QUAIL EGGS, how to cook them, how to peel them and the best trick you will ever know, seriously, you're so welcome

I have a friend, here in Texas, his name is Robert and he's 84 years old and a recent widower,  I met him about 4 years ago, at a rifle club, where my son shoots precision pellets, but that's another story.

Robert has been adopted by my family, along with another couple whom I simply adore, but I'll embarrass them another time.  Back to Robert.

He loves quail eggs and asked if I would go with him to south Lockhart to get some.  He'd brought me eggs he'd pickled before and they were yummy.

We drove to Texas Quail, www.TexQuail.com , a wonderfully modern, clean yet way out in the country place to get our eggs.

**No, they didn't pay me or offer me free eggs or quail.  I just wanted to share with you where I got the eggs.  I did tell them I had a food blog, I did ask for a card but that's the extent.  I was tickled when we walked in to hear one of the wrangler wearing dudes rush out with an eager hand to greet Robert back, things like country charm and manners and politeness simply delight me and on that basis alone, I'd give them my business.**

I found out that TexQuail supplies HEB with these, boxed, frozen quail and while I have your attention, you need to go buy it, I have bought the whole quail and roasted them to absolute deliciousness, that's another post, but before I get it up, go and try any of these products, you will not be disappointed and you're buying local.  I didn't buy them before because I thought they were prepared cooked seasoned but they're not, it's just beautiful packaging  Try them, you'll like them. I promise.

Back to my gobsmacked moment...

While we drove to Lockhart from Austin, I drove, Robert and I talked about, amongst other things, quail and quail eggs.  I love them, I told him but they're a pain to peel if you want to boil them for anything.  He looked over at me and started to laugh, in a deep, low, back country, genuine laugh.  You just don't know how't'do'it. He used to raise quail so I had a reasonable amount of faith in his insights. This was yet another moment in time where I was absolutely and totally at the mercy of an old worlder who knew long ago common sense stuff that I needed to know.  I'm going to share with you now exactly how to do it.  I tested, twice, three times, to be sure it wasn't a fluke,  how on earth did I live this long and NOT know how to peel a quail egg...  seriously, thanks Robert, you've rocked my world

THIS is how to do it, there's no recipe, this is a method:

TRACY PEELS QUAIL EGGS

yep, that's the title we're going with

Step one, obtain quail eggs. If you're local, go down to TexasQuail (www.texquail.com) and head into the office, you can tell them you saw this post but you're not getting anything free because of me, just sayin'.  They are $3/dozen.

Bring enough water to generously cover the eggs to a boil, I add a little salt.  I put the eggs into a dry ladle to transfer them to the boiling water, set timer for 5 minutes.  You want a gentle boil, not a witch cauldron boil

    

DING!  after 5 minutes, drain quickly and put the eggs in a jar, cover with plain vinegar.  SERIOUSLY, you have to trust me... 

   

YES, the vinegar looks like it's boiling, it's not, YES the color is coming off the eggs, it's freaking me out  and does every single time.

   

I skim the brown every little bit and they're turning WHITE?! The dots fall off??  WHAT?
Robert told me to just leave them on the counter, covered in vinegar but an open jar and just forget about them. He said he usually leaves them over night, (because he cooks them then goes to bed) so the shell disintegrates completely and you just have to peel the membrane.

 

At 4 hours, I couldn't stand it and picked one out... (OH NO WAY)  ITS like LEATHER!?!?!  Robert told me to pinch the fat end and pop the small air bubble and the "shell" will fall away with a gentle pull.  So, pull I do...

   

NO WAY!  It's peeled, perfectly, smoothly, no digs or pully bits, no divots, no holes, just smooth and clean.  Wow, did I mention wow? I rinsed it quickly in clear water, and now to get in there

  

PERFECT, the white is tender, the yolk perfectly hard cooked, I like to sprinkle it with salt and pepper and pop them in my mouth,  Fully expecting the egg to wreak like and taste like vinegar, nope, nuts, nothing.  Doesn't taste like anything except quail egg.  Robert told me the membrane protects the egg from tasting like vinegar, I didn't believe him, I was SO wrong.

