Southern-fried quail with blue cheese dressing

Party food recipe for 4 people, takes only 6 mins; recipe has buttermilk, ground cumin, quail, sunflower oil, celery leaves, mayonnaise, buttermilk, blue cheese, celery salt, plain flour, cayenne pepper, onion salt, dried oregano and chilli flakes.

Southern-fried quail with blue cheese dressing

Southern-fried quail with blue cheese dressing

Recipe by Chef Soomro Course: Party food
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

10 mins

Ingredients

  • Chilli Flakes: 1/4 tsp chilli flakes
  • Mayonnaise: 4 tbsp mayonnaise
  • Ground Cumin: 1/4 tsp ground cumin
  • Cayenne Pepper: 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • Sunflower Oil: sunflower oil, for deep-frying
  • Plain Flour: 250g plain flour
  • Buttermilk: 100ml buttermilk
  • Blue Cheese: 40g soft blue cheese, crumbled
  • Celery Salt: pinch celery salt
  • Onion Salt: 1/2 tsp onion salt
  • Dried Oregano: 1/4 tsp dried oregano
  • Quail: 3 quails, split in half through the middle so you have six halves
  • Celery Leaves: celery leaves, to serve (optional)

Directions

  1. Mix the 100ml buttermilk, cumin and a large pinch of salt together in a bowl. Put the quail halves in the buttermilk mix so they are completely covered, then chill for at least 6 hrs or overnight.
  2. To make the dressing, beat the mayonnaise, buttermilk, cheese and celery salt together - don't worry if it's not totally smooth. Keep chilled.
  3. When ready to cook, mix all the spiced flour ingredients together. Heat a deep-fat fryer or a deep pan with sunflower oil to 175C. Remove the quail from the fridge, then dip each half in the spiced our and carefully drop them in the fryer.
  4. Fry for about 6 mins until golden and crisp, then drain on kitchen paper and leave to rest for 2 mins or so. Pile onto a large serving plate, put the blue cheese sauce on the side for dipping, and scatter over the celery leaves, if you like.