Stuffed Bandera Quail with Pepper Glaze

Name: Stuffed Bandera Quail with Pepper Glaze
Yield: serves 8
Ingredients: Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; 8 semi-boneless quail (back, breast, and thigh bones removed); 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, each cut crosswise into four equal slices; 4 fresh jalapeño chiles, stemmed, seeded, and sliced lengthwise into strips; 2 to 4 sweet-hot pickled jalapeños, or use homemade (see page 254); 8 strips thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon; 2 cups jalapeño pepper jelly

December 14, 2011

Stuffed quail sizzling on the grill is a common sight at many a West Texas barbecue. A lot of my friends use a shotgun to bag their quail, but I snag mine on the Internet from The Diamond H Ranch in Bandera, Texas (www.texasgourmetquail.com), where they raise the birds and process them, too. They come vacuum-packed and ready for cooking, with the back, breast, and thigh bones removed. All I have to do is stuff them with a spicy chile-cheese mixture, wrap them up with a piece of bacon, and then put ’em on the grill. I finish them off with a jalapeño jelly glaze just before serving. In all, a mighty nice dinner treat to share with friends.

Recipe information

Yield
serves 8

Ingredients

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 semi-boneless quail (back, breast, and thigh bones removed)

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, each cut crosswise into four equal slices

4 fresh jalapeño chiles, stemmed, seeded, and sliced lengthwise into strips

2 to 4 sweet-hot pickled jalapeños, or use homemade (see page 254)

8 strips thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon

2 cups jalapeño pepper jelly

Preparation

Step 1
Preheat an outdoor grill. Rub salt and pepper all over the quail to season. Lay the quail on baking sheets, skin side down. Set a slice of cream cheese in the center of each bird and top with 2 strips of fresh jalapeño and 1 or 2 slices of sweet-hot pickled jalapeños. (If you prefer, you can do all fresh chiles—4 strips per bird, or all pickled chiles—3 or 4 slices per bird.) Fold the quail with the cheese and chiles inside and wrap a piece of bacon around each bird to secure. Grill the quail on both sides over medium heat until cooked through, about 30 minutes total, turning the birds with tongs halfway through cooking. A few minutes before the quail are done, heat the jelly in a small saucepan set over medium heat until it liquefies. Set the cooked quail on a serving platter and brush generously with the jelly glaze. Serve the quail immediately.
do it early
Step 2
The quail can be stuffed and wrapped with bacon, securely wrapped in plastic wrap, and refrigerated up to 1 day in advance. Grill just before serving. The chilled quail may need a little extra grilling time.

Pastry Queen Parties by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Copyright © 2009 Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Published by Ten Speed Press. All Rights Reserved. A pastry chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, native Texan Rebecca Rather has been proprietor of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café since 1999. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, Rather Sweet has a fiercely loyal cadre of regulars who populate the café’s sunlit tables each day. In 2007, Rebecca opened her eponymous restaurant, serving dinner nightly, just a few blocks from the café. Rebecca is the author of THE PASTRY QUEEN, and has been featured in Texas Monthly, Gourmet, Ladies Home Journal, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Chocolatier, Saveur, and O, The Oprah Magazine. When she isn’t in the bakery or on horseback, Rebecca enjoys the sweet life in Fredericksburg, where she tends to her beloved backyard garden and menagerie, and eagerly awaits visits from her college-age daughter, Frances. Alison Oresman has worked as a journalist for more than twenty years. She has written and edited for newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, and Washington State. As an entertainment editor for the Miami Herald, she oversaw the paper’s restaurant coverage and wrote a weekly column as a restaurant critic. After settling in Washington State, she also covered restaurants in the greater Seattle area as a critic with a weekly column. A dedicated home baker, Alison is often in the kitchen when she isn't writing. Alison lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband, Warren, and their children, Danny and Callie.

TagsSouthern American Quail Poultry Cream Cheese Cheese Dairy Main Dinner Gluten Free Nut Free Grilling Cookbooks

Recipe information

Ingredients

Preparation

Step 1

do it early

Step 2

Recipe notes