Quail Meat Pies- Whistler's Farm

Quail Meat Pies (makes 12 pies)

This is a great recipe for any time of year. The filling and pie dough can both be made in advance. We served it with a salad of spinach, mesculin, sugar snap peas, radishes, and strawberries all picked fresh from the Morrow’s garden and simply dressed with olive oil and a little of the leftover brine from their pickled quail eggs. (We would have put the pickled quail eggs in the salad also, but we inadvertently ate them all while preparing the meal.) Together, the salad and the meatpies made the perfect dinner for a late spring evening.

Pie Dough
 3c Flour
6Tbs Lard (cold)
¾ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp salt 3/4c milk
 1 egg
 Sift the dry ingredients together. Cut in the lard until it resembles coarse cornmeal. In a separate bowl, mix the egg and milk together. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until a dough is formed. Portion the dough into 12 pieces and roll each into a 5 inch circle. Wrap individually in plastic wrap and chill.

Filling
12 Quail eggs
 3 Quail salt and peppered
6-7 small new potatoes, diced
2 small noonday onions, diced small, tops sliced and set aside
2 sprigs Rosemary, finely chopped
2 sprigs Oregano, finely chopped
1/2tsp Old Bay 1/2tsp Ground Red Pepper
1/2tsp Paprika Salt and pepper to taste
1Tbs Flour
1c water
Lard
1 Egg mixed with 3 Tbs water

Heat enough lard to coat bottom of the pan (about 1tbs) to med high. Season the quail liberally with kosher salt and pepper and place in the pan breast side down. Cook quail until they are medium rare and have good color, turning once half way through (about 15 minutes). Remove quail from the pan, and let rest for 5 minutes. Pull meat and set aside.
 Meanwhile bring 1 quart of water and 1 cup of white vinegar to a boil. Using a slotted spoon, gently add quail eggs and boil 2 ½ minutes. Remove and place in ice water to cool. Peel and set aside.
 After removing the quail, reduce heat to medium and add potatoes to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes begin to get color. Add in onions and cook until translucent, soft, and sweet. Return pulled quail meat to pan and add Old Bay, rosemary, oregano, chile powder, and paprika. simmer until quail is cooked through. Mix 1tbs flour with 1 cup of water and stir into to the quail mixture. Add the sliced onion tops. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

 Assembly
Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator. Place about 3 tbs of filling in the center of each round. Place a quail egg in the center of each mound of filling as if it were sitting in a nest. Brush edge of each round with egg wash, fold over and crimp edges together with a fork. In a cast iron pan, heat enough cooking oil (I prefer lard) to come half way up the side of the pie. If using a deep fyer, heat oil to 360. Fry pies in batches until golden brown on both sides, turning once half way through. Be sure not to overcrowd the pan. Once cooked, blot excess oil on a cloth or paper towel and enjoy!