Vale Narelle

Narelle 4 Feb 1998 -- 21 September 2011

Quail Sera Sera

It’s the end of a big Sunday service, let’s call him Bill, he quietly meanders into the kitchen with an impish smile, with thanks all round to the kitchen team asks if perchance we liked the taste of wild quail? Our collective eyes light up... a kindred spirit. Over a quiet drink he told us of his passion for hunting quail and how his father had also hunted and explained the intricacies of its storage and preparation.  A week later with a rendezvous in Camperdown we get a large box [bag] of superb stubble quail. Now the packaging was intriguing but so elegant. The birds are layered on straw from the fields where they were shot, a large icepack on the top and bottom. Bill explained that this was the same method his father had used during the depression to deliver game to local pubs to supplement the farming income. We spoke about how to dress them and his method is something like this...

First cut off the head, wing tips and feet with a pair of scissors.

 Plucking is a quiet skill best performed in company with some good bottles and plenty of conversation Bill does this in the field around a campfire with his mates. I like to age them in feather on the straw in the cool room for about 4-7 days. The feathers and skins are delicate but after about a dozen you get used to the way they are layered. Some start at the back and work their way to the neck  others go in reverse, the main thing is to try not to tear the skin. Do not try to use hot water as they are far too delicate When they are plucked rinse and place them into a bucket of icy salted water [10%] salt this begins to sterilise the skin.

When you have plucked your bag make another icy salt bath and cut along the spine with the scissors and remove the internal organs. Rinse and place in the second iced salt water bath. Leave them in the brine for about 4 hours . The quail are now ready to cook or they will store in the fridge for about a week. Sadly most hunters stew them for far too long. They are quite tender and only require about 10 minutes in a hot oven. I like to add a little garlic, salt and juniper into the cavity and bard them with some tasty form of pig fat like speck or bacon and cover with a fine layer of crepinette for roasting. Stubble quail are small with dark flesh but extremely tasty a real wild flavour. A couple of weeks later our rendezvous is in Inverleigh and the prize is Brown Quail from the islands in Bass Straight. Bill has a  hunt with his close buddies once a year,  the old dog patiently waiting in the car a calming companion.  Thanks Bill for reminding me that the best food hardly ever makes it to a restaurant.   Now where are those Morels?....

Capocollo for Claire

Hi Claire
We do a similar method to your Nonno but a wet cure as opposed to a dry one. Click on the photos for a larger resolution. First we choose the neck or scotch fillet of pork that does have fat and do not trim as we feel it adds more flavour. We rub a generous amount of salt very carefully into every little crevice of the meat, this is the most important part-- take your time. After 12 hours the meat will have given off quite a bit of moisture and we turn it every 4 hrs or so for 4 days. We then dry it and cover with a spice mix of paprika, coriander, black pepper and chilli. Then we wrap it in collagen paper and tie it very tight with string and cover with the sausage netting. We also use a piece of AG pipe to thread the stocking on. Then as you do, we hang it in the shed for a couple of months in cool winter weather. I hope you have done this with your Nonno so you can pass your families' methods on to the next generation. They will gather some moulds on the surface and its always good to have an expert to let you know if these are good moulds. The more surface mould the better the fermented flavour. This is the easiest of pork cuts to cure as there is no bone for air to get trapped in.
We vacuum pack them after they are done to stop them from continuing to dry out. Some people pack them in lard which does the same thing.  Photos from Steve and Ingrid.

 

How the National Food Plan Stole My Homework

As some of you have been reminding me I have been slack and not updating the blog for ages.So let me know which if any of these you would like expanded?

How it feels to roast your first batch of Coffee Peruvian,  Table Top, and Ethiopian Yirgfacheffe?

And is it a fallacy to wait for 3 days before brewing a freshly roasted batch? 

How to dress and age Wild Stubble and Brown quail with straw from the fields where it was shot?

  

Update on the Khorasan and Spelt trials now in its 3^rd Month ?

The Khorasan is winning by about 6 inches despite being sown a month later?

Is the first chapter of Grand Days by Frank Moorhouse the most appetising first chapter of any book?

 

How to make Capocollo?

How much cheese whey is added to generic supermarket milk?

Will anyone review Modernist Food or is it too heavy? 6 Kilos of ink.

How the upcoming wholesale fish market move has already changed the way you buy fish?

Why the National Food Plan, arguably the most important policy initiative that our little part of the blogsphere  seems to be obsessed with has been largely  ignored in both the mainstream and new media? Submissions are due on the 2nd Sept I have been trying to submit a response and will post it if I can?

Is there someone out there who could help me to redo the format of  this blog in a less clunky way?

And the only really serious question -

Will Geelong make it to the Grand Final?