Buttermilk fried quail with waffles

I often make this dish as a brunch or a lighter lunch and it really is worth the bit of effort it takes. The crunchy moist quail is a perfect contrast to the warm fluffy waffle, and the sweet and spicy sauce completes the perfectly balanced dish. You could do this with pheasant, partridge and chicken but I’ve found qauil to the perfect bird!

Serves: 4

Difficulty: Medium

Time: 1hr (plus 2 hours maranating)

Ingredients

Butter milk fried quail

3 quail, each carved into 4
Sea salt & black pepper
285ml buttermilk
100g plain flour
50g corn flour
50g rice flour
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. onion powder
½ tsp sweet paprika
¼ tsp ground turmeric
2 litres of vegetable oil for deep frying

Waffles

180g plain flour
10g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate soda
Sea salt
180ml buttermilk
36g butter, melted
1 small egg
1 tbsp. veg oil

Maple dressing

200ml maple syrup
10g yellow mustard seeds
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
½ tsp mustard powder
1 sprig fresh thyme

Hints and Tips

Prepare the quail by removing the back bone. Cut along each side of the spine from the parsons nose down to the neck until the back bone comes away in one piece. Turn the quail over so that the breast is facing towards you and then cut in half lengthwise down the center. Cut each half in half again to separate the breast from the thigh. If you run your finger inbetween the thigh bone and the breast you should be able to follow round with a knife and seperate easily. If you have time I recommend removing the rib cage from the breast, which is easily achieved by running your fingers between the bones and the breast meat. Trim away any excess skin or bone that may be left so you’re left with just breast meat and the wing bone. This makes it much more enjoyable to eat.

Buttermilk fried quail with waffles

Method

Quail

The first thing you need to do is to divide your qauils into 4 portions each. See hints and tips for the steps you need to follow but don’t worry, you can always ask your butcher to do this for you!
Place half the buttermilk in a bowl and season well with salt. Add the quail pieces and coat well, leave to marinate for 2 hours or overnight.
Combine the flours, garlic and onion powder and spices in a bowl and season. Pour the remaining buttermilk into a separate bowl and season. Get a baking sheet ready to pop the fully prepared quail on.
Start coating the quail by placing them into the seasoned flour. Transfer the quail pieces into the bowl of buttermilk and salt and then the flour mix again to double coat. Shake of any excess and transfer to the baking sheet.
Heat the oil in deep fat fryer to 175 degrees. Once hot submerge the quail in the hot oil and fry for 6 mins until golden brown. Transfer to kitchen paper and drain.

Waffles

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, bircarb and salt into a bowl and whisk together. In a separate bowl whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter and egg. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and until you have a fairly thick batter. Pop in the fridge until you’re ready to use.
Brush the hot waffle iron with oil and pour 2 ladles of the batter into the centre and spead roughly round the iron. Cook for approx. 3 mins until the waffles are cooked through and golden.

Syrup

Combine all the ingredients for the maple syrup in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Take off the heat and leave the flavours to infuse while it cools. Remove the thyme but leave the mustard seeds in for bite.

To plate

Place the waffle segments on the plate and add the quail, standing up to provide height. To make this lovely dish even more luxurious, add a fried duck egg and then drizzle with the maple syrup.

Quail_waffle_egg