Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food

Recipe: Grilled Quail in Port Marinade

Prepare the marinade first:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (NOT extra virgin!)
• 2 medium shallots, minced fine
• 1 cup tawny port
• 1-1/2 teaspoons crystallized ginger, minced fine
• 2 teaspoons Chinese five spice powder
• Pinch allspice
• Pinch anise seeds
• teaspoon black pepper
• dash hot sauce

Put the olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Sweat the shallots until translucent, but not colored. Add the port and bring to the boil; then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Add the spices. Simmer 5 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.

I strongly recommend using real Portuguese tawny port rather than domestic imitations. If you have trouble finding Chinese five spice powder, as I did, you can substitute Emeril's Asian Essence.

• 4 semi-boneless quaill

Using poultry shears, remove the backbone from each bird. Gently press down on the breast bone to flatten the birds. Put a bamboo skewer through the legs and body to hold them together (clip off the skewer ends close to the birds, leaving enough to grab for removal before serving).

Put the birds in the cooled marinade and marinate in the refrigerator for 8 hours (overnight is okay).

Preheat the grill. Remove the birds from the marinade and set aside. Reduce the remaining marinade by half in a small sauce pan.

Grill the birds four minutes to the side, basting with the reduced marinade a couple of times.

I served the quail with baby peas and couscous with toasted pine nuts and golden raisins. We drank a 1999 Joseph Phelps Syrah, whose smoky flavors worked really well with the gamy meat and the caramelized marinade on the quails' skin.

Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as an first course. This is a substantially modified version of a recipe taken from The Perfect Match.