Olive Brined Quail

I love Quail! Some people can’t be bothered with the fiddley little bones but, I love that, nibbling my way through the bony carcass, sucking every little bit of the flavourful meat from the bones, it’s sticky fingered heaven for me! I love eating with my fingers!!

That’s what BBQ is all about for me!

This is one of the simplest recipes you will ever do, but I promise you, do it once and you’ll be doing it again. The flavour of simply charcoal grilled Olive brined quail is exquisite

Allow 2-3 Quail per person.

Olive Brine

Chopped Garlic (2-3 cloves)

Split Chillies (to taste)

Fresh ground Black Pepper

Prepare the quail by removing any leftover feathers and cutting up one side of the backbone with scissors.

Flatten (Spatchcock) the bird. You can see here why we cut up the backbone instead of through the breastplate, the breasts and legs are intact and in the centre of the butterflied bird and will be more protected as the bird cooks. If we cut through the breastplate the breasts would be on the outside and the edges would dry as they cook.

Place all your birds in a tub and cover with the brine from good Kalmata Olives.

Add the garlic, Chilli and Black Pepper.

Leave in the fridge overnight.

Remove from the brine and assemble the birds by skeweringh through each side to make them easy to turn, I put two birds on each skewer set, that’s one entrée serve.

Grill slowly over charcoal, turn often and grill slightly longer on the underside, the bones can take more heat and helps keep the moisture in the bird.

Assemble the dish, sprinkle with a little Olive brine and some Olive Oil, spread some Kalmata Olives around, if you can find an olive branch, that will just set it off nicely!