Since I have no more of Neeta’s preserves to share with you, I pass along one of my favorite recipes for quail.

Serves 6

Based on a traditional Indonesian method of cooking chicken, you can use it to grill any type poultry, game, lamb, or pork.

6 whole quail, cleaned and split in half, lengthwise

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon tamarind dissolved in 2 tablespoons warm water

2 fresh red or green hot chiles, stemmed and seeded, or to taste

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

¼ cup minced onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

Salt to taste

Preheat and oil a grill.

Generously rub the quail with lemon juice.  Place on the preheated grill and grill each side for 2 minutes.  Remove from the grill and set aside.  Do not let the fire die or turn off the grill, whichever type grill you are using.

Strain the tamarind though a fine mesh sieve, pressing on the solids to extract all liquid.  Combine the liquid with the chiles, coconut milk, onion, and garlic and process until smooth.  Season with salt to taste.

Using the flat side of a cleaver or a heavy-bottom frying pan, pound each quail half to flatten slightly.

Place the quail, skin side down, in a large frying pan.  Add the tamarind mixture and place over medium heat.  Bring to a simmer and then lower the heat and simmer for 6 minutes.

Immediately remove the quail from the sauce and return to the hot grill.  Grill, skin side down, for 2 minutes or until crisp.

Remove from the grill and serve immediately.

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For years now I have been threatening to order a Kentucky country ham for Christmas from Colonel Bill Newsom – a nephew of my dear uncle by marriage.  Newsom hams (newsomsham@yahoo.com ) have won accolades and prizes the world over so by the time I get around to calling for the holidays, all of the hams are gone.  To get a taste of what might be, I brought home a package of sliced country ham from the Alexandria Farmers Market – I’m sorry to say that I have forgotten the name of the farmer who was selling hams.

Once the weekend rolled around, I decided that it was time for a good ole Southern breakfast featuring the longed-for country ham.  Here’s what we had:  Fried ham slices, creamy grits, my take on red-eye gravy, biscuits, and sliced tomatoes.  Thank God for those tomatoes – they became the buffer for the salty ham and gravy.  I had forgotten just how salty a country ham can be and that, taken in tiny, thin slices on a biscuit the salt is forgiven but that taken in a thick slice, the salt creates an immediate salt burn on the tongue.  With all of this complaining, I can tell you that we each ate every bit on our plates – and some, who shall remain nameless – went back for seconds!

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To make grits, purchase the best stone-ground you can buy – all that was available to me at the supermarket were Bob’s Red Mill.  There are many artisanal brands available through the internet or specialty food stores.  Grits can be white hominy or yellow corn.  As a child I knew them as “mush” and around the world they are eaten in many guises – the most recognizable these days is the Italian polenta.  Grits can be eaten fresh from the stove or packed into loaf pans and left to firm up.  They are then sliced and, usually, fried in butter to be eaten with gravy or, as I did as a child, with maple syrup.

You can follow the instructions on the package.  For breakfast grits, I use half water and half milk for the liquid and add about 2 tablespoons of butter just at the end of the cooking.  They don’t take long to cook and make a very nutritious addition to a meal.

Once I removed the ham slices from my gigantic, 10-pound cast iron skillet, I poured in about ¾ cup of my leftover coffee and brought it to a boil.  Mixed up some Wondra flour and about 3 cups light cream and whisked it into the boiling, salty coffee.  Seasoned with lots of freshly ground black pepper and had enough gravy for biscuits, grits, and enough to make a leftover biscuit and gravy breakfast later in the week.

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Makes About 1 dozen

Perhaps more than any other dish I make, I get the most requests for the recipe for biscuits.  I have been making them almost weekly all of my life so, although I am going to give you the recipe, I make them by look and feel.  Once in awhile, I goof and they are a bit too light, but I usually hit the mark and a batch is finished up pretty fast.

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornmeal

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon sugar or more to taste

Salt to taste

½ cup vegetable shortening

Approximately ⅔ cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon butter

Preheat the oven to 425º.

Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade.  Process, using quick on and off turns, to mix.  Add the shortening and again, using quick on and off turns, mix to just combine.  With the motor running, add the milk and process quickly to just blend.  The dough should be soft and slightly sticky.

Lightly coat a clean work surface with Wondra flour.  Scrape the dough from the processor bowl and lightly pat down and smooth edges with your hands.  You should have an uneven circle about ¾-inch thick.

Cut out circles using a 2-inch biscuit cutter or whatever else you have on hand – I often just grab a glass.

Place the butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat to just melt.  Place the biscuits tightly in the pan.  Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until the biscuits have risen and are lightly browned.

Remove from the oven and serve hot.

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Everytime I go to the farmers market or stop at a roadside stand, I buy way too much to deal with in a day or so.  And, what good is all that ripe from the earth stuff if not to be eaten ASAP?  This is a photo of one morning’s quick twirl around the stalls at the Cooperstown Farmers Market.  I have to say that the carrots were so sweet that I ate my unwashed share as I sorted and decided what to do with it all.  The radishes were not so hot so we made a ball game for Lena the lab – she’d catch, take a chew, spit out, and be ready for the next toss. Rather than doctor up the flavors, we decided to put it all on the grill.  I made some aïoli (a fancy name for garlic-flavored homemade mayo) and we made a dinner of slightly charred veggies.  Of course, the chilled rosé helped turn it all into an evening’s dinner in the south of France!

My Special Aïoli

Makes about 2 cups

¾ cup fresh orange juice

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons roasted garlic

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Coarse salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine the orange and lemon juice in a small, nonreactive pan over medium heat.  Bring to a boil; then, lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until reduced to ¼ cup.  Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Combine the cooled juice with the egg yolks, roasted garlic, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade.  Process until very smooth.  With the motor running, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream, processing just until the mixture has thickened.  Taste and, if necessary, season with salt and pepper. Use immediately or store, covered and refrigerated, for up to 3 days. NOTE:  If you are concerned about the safety of eggs, you can mix the reduced juices and seasonings with 1 cup fine quality commercial mayonnaise.

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