fried chicken. I have been told, gently, by those who know these things, that I should never make fried chicken. I have read books, TOMES in fact, on fried chicken. It scares me. And that's ok because, to be honest, I'm not all that fond of it.

But quail.... Hmmm. We had our friend Tobin coming over for dinner last week. Tobin just finished a very exhausting ballet season in NY, went on tour, is back on tour, and I wanted to make him something special. Now, Tobin has pointed out that, for whatever reason, just about everytime he comes over, out comes the pomegranate molasses. It's true. I don't understand it, but he's right. So, here we are. Louisiana boy, deep summer, something special, and yours truly scared to death of fried chicken.

Quail. I started studying recipes for fried quail which, I learned, is not untraditional in the south. It looked manageable. I made some changes. And it worked. It was good. Tobin ate three of them, we each ate two. Nevia got the last one. Here we go.

Ok, do the math above: you need 8 quail. Most recipes tell you to use the semiboneless ones. Ridiculous. You're gonna pick this up and gnaw the sucker, get the whole ones. They're not that big. Put em in a big container and cover them with buttermilk, and let that sit in the fridge overnight.

The next day, mix up a bowl of 2 parts flour, 1 part cornstarch and a big tablespoon of each of salt andcayenne pepper. Do this before you do the next step, which is to take out the quail, one at a time, and with a scissor, cut them up the backbone to flatten them out, like avian butterflies (like that, eh?). Then, with a baking sheet nearby, dip each one into the flour mixture and cover it generously. Shake off the excess. Leave them, cut side down, on the sheet, until you're done.

Then, get a big pan - one that can hold at least three, and better, four , quail in it. Fill it with half an inch of oil. Also, bring your oven to 350. When the oil comes to 350 (or, when you put the edge of a quail into it, it sizzles evilly), put the quail in, cut side UP, and fry them for about four minutes. Check for brownness. You may need a minute more, especially with the second batch. Flip them, and then fry them for half the length of time for the first side. When they're done, put them on the baking sheet, this time lined with paper towels, and leave them in the oven for ten minutes. They won't overcook.

Crispy, greaseless, and delicious. Now, how about some gravy? Glad you asked.

Pour off just about all the fat. Leave maybe two tablespoons. Add two tablespoons of your leftover flour and stir that with a wisk for a couple of minutes. Then, get a dairy product of some kind. I used heavy cream. Use that, or half and half, or milk. 3/4 of a cup or so Don't use buttermilk. It will break and curdle in the heat. Stir it into the flour mixture, and stir it gently until it just bubbles. Taste it. It may need salt. If it's too thick for you, I would say add water, not more cream.

You can pour this over the quail as well as with the mashed potatoes that you WILL serve with these.

You may never make fried chicken again