Tonight the weather was awesome for me to grill out and it was very relaxing after all the errands we ran today. We didn’t eat outside because it was a bit chilly with the wind by the time dinner was ready, but the meal turned out to be great!

Grilled Quail with Pepper Jelly Glaze

8 Quail

1/2 cup of pepper jelly

3 tablespoons of bourbon

1/2 teaspoon Worcesterhire sauce

Olive Oil

In a bowl, throw in the quail and pour olive oil with salt and pepper to taste. Make sure the quail are coated well.

Let the quail sit while you prepare the glaze and the potatoes. To make the glaze, whisk the jelly, burbon, and worcestershire in a bowl until smooth or as close to smooth as you can get.

Ok now the majority of the quail part is done except for cooking them, so this is a good time to go heat up the grill. Once I turn the grill on, I make my rosemary potatoes.

Rosemary Potatoes

8 red potatoes

Olive Oil

Fresh Rosemary (I forgot to include in the picture)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut the red potatoes in quarters and put into a foil sheet. Then coat the potatoes with olive oil and then sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper.

As you can see I put this on the grill right away and cover with foil. I let this cook while I go back inside to make my salad for tonight. (The potatoes take a while to cook, so I put these on the grill first to give them plenty of time to cook.)

Tomato Basil Salad

1 tomato

half of a mozzarella ball

4 fresh basil leaves

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Cut the tomato into slices and put on a plate. Then, cut the mozzarella into slices and add the fresh basil to the plate as well. Now it is time to drizzle the olive oil and balsamic. Remember, this is all about plating, so when you ’dress the salad’ with the oil and balsamic, you’ll need to clean up any stray dressing from the edges of the plate.

Time to grill the quail. I take the glaze outside with me and throw the quail on the grill and start coating them right away.

I continue to flip and coat the quail with the pepper glaze over the 15 minutes it takes to cook them over high heat. Here is a picture of me waiting for the quail to finish.

Remember you have to contintue to add the glaze while the quail is cooking.

So on the grill I have the potatoes and the quail and they are both cooking together. Once everything is done it is time for plating and here is how I set the main dish up:

Here is the wine I matched up with the dinner (which I am drinking a glass right now as I am doing my posting):

Now here is the set-up for my dinner with Jen.

Now see that dinner wasn’t so hard and the sound of “Hey, tonight I am going to make you grilled quail with a pepper glaze” should really get her attention

Check back tomorrow for the Sunday dinner menu which I am still contemplating what to make.  I know Jen will be expecting a great meal after being forced to watch NASCAR with me all day–I may have to get a bit creative.

Happy Cooking!