Quail meat has been cooked in Rus' since ancient times. Fried quails are a dish without which not a single Russian feast can do. No wonder cooked quails were always on the royal table.

Countless recipes for cooking quail meat have been preserved, recorded in old cookery books: the famous royal quail, quail with cherries, quail carcasses fried on a grill, quail stuffed with breadcrumbs. You can continue indefinitely.

Quail meat is highly valued by game lovers for its delicate taste and unusual aroma. Quail meat is unusually juicy and tender. Quail meat contains substances that give the dish a specific taste, increase appetite and form an increased formation of gastric juice.

Now quails are called game, but this is very conditional. If earlier they were specially hunted for quail, today they are bred in the subsidiary farm or on poultry farms.

Currently, there are a huge number of recipes for preparing this delicious bird: quails are stuffed, stewed and fried, salads are prepared, baked with spices and herbs. Quail recipes are found in all cuisines of the world.

Meat features

Quail meat is tender and extremely tasty. Fans of quail meat note its special taste.

Another feature of quail meat is increased leanness, and in order to get a rich taste, a large number of various spices are added: salt, pepper, basil, thyme and many others.

It is advisable to take a bird with a light (yellow or pinkish color) skin, the game should be well-fed, with good plumage. From such quails you will get delicious and high-quality dishes.

Interesting: quail meat is quite satisfying, although the carcass is light in weight. Therefore, the average portion per person is 2-3 carcasses.

Benefits and nutritional properties

Despite the fact that quail is game, its meat is well absorbed by the human body. In addition, there is very little cholesterol in quail meat.

Vitamins and trace elements contained in quail meat:

• nicotinic acid (PP) - it helps the blood circulate properly;
• vitamins B1, B2 - very useful for the human nervous system;
• a large amount of vitamin D, which prevents rickets;
• potassium is useful for preventing arrhythmia and improves brain function;
• protein gives meat satiety and nutrition;
• phosphorus and sulfur ensure the normalization of metabolism.

Quail meat contains many other trace elements that are no less useful to the human body. If you sometimes add quail meat to your diet, it will have a beneficial effect on the body, especially in diseases of the liver, respiratory organs, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract.

Important: despite the rather high calorie content, quail meat is allowed to be consumed even during a diet!

Proper storage

Many hunting enthusiasts and ordinary people are concerned about the question: how to properly cook quail. However, first of all, you need to choose the right quail for cooking.

What you need to pay attention to when choosing a quail in the first place:

• The smell of meat. Quail meat should not have any smell. Ideally, it is neutral, without any odors, meat.
• Color. The color of the meat should give the impression of "healthy", that is, it should look fresh, pinkish red. There should not be any dark, and even more so, whitish spots.
• Consistency. If you press the quail carcass with your finger, you should feel a slight resistance. Fresh quail meat is elastic and strong. With physical impact on the carcass, there should be no dents.

Quail meat is stored in a chilled state for no more than 2 weeks. In the freezer, the shelf life is extended up to 3 months. Cooked quails can be eaten within 3 days (when stored in the refrigerator), after the expiration of the period - it is better to give the leftovers to pets.

Cutting and preparation

If you have to cook dishes from quails, initially the carcasses need to be prepared:

• Before cooking, quails must be gutted. If feathers remain on the carcass, you need to singe it. To do this, you need to rub the skin of the quail with alcohol and fry in a pan. After frying, remove all feathers from the skin.
• Next, the butchered carcasses must be washed with cool (preferably cold) water.
• The carcasses are then shaped unless a special method is specified in the recipe. Forming is as follows: the wings of the processed carcass are laid behind the back. To fill the legs of a bird, you need to cut the peritoneum by about 6 mm. along the carcass. One, and then the other leg of the carcass is inserted into the resulting incision. You can tie the hind legs of the bird with chef's thread.
• Having formed the carcass, the poultry meat is salted (rubbed with salt) to taste.

Tip: if you doubt the amount of salt needed, and are afraid to oversalt, it is better to add less than oversalt. Game has a unique taste, and it can be added quite a bit - this will only make the taste of meat more tender.

It's time for the heat treatment. What to cook from quails? Quail can be deep-fried or baked in the oven. Quail meat fried over smoldering coals has a wonderful taste. In addition, carcasses are stuffed and baked. Some have learned how to cook quails in infrared ovens.

The temperature and duration of heat treatment depends on the chosen method of cooking quail. The average cooking time is 1 hour at 150°C - 230°C.

Simple rules, the observance of which will make quail dishes amazingly tasty:

Before cooking quails, it is necessary to hold the prepared carcasses (the preparation process is described above) in the refrigerator for about 1 hour. After that, wipe the inside and outside of the quail with a napkin.

Since the quail has a rather dry and lean meat, it is better to marinate it in onions with pepper and other spices. The wine added to the quail marinade will add piquancy to the meat. Before cooking, it is better to coat the meat with melted butter, and during the cooking process, you can pour the marinade over it.

Recipes

How to cook quail at home? Below are several ways to cook quail deliciously. This delicious bird is fried, stewed, baked and boiled - regardless of the recipe, any quail dish is unforgettable.

Cooking quail in oil

This recipe is suitable for those who want to learn how to cook quail at home in the oven. The recipe is very simple and fast enough. It will be indispensable for housewives with little experience in cooking game. This dish will decorate any festive table.

