Spiced Fried Quail
Marinated in lots of flavorful spices then soaked in buttermilk and dredged in flour and fried, these Spiced Fried Quail will surprise you with how delicious they are.
Ingredients
- 10 whole quail cleaned and butterflied
- 1 tsp ground cumin seeds
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cajun seasoning
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 gallon buttermilk
- 2 C cornmeal
- 2 C all purpose flour
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- peanut oil or frying
Instructions
- Mix together the cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, cajun seasoning, oregano and thyme.
- In a large bowl add the quail and sprinkle the quail with the spice mixture. Make sure everything is well coated in seasoning. Place plastic wrap over the top of the bowl and put it in the fridge for at least 8 hours or up to 48.
- Two hours before you are ready to fry the birds, pull the bowl out of the fridge and place it on the counter. Put in the 1/2 gallon of buttermilk and stir the birds and buttermilk around together. Let this sit on the counter for two hours.
- Place a large rimmed baking sheet in the oven with a wire rack set inside of it. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
- Mix the cornmeal, flour and salt in a resealable plastic bag or a large brown paper bag.
- In a large cast iron skillet, fill it up halfway with peanut oil and turn the heat to medium. Allow the oil to heat up and reach 350 degrees.
- Once the oil is warm, pull three quail out of the buttermilk and allow them to drain just slightly. Then toss them into the bag with the cornmeal and flour. Toss the birds around in the flour mixture until they are well coated. Shaking the birds slightly to remove the excess flour mixture put them into the hot oil to cook. I start breast side down and allow them to cook for 3 minutes. Then turn and cook them an additional 2 minutes. Pull the birds out of the oil and place them on the wire rack set in the oven to keep warm while you cook the remaining quail.
- Serve Warm.