The climate of this country is far from being advantageous for these delicate birds, which migrate even from France at the end of the autumn; the quails in this country must be fed in confinement to fatten, before they are fit to be eaten, which destroys much of that beautiful flavour they possess in France, where they feed in their native vineyards.
No. 923. Cailles en macédoine de légumes aux feuilles de vignes.
Truss eight quails, fold each one up in a vine-leaf, and then in a thin slice of bacon, run a skewer through them sideways, which tie upon the spit; then have some vegetables of all kinds, cut up in thin slices, which moisten with a little oil, have then some sheets of paper, upon which lay the vegetables, lay the quails on the spit over them, breasts downwards, cover well with the vegetables, fold the paper round, and tie them up; roast from twenty-five to thirty minutes before a sharp fire; you have prepared a border of vegetables as for Chartreuse (No. 604), but not to stand more than two inches in height; fill it with stewed cabbage and boiled French beans, turn it out on your dish, and dress the quails upon it, their tails towards the centre and their breasts outside; make a pyramid of boiled green peas on the top, and serve a white jardinière sauce (No. 98) round.
No. 924. Cailles aux petits pois.
Proceed exactly as above with the quails, but make the stand entirely of green peas nicely boiled; have ready a pint of stewed peas (No. 1077) with which you have put the quails a few minutes, fill the centre with them, dress the quails round as above, and pour the remainder of the peas in the dish.
No. 925. Turban des Cailles à la Financière.
Roast eight quails in vegetables, but without the vine-leaf and bacon, make a border of forcemeat as for ris de veau à la Turque (No. 673), stand it in your dish, then make a ragout financière (No. 50), but using game sauce instead of brown sauce; put your quails five minutes in the sauce, then dress them round on the border of forcemeat; garniture in the centre, sauce over, and serve.
No. 926. Turban des Cailles aux concombres.
Roast seven quails as before, cut each one in halves lengthwise, have also fourteen pieces of cucumbers the same size, stewed as No. 103, dress them alternately with the halves of quails upon a border of mashed potatoes, and serve with a sauce à la purée de concombres (No. 105) in the centre.