I still simply do not believe it worked and I still do not believe they don't taste like vinegar.  How on earth did I get this old and not know this trick?  

Share this with everyone you know but be sure to credit Robert, through me, because I wouldn't have believed this method would work or even try it if it had come from anyone else. 

There you go, now you can pickle, eat, devil or slice quail eggs to your heart's content

Wow, Robert... got any more culinary secrets you thought "everyone with sense" knew?   I'm going to walk around with a pad and paper to steal the tidbits from now on!!  THANKS !

/enjoy 

Tracy

Smoking meat and BBQ; I live in Texas, I should be pretty good at it by now.

I live in Austin, Texas.  Austin has the best music, the coolest people (me included!) and the best BBQ.  I wanted to try my hand at the BBQ part.  I think the best restaurant, for BBQ, in town is La Barbecue.  I dream about that pulled pork sandwich, truly I do.  I went for their opening and have been back whenever I can sneak over there.  I picked it for my birthday meal with a friend who flew in from Canada.  It was freezing that day.  I wore a screaming hot pink feather boa with my sweatshirt.  It''s how we do winter in Austin.

    

It's not far from another famous BBQ joint, Franklins.  I've had Franklins, it's all hype and a little bit of overpriced meat.  You want REAL BBQ in Austin?  you want ambiance, quality, delicious and a real live REASON to stand in a line?  Go to La Barbecue, seriously, the (local) others are duds.  I do have some solid suggestions for out of town joints to chow down, but, that's another post.  Today, it's about me.

I've done a bunch of BBQ crawls around the area, where you get up early and pile into trucks and drive from one location to the next sampling the best BBQ they have.  Yeah, I've had my fair share of meat coma days. 

ANYway, I make a pretty good brisket, in the oven.  I make pretty good ribs, in the pressure cooker then the broiler but I haven't smoked anything and I was starting to feel like less of Texan than I could be. 

I have no problem whatsoever with the electric smoker over a standard wood smoker.  It does the same thing as a classic smoker without the drama of keeping temperature.  It's sort of like having an assistant watch the temperature without having to give them any beer.  It's the same meat, my own rub and wood smoke, I don't feel as though it's a cop out at all. 

I got a new smoker delivered yesterday, a Masterbuilt 30' Smokehouse.  I followed the directions to put it together, which took about 10 minutes.  I followed the directions do the 'preseason' which took 3 hours of which 2 1/2 minutes of that time involved me directly.

This morning I decided it was time and I was ready to face the smoker and to enter my name into the ring of pretty damned good smokers in Texas.  Yeah, I planned on being ordained after one time.  I know how good bbq and good smoked meat SHOULD taste and what the texture SHOULD be like.  I know how to cook.  How hard could this be? :D

TRACY'S SMOKED CHICKEN (and a RACK OF BABY BACK RIBS)

INGREDIENTS and QUICKIE instructions

2 chickens, about 4 lbs (they were on sale at HEB)
1 small rack of babyback ribs (also on sale, I prefer St.Louis style but that'll be next time)
salt, pepper, smoked paprika, oil
applewood smoking chips
1 Masterbuilt 30' Smokehouse Smoker


Rub meat.  Smoke meat 4 1/2 hours (weight of each chicken) at 225 with applewood chips, refill once. 

That's the short version.

This is how *I* did it.  Right or wrong?  Doesn't matter, it's my version: 

LONG WINDED DESCRIPTION OF MY METHOD (with pics!) 

I turned on the smoker, set it to 225, and went inside. 

I washed and dried the birds and ribs.  I had a cup of coffee. 

THEN, I sprinkled liberally with salt and pepper and smoked paprika.  I drizzled oil lightly over them and rubbed the seasonings in well.  I put them on a tray and took them outside.  The smoker was at temperature.  I filled the water holder with 1/2  a small beer.  I put the chickens on racks and the ribs on top.  