For the recipe you will need the following ingredients:

• carcasses - 2 pieces;
• seasonings: parsley, basil, thyme - half a small bunch;
• butter 50 grams;
• garlic - 2 cloves;
• kefir;
• soy sauce.

Rinse and dry the carcasses well, then put in kefir. Quail should be marinated in kefir for about 3 hours. After the time has elapsed, parsley or other herbs should be finely chopped, chopped garlic. Put a little butter in a baking dish, put marinated carcasses on it and sprinkle chopped garlic and herbs on top.

We put the mold in an oven preheated to 180 ° C. Bake for about 50 minutes. During cooking, pour the resulting juice from time to time. As a side dish, vegetables or rice are perfect for the dish. This simple quail recipe will help create a truly culinary masterpiece that can be safely used for any celebration.

Royal quail

Despite the slightly pretentious name of this recipe, this is an easy way to cook quail in the oven. A dish prepared according to this recipe will decorate the holiday. It looks very elegant and beautiful.

To prepare royal quails, carcasses of young quails (up to 1 year old) are needed, since their meat is tastier and more tender.

Required components:

• quail carcasses - 5 pieces;
• quail or chicken liver - 200 grams;
• apple - 1 piece;
• bacon - 300 grams;
• onion - 2 pieces (medium size);
• salt and pepper to taste.

To make the bird tasty and juicy, it must be marinated before cooking.

Marinade for quails:

• vegetable oil (preferably extra virgin olive oil) - 2 tbsp. l.;
• soy sauce;
• honey - 2 tbsp. l.;
• seasoning curry - 1 tsp;
• paprika - 1 tsp;
• juice of half a lemon;
• flour - 2 tbsp. l;
• salt to taste.

Cooking quails:

First, pour vegetable or olive oil into a bowl, a little soy vinegar (2 tablespoons), honey. Mix everything and add paprika to taste. In the prepared marinade, you need to put carcasses prepared in advance. Leave the carcass in the marinade for about 1 hour in a cool place.

Next, you need to cut the quail or chicken liver into small cubes. The apple must be cut into rings, after removing the core. Sliced ​​liver fry in a small amount of oil. At the end of frying, you need to add an apple and salt and pepper to the liver to taste. After 5 minutes, the stuffing for stuffing quails is ready.

We stuff well-marinated carcasses with the prepared stuffing. After that, they need to be carefully wrapped with thin slices of bacon.

On a baking sheet or heat-resistant dishes, quails are laid out breast up. Cooking quails in the oven will take about 1 hour. Oven temperature - 180 °C.

Carcasses in the process of baking will acquire a beautiful appetizing crust. As a side dish, boiled potatoes with onions fried until golden brown are ideal. All other recipes for cooking quail in the oven repeat this ancient method of cooking royal game in various interpretations.

Quail soup

This delicious soup can be easily prepared both on the hunt and at home.

Components:

• bird carcasses - 4 pieces
• water -1.5 liters;
• millet - 50 grams;
• onion - 1 piece;
• pork fat - 50 grams.

Cooking soup:

Such a soup is very tasty when cooked on an open fire. Put the prepared carcasses in a cauldron. They should cook for at least 30 minutes. At this time, you need to rinse the millet. Then we lower the millet into the already prepared broth and cook for another 20 minutes.

Salo is finely cut and overcooked with pre-chopped onions. Then add the fry soup. For satiety, put chopped potatoes in the soup. Delicious soup is ready.

Quail with cherry

This recipe is for those who are interested in how to cook quail in a pan. The recipe is preserved in ancient cookbooks.

Used components:

• carcasses - 8 pieces
• cherry - 200 g.
• broth -100 ml;
• cognac - 1 tbsp. l;
• melted lard - 100 grams.

Cooking process:

Pre-processed carcasses need to be fried in a pan until half cooked. Then add pitted cherries, broth and pour cognac. Reduce the frying temperature and cook the quails by closing the lid. Serve in a deep dish with juice and cherries.

Stewed quail

This is the easiest quail recipe, but no less delicious.

• bird carcasses - 4 pieces;
• dry wine - 0.5 liters;
• honey - 1 tbsp. l;
• spices to taste.

The bird is cut along the breast and beaten off. Carcasses should be flat. Then you need to rub them with spices, salt and pepper to taste. Prepared carcasses are poured with wine and honey is added. In this marinade, carcasses can withstand up to 4 hours.

Pickled game is fried and put into a cauldron. The remaining marinade is poured into the cauldron and stewed for about 1 hour over low heat under a lid.

Quail on a skewer

How to cook quail in an unusual way? To make the dish look very impressive and festive? A bird cooked according to this recipe will decorate the most sophisticated table.

• poultry carcasses (depending on need);
• bacon;
• bread (preferably rye);
• butter;
• parsley (or cilantro), rosemary;
• garlic;
• cherry tomatoes.

It is also necessary to prepare skewers, in stores there is a huge selection of skewers of different sizes, colors and shapes.

Soften the butter, add finely chopped garlic. Mix everything, add spices to taste. In the cuts made in the carcasses, put the cooked oil. Then wrap the quails with bacon, and tie the legs and wings with chef's thread.

Put the stuffed carcasses in a baking dish, and place in the oven, preheated to a temperature of 200 ° C. Bake no more than half an hour. During the cooking process, the carcasses should be periodically watered with oil.

The cooked carcasses should be strung on skewers, alternating with rye bread medallions and cherry tomatoes.

Bon appetit!

Video

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