Bacon Wrapped Quail with Sausage and Brown Rice Stuffing

Quail, my favorite bird. When we were researching animals to raise before moving to the homestead, quail was one of the top animals we wanted to have. Recently, I ordered and hatched out a Jumbo variety of Coturnix Quail. Out of 120 eggs, we unfortunately only had 16 hatch. Luckily, most of them were girls so we will be able to grow the flock quickly over the summer. This week, we decided to cull out the extra males we had in order to keep the male to female ratio right for breeding. We had 4 extras, which I thought would be a perfect dinner for my father in law visiting from Nebraska. He was in town to help care and advise us on our new baby goats that came in to this world just last week..

After cleaning the quail, it looked like they werent as big as they could have been, but they were still a good portion for one bird per person. I have wanted to try my hand at stuffed quail, and these 4 birdies were perfect for the recipe I have had floating in my head for a while. Here is the ingredients that I used in this dish:

• 4 large quail (about 1 1/2 - 2 lbs)
• 8 strips of bacon
• 2 Links of Italian sausage
• 1 cup of brown rice
• 2 cups of chicken stock
• 1 Medium onion - finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic - chopped fine
• 1 tsp oregano
• salt and pepper

First, remove Italian sausage from its casing, and add to a medium pot with the onion and garlic. Cook on meduim high until the sausage is browned and the onions turn transparent.

Next, we add the stock, oregano and brown rice. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender. Set aside to cool. You will want the filling close to room temp before stuffing the quail. While the rice is cooling, preheat your oven to 350 F.

The filling will also continue to absorb and thicken as it cools, and will appear to have created its own sauce.

Lightly salt and pepper your quail, inside and out. Spoon the rice mixture into the cavity of the quail, filling completely. Wrap your quail in the bacon, and if needed, use toothpicks to secure in place. You will want to encase all of the bird in bacon to seal in flavor and moisture. If you have excess rice, make a bed in the bottom of the pan and place the bacon wrapped quail on top.

Bake the quail at 350 for 35-40 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and brown. Remove from the heat and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes.

Now we eat! I served it with a side of steamed broccoli, lightly salted. The quail was moist and tender and light, and the crispy smoky bacon added a great contrast. The filling was bursting with a savory and herb flavor, and the rice had a perfect texture and nuttiness that brought everything together. I love cooking with quail and trying new ways to prepare it each time. Thank you so much for reading today and showing your support. I am so happy to share one of my greatest passions with you and hope I can inspire you to create your own flavors and try new things! Thanks for stopping by today and steem on my steemians!