   
I closed the door and put wood chips, half soaked and half dry in the groovy little in the wall wood chip delivery system and went back inside.  I set my iphone timer for 2 hours.

THEY say don't peek, I had to peek

They're coming nicely.  I took the temperature of one of the chickens, it was 150something.  It occurred to me that I cook chickens in the oven for 5 hours so why was I fussing over the smoker?  I closed the door, reloaded some dry chips and went back inside the house.  I my timer for 2 1/2 hours.  

That follows the general rule I'd read about, 1 hr per lb for meat.  

At the 4 1/2 hour mark I went outside with my big tray and opened the door. AMAZING. The smell the sight AMAZING.  I didn't think they'd be THIS good.  

The ribs; perfect.  A perfect slight smoke ring, the meat tender and juicy and doesn't fall off the bone, yet melts when you pull it off with your teeth, gently.  AWESOME.  I've never made any ribs so good. 

The chicken; perfect.  Tender, juicy, smokey.  I'm shocked at how juicy it was really.  Wow. 

I highly HIGHLY recommend this product and method... Wow.

   

  

just.  wow.  

enjoy
/tracy

My Best Southern Biscuits -> just make these

I agree that I probably do have too many biscuit recipes here.  I wasn't going to put up another one but I've been asked for a while now how I make my biscuits.

I decided I should probably publish the one that *I* use every couple of days to replenish our stock :)

I have a pretty handy arsenal of biscuit recipes and methods in my head and I used to flip flop around which I'd make on any given day, usually depending on my mood.  I noticed that I stopped flipping about and stuck to this one recipe pretty consistently now and since I have the time, I took a million pictures of it this morning and here we are.  

One of the recipes that would come in and out of fashion for me was one I found in one of my old "old lady" cookbooks and have been using it as my standard, go to, the one I make, the one people ask me for, real old fashioned southern biscuit recipe.

I tweaked it a little bit and now it's THE recipe with THE method that I use all the time.  The recipe is EASY but the method is a little weird.  When you look at it, you'll think I'm being fussy and making an easy thing more difficult but truly, I'm not.  If you break it down, it's a mix, a few flips and a bake. Trust me, I make these 2-4 times a week and have for a really long time.

This recipe takes 5 minutes to put together and 15-20 minutes to cook then you are in soft, tender, delicious southern biscuit nirvana.  I promise you.

I haven't steered you wrong before and I'm not going to now.  This is one of those leap of faith moments.  Forget what you know about biscuit making, shake your shoulders out and do not fret.  My international tester made them and loved them.  I have faith you will too.

I had Connor take a million pictures, over my shoulder, as I made them for his breakfast this morning.  I timed it and it was 8 minutes from deciding to make them to popping them in the oven.  That's pretty quick and pretty easy.  I'm sorry there's so many but I wanted to show you, literally, step by step.

TRACY'S SOUTHERN STYLE BISCUITS

1 cup milk (I use 2%)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice (out of the big plastic green lemon jar I keep in the fridge, don't judge :)
2 1/4 cups *SELF RAISING flour
1 stick of **MARGARINE (again, don't judge)

optional: a couple of tsps of sugar if you feel the need, I add some 50% of the time

*IF you do not have self raising flour then make some.  For each cup of flour, add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt, mix it up, make 3 cups for this recipe and use it as "bench flour" as well.
**OK OK OK... in this recipe, I absolutely do use margarine, it's CHEAP and they come out beautifully and you can then justify slathering, thickly, the hot, fresh, biscuits with your best cold butter.  I think butter makes them too rich, if there is such a thing.

LONG WINDED WITH COMMENTARY AND PICTURES INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 450 and be sure your rack is on the top third of the oven.

Mix milk and lemon juice in a cup and leave for a few minutes.

Cut/mix margarine into flour with hands, combining until it looks like sand.  Use your fingers (like me) or two knives or two forks or a pastry cutter.

