Our last quail hunts for the 2023-2024 season were nothing less than perfect on our return trip to Broadfield Plantation, Sea Island, Georgia.
(Yes, even though we emptied the shells from the guns, we should have opened the action for safety reasons when taking this photo).
Day 1 Hunt:
A hunt at Broadfield Plantation starts with a mouthwatering lunch and today, the sideboard was filled with so many dishes including baked chicken, delicious meatloaf, and all the sides you would expect with a traditional southern lunch including rice and gravy, beans, and butter cake for dessert! Yum!!
What a day for a quail hunt…with blue skies and moderate February temperatures, We were so happy to have Wes Schlosser, guide us again. His easygoing manner, exceptional skills as a professional dog trainer, and incredible wit make for a fun and successful day afield. The dogs also seemed to be happy to see us again, and I got to meet Champ, one of Cotton, the cocker spaniel’s litter. We had met Cotton on our December hunt and fell in love with her!
I wanted to take Champ home with me!
Day 2 Hunt:
After another fantastic southern lunch featuring fried quail chunks with homemade biscuits and chutney was incredible. PK, Broadfield’s kitchen captain, was kind enough to give us some tips on how she prepared the quail. There was no way I could ever expect to duplicate her recipe for chutney, so I was lucky enough to buy the last jar she had in the kitchen! We were so excited about the hunt, and we pushed ourselves away from the dining table to get prepared, but not before grabbing some warm peanut butter cookies!
Today, the weather was quite warm for February, but the dogs worked hard and showed off their skills in finding the birds and getting them up. We had many excellent covies which provided sheer excitement and thrilling action.
Our proud guide, Wes Schlosser smiles as another day afield comes to a close with happy hunters!
We said our goodbyes and left with a cool bag filled with frozen quail. We could not help but talk about the delicious quail lunch we had earlier in the day and our plans for making our feast when we returned home
Preparing the Celebration- Dinner!
Skinless quail breast marinaded in buttermilk, Frank’s hot sauce, and Old Bay Seasoning
I always brine my wild game in salt water overnight and rinse with clear cold water. Armed with only a very brief conversation concerning the “secret sauce“, PK shared with us, we set out to re-create her recipe. We put the quail in buttermilk, Frank’s hot sauce, and Old Bay Seasonings and let it marinate overnight. The following evening, we drained the quail in a colander and put the quail pieces in a bag with flour, shook them gently, placed them in the deep fryer, and fried them for approximately 8 minutes. We were so excited to see the golden pieces knowing that they were cooked to perfection! The quail was so tender and succulent, that we barely spoke overjoyed with the delightful taste!
Our beautiful dinner!
We are so grateful for a safe, successful, hunt and the very special quail dinner we prepared! Field to fork!
Maggie–Looks (and sounds) enough like a feast to put my salivary glands into overdrive. I’ve never been much of one for marinating quail breasts, feeling they are sufficiently succulent and tender without marinade (and I feel the same about any gallinaceous bird–and I’ve eaten quail, wild turkey, pheasant, various subspecies of grouse, and ptarmigan), but the recipe sure sounds scrumptious.
Now, as Jerry Clower was known to say, “you’ve done flung a craving on me.”
Jim Casada
Hi Jim! Like you, I have never marinated quail in buttermilk, and to be fully transparent, I don’t eat very much fried food. However, the quail breasts were skinned and I typically put skinned quail in the crockpot to keep them moist. I have to say, the buttermilk made them so tender and delicious, and I am sure I will prepare them again exactly like this. I heard you had some fun with Lee on his recent trip to your neck of the woods. We had a good laugh over that! I had not heard Jerry Clower’s saying, and I might just have to borrow it! Let me know how your turkey season goes- I can’t wait!