In my quest to add new proteins to my diet that my body wouldnt reject i had tried venison and bison so far. The venison was a definite keeper. I really enjoyed the deer meat from my coworker’s freezer. The Bison was not a hit. I was not a fan. Now it was time to try something new again so i opted for the quail legs from that company that goes around shooting and processing wild animals when ranchers call and say they are overpopulated with a particular species. I was beginning to note a theme with my tastebuds. The fresher the meat, the more i liked it. I had lamb in the freezer but it was from the grocery store. I couldnt imagine it would be as tasty as something shot earlier this week after living its life free and eating wild things, vacuum sealed and flash frozen, then shipped on dry ice. So i decided to try the quail legs first.
When i took them out of the package i was struck by how tiny and cute they were. These tiny little leg bones allowed a handle to pick up the two bites of meat that existed on each leg. There was a little black feather here or there but they were clean and dark pink otherwise. They werent unnaturally slimy like chicken.
I put them in a ziploc freezer bag and sprinkled them with salt and pepper.
I melted some vegan butter in a sauce pan and then poured that into the bag. The quail legs were just squashing around inside the bag, sort of drowning in the vegan butter. The moment i lifted a quail leg all the vegan butter ran off. I needed something to bind the vegan butter to the quail legs and hold it on there during the cooking process.
Originally i had decided that because gluten free flour doesnt behave like regular flour and can often become gummy and not crisp when heated, i wasnt going to bread and fry the quail. But, how badly could a couple spoonfuls of flour hurt, i told myself. I literally just spooned a couple plastic spoonfuls of garbanzo and fava bean flour into the ziploc baggy. The mixture was mostly butter. However, the addition of the few spoonfuls of flour seemed to be enough to make it stick.
I popped the quail legs in the oven and cooked them at a temperature and length of time recommended by Sir Google.
When i took these things out of the oven i could not believe my luck. The gluten free flour had crisped nicely in the presence of an abundance of vegan butter and the little quail legs were coated in a nice crunchy golden outer crust. The butter bubbled on the parchment paper and made some very tasty crispy bits that had fallen off the quail legs during the cooking process.
It was so difficult to eat just one bite that first evening. I kind of cheated. There are two bites of meat on each tiny quail leg and i had a single quail leg on that first day. Each day after that i had the same amount plus one additional bite until my body recognized and accepted quail as a viable food source. It is taking all the discipline i have in my being to not sit down and make an additional order just to get more quail legs in the freezer. They arent priced incredibly cheap so i made a commitment to only order wild meat and poultry once a month and i do have a budgeted amount i wont go over.
Quail is my favorite food yet. I love it even more than axis deer meat. It is darker meat than chicken. It is tiny and tender. It can be peeled from the little bones. The crunchy outer crust was buttery, salty, crispy goodness. Quail is a definite yes for me.
