quail ln crockpot, help me

[Chaneylake]

going to put 4 wild quail in crockpot with 1 or 2 cans of Cream of Mushroom soup, what else do I need to add

final result is to lay over a bed of brown rice

 

[JMcB]

I've only used a crockpot for pot roast, so not sure. May be some thick slices of fresh mushrooms and celery. You could try browning the quail before potting them in the pot.

 

[Chaneylake]

I've only used a crockpot for pot roast, so not sure. May be some thick slices of fresh mushrooms and celery. You could try browning the quail before potting them in the pot.

I am wanting them to cook off of the bone if this is possible, I hope that I can spoon the crock pot later into the cooking and pull out the bone

 

[JMcB]

I know a pressure cooker w/ some stock will get them off the bone. Either way, quail on wild rice can't be too bad.

 

[Chaneylake]

Cook it the same way you cook dove and you'll be fine. Its a fattier bird, so less can go wrong.

(cream of mushroom soup gets no comment, out of respect, of course -no one else gets a pass, though)

the no comment confuses me, what would you do, you can not hurt my feelings, lol, just ask Andrew, lol again

 

[Chaneylake]

Cook it the same way you cook dove and you'll be fine. Its a fattier bird, so less can go wrong.

(cream of mushroom soup gets no comment, out of respect, of course -no one else gets a pass, though)

the no comment confuses me, what would you do, you can not hurt my feelings, lol, just ask Andrew, lol again

you have to understand, I do not know how to cook, but I can read directions

 

[redblood]

the crockpot quail over rice sounds pretty darn good. the flavor of quail is one type of wild game that very few folks try to "camp". best there is in my book, by far

 

[BamaProud]

This is what I would do.

Spatchcock the quail:
http://homecooking.about.com/od/poultry ... y-step.htm

Salt/pepper the quail. Set them aside.

Heat 2 large Cast Iron skillets Add a tablespoon of butter and some finely chopped Celery, Carrots and Onion, to the skillet on medium to high heat, cook until tender.

Place the quail in the same skillet with a little peanut oil and butter, then put the other (hot) skillet on top of the quail so you are cooking on both sides. Leave it alone for about 2 mins(there will be smoke).

Remove the quail, set aside for a few minutes.

Add about 1/4 cup white wine and 1/4 cup dark beer to the skillet with the veggies, scrape all the bits off the bottom of the pan.

Return the quail to the pan. Add some tarragon and other fresh herbs return to low/medium heat and cook until tender.

You should be fork tender after about 20-30 mins.

That should be great with wild rice...maybe not falling off the bone, but it should be very tender. You can cook pretty much anything "falling off the bone tender" if you cook it long enough, but you can also turn it into mushy mess.

If you want the Creamy consistency as suggested in your original post, I would omit the beer and add 1/2 cup Heavy Cream.

 

[BamaProud]

^although that has nothing to do with a Crockpot...so I'm probably no help.

 

[WMAn]

Cook it the same way you cook dove and you'll be fine. Its a fattier bird, so less can go wrong.

(cream of mushroom soup gets no comment, out of respect, of course -no one else gets a pass, though)

the no comment confuses me, what would you do, you can not hurt my feelings, lol, just ask Andrew, lol again

you have to understand, I do not know how to cook, but I can read directions

Cream of mushroom soup falls under Poser's Seven Deadly Sins of The Culinary Arts.

1. Referring to any food that is not prepared with fire and smoke as BBQ
2. Using italian dressing for anything
3. Soaking venison in water or salt water for any reason
4. Removing the skin from game birds
5. Liquid smoke
6. Cream of mushroom soup
7. Mention of the words "tough" or "gamey" when referring to any cut of wild game

Cream of mushroom soup harkens back to the 50s and 60s when food processors (Campbell's Soup) in an effort to sale more junk told home cooks that the stuff from a can is better and easier. It's not, better or easier.