Make a well in the center and pour all the milk/lemon into it!  ACK!  SERIOUSLY!  Mix with a fork until it's a runny, batter like mix.  Take a moment to worry that you've done something wrong...  OK, look at the pictures now and see that you didn't :)

Pour (yeah, you have to pour this) dough on to HEAVILY floured board and with a bench scraper, start to fold it over itself.  No kneading or pushing, this stuff sticks like CRAZY at this point.  You want to dust lightly then fold with the scraper then turn, dust, fold, turn, and slowly, after about 8 turns, you have a very soft, smooth, lovely dough.  You can tell if it's too wet because it feels cold and wet.  IF you try to cut the biscuits and they stick together or go flat then it's not enough turns, trust me.  This sounds obnoxious but it's really easy and quick... look below before you judge it.  It takes a minute or two.  Connor said I should do a video showing it in real time I will next time I make these, which will be Sunday or maybe tomorrow.

Anyway, when it's a soft dough, pat it gently and cut biscuits out.  I use a 2 inch cutter, dipped in flour and cut straight down, no twisting.  I put the 9 (or 10 with a cooks treat) on a greased sheet, touching and bake at 450 for 16 minutes, then I spin the tray and cook them for another 4.  Butter the tops lightly when they come out and well, then just eat 'em.

HERE are a million play by play pictures, let me know if you have ANY questions:

Flour in the bowl and then the margarine stick (1/2 cup for those who don't get the sticks)  Work it in with your fingers, lightly and quickly.
   

No big chunks left, make a well in the center
   
Pour all of the milk/lemon juice in at once.  Mix quickly with a fork.
   
It looks like batter, trust me, it'll work.  Heavily flour a board and the top of the dough
   
Pour it out... ohhhhhhhh it's a blob! Flour the top and grab your scraper and start flipping it on itself

   
Scrape under, flip it! Scrape under from the other side, flip it!
   
Scrape under, flip it, flour it lightly.  Scrape it, flip it, flour it lightly.  Repeat 4-5 times
   
OOH!  it's starting to look like dough!  Flour lightly now, scrape, fold in half.
   
yeah, here we go.  Now I get fancy, flour lightly, fold in thirds, and turn!  it makes a difference!
   
Bottom third up and over, now turn it 90 degrees and do it again, 3 or 4 times
   
Ok, this is really looking like dough now, square it up a bit and see if it's happy being patted out.  I pat it the dough about equal height of my baby finger

   
Yeah, that works... square it up nicely.  Flour your cutter and press straight down and slide it out of the way, no twisting.  I don't know if it truly matters but I'm funny about it so just don't twist :)
   
cut out 9 biscuits, you can fold the scrap dough to get the rest. I always roll any extra as cook's treat :)
   

oh just look at this waiting to be baked biscuit...  what a beautiful thing

Line then up touching on a 1/4 sheet pan, lightly greased.  I press my fingers on the top, I don't know why but I just do.  Set timer, on preheated 450 degree oven, for 16 minutes. Bake them on the top third rack
   
At 16 minutes, they're a bit pale still, spin the pan and cook another 4 minutes or until they're beautiful.  When they come out, brush them immediately with a little butter

   
OK, now we're onto the beauty shots.  No knife required, just pinch the sides and pull these babies open
  

 

This is Connor's, plain with butter, now, onto the cook's treat!

   
*this is how I serve when I'm taking pictures
    
*THIS is how I serve myself up in real life!!!  Thick butter and way more golden syrup!
   
ooooh, drippy and marvelous.  You can taste it, can't you?
   

So, in conclusion (finally) THAT is how I make my biscuits.  Try it, you'll love it!  It sounds hard and look obnoxious but really, a quick mix, a couple of flips and into the oven.  DELICIOUS!!

Unlike the other biscuits I used to make, these reheat perfectly even after a couple of days.  Connor toasts them in the toaster oven without splitting them and they come out like fresh from the oven.  I split and then toast and they're like slightly thicker English muffins.

Truly, try them and let me know how much you love them too!

/enjoy