I usually go shopping with a basic list of items that we need in the house. Staple items that we should always have in our pantries. I leave the rest of the shopping to what I find in the store: I go for what is fresh today, and sometimes this leads me to get new ideas, most of them completely out of the box. This dinner is the result of one of these excursions. I found quail at the butcher's, and I built around it a complete exotic dinner. When you tell people you're serving quail, they will definitely think that you're an accomplished chef, maybe trained in Paris. Who else would serve quail on a week night? Or maybe you had it delivered from Maxim's, also in Paris. When they'll see your proud achievement, they will never think that it was so easy to make. They'll think you slaved over it. You don't need to tell them otherwise.. nobody needs to know our secret! With the quail we're serving freek, a grain that is so easy to cook and gives you an extraordinary result, and okra. Yes okra. It's a delicious vegetable that is usually overlooked and people are afraid to serve. You will, and you'll surprise everybody.
ROASTED QUAIL AND FREEK
Quail is a very small bird, smaller than a pigeon, that is now generally farm raised for their meat and eggs. The meat is dark, closer in color and texture to a duck's meat, without all the fat. I took a chance with this bird because of its similarity to pigeons. I grew up watching people eating pigeons and consider them a delicacy. I had my own reservations about it, mainly because of the way it was cooked: it usually had a lot of visible chopped onion in it, and this is something, as you know by now, I cannot see in my food. I thought, "Why not? I might be able of getting something out of this". The main idea was not to cook it the way I saw people traditionally prepare it. So I did: I found a simple way to prepare quail and eliminate all my apprehensions about the old way. It is also very versatile: you can cook quail over the stove, alone or in the same pan with the freek, you can cook it in the oven, buried in the freek, or even grill it inside or outside. It's up to you. You'll need:
6 birds
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture, divided
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups freek (bulgur 1/2 cut)
Chicken stock (or 2 tbsp granules or 2 bouillon cubes)
Cut the birds in half, rinse them and make sure that there are no small feathers on them. Put the birds in a bowl. Finely chop the rosemary and thyme, and add them to the bowl. Also add 1 tbsp onion/garlic mixture, salt and pepper, the lime juice and 1 tbsp oil. Mix well to coat on all sides. Set aside to marinate. In the mean time, you can prepare the okra (recipe follows). When the okra is cooking, choose a nonstick skillet large enough to hold the quail and the freek; or 2 large skillets if you decide to cook them separately. I made a one skillet dish. Heat the skillet and arrange the quail halves in it, skin side down. You don't need to put any oil, the birds are marinated in oil. When they brown on one side, turn them and let them brown on the other side.
Remove the quail to a platter. In the same skillet, add 1 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp onion/garlic mix and stir til the onions are soft. Rinse the freek, drain it and add it to the skillet. Stir for 3 to 4 minutes, then add enough liquid to barely cover the grains. If you are using the granules, add water, then stir in the granules or the bouillon cubes. The liquid should not be more than 1/2 inch over the grains. Cover and let cook until all the liquid is absorbed. Reduce the heat, stir the grains and return the quail and any liquid accumulated in the platter to the pan and try to position it in a way that it's almost covered by the freek. Add 1/2 cup of liquid, cover and let cook over low heat. When the grains are tender your dish is ready.
If you chose to cook them separately, when you brown the birds add some liquid to the skillet, bring to a boil, cover and let cook until the quail is tender, the liquid is absorbed and you have a light sauce in the pan. Cook the freek as above, without adding the quail in. Serve by putting the freek on a platter and top with the quail and its sauce.
To grill the quail, just heat an inside or outside grill, arrange the quail skin side down until it's cooked on that side without disturbing it too much, turn and let it cook til done. How easy is that?
OKRA IN TOMATO SAUCE
Okra is a special vegetable. I grew up eating it in tomato sauce, and I was a bit taken aback when I saw how it is prepared in some countries, even here in the States. I tried it fried, but didn't like it. I honestly couldn't bring myself to try it mashed in West Africa, or chopped, elsewhere. The trick in cooking good okra is not to let it become mushy. Today I used frozen baby okra that I usually get from a Middle Eastern grocery. It's imported from Egypt and it's already cleaned for you. If you choose fresh okra, here is what you should do: rinse and drain the okra and spread it over paper towels to dry. This will help also with the small thorns that cover it. Do not cut the stem horizontally. Cut it around to make a small cone over the tip of the okra. Removing the whole thing will let the gooey thing ooze out of the okra more easily, but cutting my way will keep it from doing that. Now your okra is ready. You'll need:
1 (16 oz) bag of frozen baby okra, or 1 lb fresh okra
2 to 3 garlic cloves smashed
1 (14 oz) can tomato sauce
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp oil (canola or vegetable)
Salt and pepper to taste
In a sauce pan heat the oil, add the garlic and stir for a minute or so. Add the okra while not completely defrosted. Sprinkle the lime juice and stir to completely defrost and dry cook the okra, about 3 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir making sure that you don't break the okra, cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let cook until the okra pods are tender. Serve as a side dish with the quail and freek.
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