THE HOOK: Lights Out Quail Étouffée Recipe 

Chef Nick Foster’s Best-Ever Quail Étouffée Recipe 

Chef Nick Foster, the Executive Chef at Executive Outdoor Adventures, is renowned for his unique twists on gourmet dishes, most of which are featured around the wild game from the many hunting experiences the luxury outfit offers. 

Hailing from Allen, Texas, Chef Foster always loved cooking with his family (his favorite was homemade gumbo and beignets at Christmastime), so attending Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts in Dallas seemed like the obvious choice. There, he obtained his Culinary Arts degree with a focus on restaurant management and began to work for Wolfgang Puck Catering for two years before realizing his dream was to cook for a ranch.

The first ranch he worked as a chef was a pack-in/pack-out outfit in Oregon, which proved to be challenging and quite extreme, so he headed back to Texas and found some high-end outfitters, eventually ending up at Executive Outdoor Adventures. 

Chef Foster’s Quail Étouffée Recipe 

Our video production team for Hook & Barrel’s THE HOOK: Lights Out series was treated to a very special dinner where Chef Foster served us a delicious quail étouffée. Bookmark this special recipe and try it yourself—your family and friends will be glad you did! 

Quail Étouffée Recipe

(Serves 4) 

Equipment: 

– 1 Dutch oven 

– Cast iron skillet 

– Sheet tray 

– Wire rack 

– Saucepan 

– Wooden spoon 

– Metal whisk 

Ingredients: 

– 12 whole semi-boneless quail 

– Meat Church Holy Voodoo seasoning 

– 2 red bell peppers, diced 

– 2 green bell peppers, diced 

– 4 celery ribs, diced 

– 1 whole yellow onion, diced 

– 2 tsp dried thyme 

– 2 tsp dried oregano 

– 8 cups chicken stock 

– 4 cups clam juice 

– 2 tsp paprika 

– 3 cups long-grain rice 

– 4 cups cold water 

– Salt and pepper 

– High-heat oil, such as sunflower or avocado oil, or animal fat such as duck fat  

Roux: 

– 2 cups flour 

– 1 cup of high-heat oil 

– 2 tbsp low sodium cajun seasoning 

Garnish: 

– thinly sliced scallions 

Process: 

1. Prep quail by patting dry. Lightly season with salt and pepper and Holy Voodoo seasoning. Place in the fridge for 1 hour prior to cooking. After 1 hour let sit on the counter to bring to room temperature while the oven preheats to 325 degrees. 

2. While quail is coming to room temp, dice vegetables and heat your large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add a thin layer of the high-heat oil of your choice. Once the oil is hot, add diced vegetables. Lightly salt and pepper and sauté until soft.    

3. When vegetables are cooked, add paprika, thyme and oregano. Stir. Then add clam juice and chicken stock and turn the heat down to medium-low. 

4. To start the roux add high-heat oil to a saucepan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, carefully add flour and stir frequently so that it does not burn. The goal is a light brown roux, a shade darker than light sand. When the color is achieved, turn off your heat and add cajun seasoning. Stir in seasoning.  

5. Add hot roux to the Dutch oven with liquids and vegetables. Stand back as it will react, and be sure to add slowly. Stir in roux to thicken and turn the heat down to low.  

6. While the vegetable mixture simmers, heat a cast iron skillet to 500 degrees and add a thin layer of your high-heat oil. Sear the quail breast side down for roughly 1-2 minutes. Do this in batches. Flip quail onto a sheet tray with a wire rack and cook in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove the quail and allow to rest for 5 minutes before shredding half of the birds. 

7. While quail are in the oven, cook your rice. Combine the rice and cold water in a medium-sized saucepan, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat to low after it has started boiling. Rice is done once all of the water is absorbed, roughly 10-15 minutes.  

8. To serve, add an ample helping of rice to a bowl and smother with etouffee from Dutch oven. Add hand-shredded quail, a whole quail, and garnish with sliced scallions.