Skinning and Cooking Quail and Feather Usage

I am pretty pumped about this.  This is my first video to make... ever.  I did guest star in a couple of videos that my nieces and nephew made that were pretty cool... here's one  .

This video is a little different as it shows the process of skinning a bird.  A Tennessee Bob White Quail to be exact.  Shaun has gone bird hunting a couple of times lately and I think it is interesting and could be useful to some. My loving husband is the demonstrator in the video and also the narrator.  If I only had actual video footage with the way he explains things.  You'd love it.  I tried to put it into his words as much as I could.

*Please excuse the imperfections on the breast.  One of the hunting dogs brought this one back and looks like she held it a little hard.*

After you skin and clean the quail, it needs to soak in a cold, salt water bath in the refrigerator at least over night.  After that, rinse off the legs and breast in water and dry them on paper towels.  In a bowl, add one egg and 1/4 cup milk and a few drops of Texas Pete hot sauce and stir rapidly with a fork until combined.  In a separate bowl, prepare a mixture of flour and add a bit of Butt Rub and black pepper or whatever kind of spices float your boat, but not too much... the quail is too fine to over spice.

Dredge breast and legs in egg mixture then toss in flour mixture and place on a plate or directly in to your skillet with about a quarter inch of hot fat or lard or oil.  Allow to cook turning after several minutes until brown all over.  The legs will be done before the breast.  The breast take about 15 minutes total time at medium heat.  You can also check their internal temperature to 160 degrees or just cut one open to check for doneness. 

Roll that beautiful Quail footage.

Throw some of the flour from the pre-fry into the skillet and work around with a whisk.  Then add milk and whisk while you pour.  Keep pouring until you get it to the right runny consistency to your likings. This'll be your gravy.  I use between a half cup and a cup depending on if it's just me and Shaun or if Otis stops by because he smelled the quail cooking at his house.  I swear I don't know how he knows but I am always willing to share.

You can also use the beautiful feather from the quail for just about any craft you can come up with.  This dream catcher necklace is what my niece Jessica made for us for Christmas.  She was smart to call me for feathers as I plucked these myself.  Aren't they gorgeous?