Believe it or not, the divide in America today is nothing compared to the Vietnam divide. In order to avoid the draft, people took drastic measures and got married, started a family, or just plain old left America. Staying in the university was the path I chose to stay out of the draft to serve in Vietnam. Once the draft was tamed for me, thanks to my very high draft number, I dropped the book learning & hit the highway, Colorado bound to find my fame & fortune. My college buddy, David Russell who was kin to Bill Russell who happened to be Davy Crockett’s side kick, joined me on my adventure. So we pioneered our way to the wild west. David had a brother-in-law in south Denver who gave us jobs as surveyors. I did that job for about 5 minutes before I got antsy for the slopes and I drove into the mountains and found a seasonal job as a desk clerk at a ski lodge in Aspen/Snowmass. Part of the job interview was to show a current lease. The hard part of living in that area was finding cost friendly living quarters. I found a seasonal fishing cabin on the Frying Pan River and became gainfully employed. My job was doing the night shift at the lodge, which consisted of showing up at the lodge at 11:00pm (very high and not the Rocky Mountain kind of high), posting room fees and tax, blowing up an air mattress, taking a lovely drug induced 6 hour nap, and then waking up at 6am to greet the early rising skiers. I would be right behind the guests to hit the slopes and ski all day & do my preshift partying at night until 11:00pm, then repeat. As you know, snow recreation is seasonal, so I would relocate to Lake Travis every summer and worked out a very similar work/play situation, but on water. I did this for several years ….. ski on snow in Snowmass in the winter & ski on water in Austin during the summer….why ever stop.
In the very early 70’s a great opportunity to start a restaurant in the lodge in the Wildwood Inn in Snowmass was offered and I could not refuse. Soon I found myself the co owner of a fine dining restaurant with very fine food. I had found my passion & I was only 24 years old!
It was the pioneer days of the restaurant world and I happened to be at the right place at the right time with a fearless attitude. “How hard could it be?”
A comment question has been what is your favorite dish? The standard answer was “whatever I’m cooking”. After many moons, my answer has changed. The smoked quail in a honey-cilantro-ginger glaze atop baby spinach tossed in a hot pig vinaigrette is my fave. Here it is.
Jeffrey Blank
Smoked Quail in Honey Cilantro Glaze Atop a Spinach Salad in a Hot Pig Vinaigrette
My favorite semi boneless quail is available at Whole Foods, Central Market or on the Internet. Alternate possibilities are boneless duck breast, pheasant, goose, pigeon or chicken. When you use chicken, the smoky grilled flavor is very important. I use the Cameron stove top smoker which is also available on the Internet. It gives the meat a great smoky flavor and is much easier to use than firing up the big outdoor smoker. I use apple wood chips, but any fruit wood chip is great. Cherry wood is my second favorite.
It is important to salt & pepper the meat before smoking. Smoking is the best flavor, but if you can’t smoke then grill. If grilling, get the most char grill flavor as possible. That bitter/char flavor is important as it balances the honey sweet glaze flavor.
If your going to cook my recipes it is important that you invest in a stove top smoker. I use smoke much like I use salt & pepper. It is a key flavor, very rustic.
Tools
Stove top smoker with wood chips
Sharp chefs knife
Sauce pan
Sauté pan
Whisk
Several bowls
Pastry brush
Mandolin
Serves 6
You can make the glaze, vinaigrette & smoke the quail the day before & refrigerate. All needs to be warm at plating time.
Hot Pig Vinaigrette
1/4 cup course grain creole mustard
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup local honey (local honey helps your allergies) During one of our cooking schools, an attendee asked where to purchase low cal honey? The laughter muffled my answer.
1 cup cooked bacon bits
Combine all the above & simmer 10 minutes.
Honey Soy Cilantro Glaze
1 & 1/2 cups local honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup fresh ginger, minced
1/4 cup garlic, minced
1/2 cup red onion, minced
1/2 stick of sweet butter
2 bunches of cilantro, chopped
Set aside the cilantro & butter. Simmer all the above for 10 minutes on medium heat. Turn off the heat stir in the cilantro & whisk in the butter. Finish & thicken with 2 pads of butter….it’s very French
If you did not smoke the quail in advance, do so now. If you did pre-smoke the quail, dip it in the glaze and then re-warm the quail in the oven at 250degrees for 5 minutes.
To assemble:
Jjulienne a Granny Smith apple Warm the quail and dip in the glaze
In a large bowl place 6 handfuls of baby spinach
Add the hot vinaigrette to wilt the spinach
Divide the wilted spinach on to 6 plates. Top the spinach with julienned apples. Dip the quail in the glaze one last time before you place it on top of the apples. Garnish the plate with mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. Serve
This is appropriately served as an appetizer or a salad-2 in one. It is hearty enough to make a great lunch.