Whenever I talk to Mother I try and tell her what exotic dish we are preparing for dinner.  There is no question that we like to experiment in our meals.  Granted hamburgers and pasta with meatballs is a regular, but we do like to reach out.  She claims that this fascination is why I am ‘slightly’ overweight.  

We were at the store this week and they had a special on a package of frozen Quail.  Now I have had quail at a restaurant once, but we have never prepared it at home.  So we bought the package and said lets try it.  There is a Pizza joint at the bottom of the hill just in case the experiment fails. 

I went on the internet and found a video on how to prepare quail for the bbq.  The normal procedure is to remove the backbone and ribs so the bodies can lay flat.  Needs a filleting knife and patience. The deboning procedure (see picture) was not as simple as the video and I would have warned all of you never to try it.  In the end I had 6 tiny quails with the backbone and rib bones removed.  Marinade I chose was basic -olive oil, dijon mustard, oregano, basil, paprica, garlic and pepper. 

Put on the BBQ for roughly 4 minutes per side and served with wild rice ( see the next picture)  This is not a fancy company meal because the only way to eat is is in your hands like wings.  Messy but it turned out to be great.

Quail has a lot more flavour than chicken wings so the comparison is not valid.  Messy it is true, tedious to make, but it was delicious.

It  is a rainy night in March so we need something special to cheer us on. Spring is coming.