Cream of mushroom soup is made with cheap ingredients and uses huge amounts of salt to cover up its shortcomings. You can do better yourself with a little cream and mushrooms. Start here Google - homemade cream of mushroom soup

Now, truth be told, cream of mushroom soup in a crock pot can be tasty and will probably turn out pretty good. Chaney, if you're wanting to learn more about cooking try http://www.cookscountry.com/ . You can get all the recipes from this season's tv show for free. Cooks Country really helped accelerate my learning curve.

 

[redblood]

the crockpot quail over rice sounds pretty darn good. the flavor of quail is one type of wild game that very few folks try to "camo". best there is in my book, by far

 

[Chaneylake]

the crockpot quail over rice sounds pretty darn good. the flavor of quail is one type of wild game that very few folks try to "camo". best there is in my book, by far

I kept the meal simple since I am not a finished cooker of foods, I did the quail and creame of mushroom soup in crock pot, it was good but the gal sharing dinner was far better

I will make better plans on the next batch of birds

 

[John3]

Cook it the same way you cook dove and you'll be fine. Its a fattier bird, so less can go wrong.

(cream of mushroom soup gets no comment, out of respect, of course -no one else gets a pass, though)

the no comment confuses me, what would you do, you can not hurt my feelings, lol, just ask Andrew, lol again

Just because you said your feelings can't be hurt: who'd you get to shoot Those quail for you since you couldn't hit them? Lol

 

[JimFromTN]

4. Removing the skin from game birds

If anyone is interested in a spring snow goose hunt, poser is doing the plucking. Talking about carpel tunnel.

Does this include doves as well?

7. Mention of the words "tough" or "gamey" when referring to any cut of wild game

How about rubbery and awful?

 

[TAFKAP]

Grilled plucked dove is one of the finest game dinners I've eaten. I started doing it this past dove season, and I went into it hoping that it would be terrible and not worth the effort. It really was.

 

[JimFromTN]

4. Removing the skin from game birds

If anyone is interested in a spring snow goose hunt, poser is doing the plucking. Talking about carpel tunnel.

Does this include doves as well?

7. Mention of the words "tough" or "gamey" when referring to any cut of wild game

How about rubbery and awful?

Actually, snow geese are one of the few birds that should be skinned. Their skin doesn't taste very good. Snow geese themselves take a fair amount of work to make tasty, but it can be done.

As for "rubbery" and "awful", that would be the fault of the cook, not the meat

When making the comparison of say a squirrel to a grain fed beef fillet, couldn't one come to the conclusion that the squirrel is tough in comparison therefore justifying the statement that squirrel is tough? Have you ever eaten moose? I can without any hesitation state that a bull moose is tough. Its delicious but tough. Its the best wild game meat I have ever tasted but if you don't cook it until it falls apart or beat it with a sledge hammer, its like chewing on a rubber tire, even raw. I have had the same issue with an old wild boar I killed. The loins had to be hammered or cooked into submission is order for it to be chewable.

What you call ducky, I call awful. To each his own. I don't eat guts either. I am a wuss in that dept although I have eaten tripe tacos at some of the fine authetic mecxican establishments around nashville and found them to be quite tastey as long as you don't eat the meat by itself.

 

[JimFromTN]

I changed my post while you were replying. Substitute chicken livers for turds if it makes you happy. They are the same in my book. I can make it all taste good. I have been duck hunting for 25 years and squirrel hunting for 35 years. I have learned how to cook them. The question is whether or not its worth the effort. I have deer, wild boar, moose, caribou, and black bear in my freezer which are all very easy to make tastey. I have to ask myself why bother with duck and squirrel anymore. They always end up at the bottom of the freezer until I get the motivation to bother with them.

Not to brag about myself but some freinds came down from Alaska and brought some caribou which I cooked for them. They said it was the best they had ever eaten. Mind you they have lived in Alaska for 20 years and have been eating it the whole time. I know how to cook wild game.

 

[Chaneylake]

I changed my post while you were replying. Substitute chicken livers for turds if it makes you happy. They are the same in my book. I can make it all taste good. I have been duck hunting for 25 years and squirrel hunting for 35 years. I have learned how to cook them. The question is whether or not its worth the effort. I have deer, wild boar, moose, caribou, and black bear in my freezer which are all very easy to make tastey. I have to ask myself why bother with duck and squirrel anymore. They always end up at the bottom of the freezer until I get the motivation to bother with them.

