Cajun Stuffed Quail


1/4 lb. andouille or smoked sausage
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp. dried basil
1 cup lump crabmeat
1 cup shrimp, crab, or chicken stock
2 cups plain bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
8 baby quails, rib and back bones removed
1 small eggplant, peeled
1/4 cup milk
Flour
2 Tbs. olive oil

Sauce:
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
Pinch dried sage
Pinch thyme
1 Tbs. tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

1. In a skillet over medium heat, saute the andouille, bell pepper,
green onion and basil until the sausage is lightly browned.

2. Add the crabmeat and the stock and bring to a boil. Stir lightly to
combine everything without breaking up the crab lumps. Reduce the
liquid over medium-high heat by about one-third.

3. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the bread crumbs to make
a thick stuffing. Cool the stuffing in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Then mix one of the eggs into the stuffing.

4. Stuff each of the quails and set on a roasting pan. Dot each quail
with a few slivers of butter. Roast for 10 minutes in a preheated 400
degree oven, until golden brown.

5. Slice the eggplant into rounds about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into
perfect
circles with a two-inch cookie or biscuit cutter.

6. Beat remaining egg and milk in a bowl and dip eggplant rounds into
it. Dredge in flour.

7. Heat olive oil in a skillet over high heat and saute the eggplant
until
golden brown. Drain eggplant and keep warm.

8. Remove the roasted quail from the pan and keep warm. Place the
pan over a burner on medium high heat and add shallots; cook until
they begin to brown.

9. Add the wine and bring it to a boil, whisking to dissolve the crusty
bits at the bottom. Add the herbs, tomato paste, and chicken stock,
and return to a boil. Reduce to about 1 cup. Season to taste with salt
and black pepper, and strain the sauce.

10. Spoon the sauce over each of four warmed dinner plates. Top each
pool of sauce with two eggplant rounds, and with one or two quails.

Serves four to eight.
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Submitted by QuiQue L. - Kennesaw

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