Sous Vide Quail

Quail is a favourite meat, though it can be tough and dry. Aging the birds for two weeks before dressing the birds makes a big difference to the toughness, and cooking in a Sous Vide deals with the drying of the birds. The Sous Vide also deals with the other slightly frustrating thing about eating whole quail, the meat stays attached to the bones and is quite fiddly to remove.

This recipe is really, really good. The double sear and the Sous Vide give a crispy skinned quail that the meat falls off the bone. This recipe is up there with Quail Pie as my favourite way to eat Quail.

Sous Vide Quail with Pheasant Mousse Stuffing

Print

Course: Main Course

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 50 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

Recipe

• Whole Quail
• Salt

Pheasant Mousse

• 200g Pheasant Leg
• 50g Pheasant Liver
• 50g Butter
• 1/2 Cup Cream
• Herbs to taste

Instructions

Turn on the Sous Vide to 68.2 Degrees Celsius with a cook time of 90 minutes.

1. Remove any remaining feathers from the quail.
2. Pat dry & lightly salt.
3. Heat some oil in a pan until hot and crisp the quail skin, moving the quail to make sure all the skin is crisped up.
4. Stuff the quail with the mousse.
5. Seal the quail in a bag appropriate for the Sous Vide.
6. When the Sous Vide has hit the target temperature place the quail in the water bath and leave for 90 minutes.
7. Remove the Quail from the Sous Vide, open the packet and drain the fluid out. This fluid is very good for cooking mushrooms in.
8. In a pan of hot oil crisp up the Quail skin again.

Pheasant Mousse

1. Quantities can be altered to taste and availability.

2. Remove the bones from the legs
   

3. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend. 

Recipe Notes

I forgot to take good photos of the Quail because it smelt so good the last time I made it I ate it without thinking about the photo.