Not to brag about myself but some freinds came down from Alaska and brought some caribou which I cooked for them. They said it was the best they had ever eaten. Mind you they have lived in Alaska for 20 years and have been eating it the whole time. I know how to cook wild game.

Those are very valid points. I got to say that, in a lot of ways, I kind of hate duck hunters as a general, sub group of hunters. Duck hunters, for the most part, just don't have interest in eating what they kill. For the most part, they seem to be largely interested in arbitrary numbers (like killing a thousand ducks in a season just to do it). There are no shortage of very exclusive duck clubs around the region, you know $5,000+ a year memberships, where there hasn't been a single duck eaten by a member in a generation. Some of these places even hire out resident chefs to cook them steak dinners at the lodge. I've always found it odd that a hunting club, where many animals are being killed on a daily and weekly basis, (in the case of a duck club, hundred of animals killed a week), would choose (and pay money) to serve domestic meats as their primary entrees. Duck hunting as a general pursuit, seems to have lost touch with the roots of hunting more than any other subset of hunting. I don't blame the people who have given it up one bit, though I hope what has happened to duck hunting doesn't happen to deer hunting. Duck hunting needs a renaissance, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. I'm terrible duck hunter (in fact, I'm ot even a duck hunter, I'm just a hunter who sometimes kills some ducks that fly over my head), but maybe that's a good thing because ducks are a lot of work.

Squirrels can take a lot of work, too. In fact, I completely burned myself out on Squirrels last year when I competed in the Squirrel cookoff. I spent so much time hunting, cleaning, skinning, brinig, marinating and cooking squirrels, that I have lost pretty much all interested in it. At least temporarily. (I did go opening day because it is a tradition and I did hunt 1 day while in WV over Christmas). So, I feel ya and I don't blame you one bit for swearing both off. If you are going to hunt them, do it right. If you're not going to do it right, hunt something else.

very good post Poser, the turd thing is a true compliment to your cooking ability, I perfected wing shooting and you have perfected cooking in my opinion

squirrel is by far my favorite wild game, rabbit is next, I can not wait to see your skills on these two critters

 

[JimFromTN]

I don't blame the people who have given it up one bit, though I hope what has happened to duck hunting doesn't happen to deer hunting.

Actually, when I first started deer hunting over 25 years ago, I knew several people that hunted deer but did not eat the meat. They gave away every deer they killed. Of course, no one knew how to cook it which is why people thought that marinating it in Italian dressing was so great. Its why people soaked the meat in salt water. All the ways that you think are so offensive are a result of people trying to mask the flavor of the meat because no one knew how to cook it. Deer meat was rare to find 30 plus years ago. Our seasons did not become all that liberal until 10 years ago or less with the creation of unit L. I have been cooking deer for all of the years I have hunted it and in the beginning I made some dishes that the dogs literally would not eat. I had read about a recipe where you soak the meat in water and baking soda. The meat turned white and had absolutely no flavor. The worst part about that is that it was a little fawn that I had killed on opening day of bow season. It still had spots. The meat was pink like veal. Makes me want to pick up my bow again. Makes my mouth water and my heart pump a little faster just thinking about it.

I completely understand why the duck hunting clubs are the way they are. Ducking hunting is a blast but it takes allot of work to make waterfowl taste good. I would say that probably 90% of all water fowl shot are breasted out. I doubt the majority of that meat gets eaten. I don't know how many times I have walked out of a duck hunting area and had someone offer me all of their ducks or saw a pile of duck carcasses in the parking lot minus the breasts. Its al because no one knows how to cook it.

 

[BamaProud]

Grilled plucked dove is one of the finest game dinners I've eaten. I started doing it this past dove season, and I went into it hoping that it would be terrible and not worth the effort. It really was.

I bet I have plucked 10,000 doves in my life. Until about 5 years ago I had never even heard of "breasting" one out. When I was growing up mMany mornings after a dove hunt were spent fishing or shrimping while plucking doves. Doing it in a boat makes cleanup much easier.