BARBECUED BACON-WRAPPED QUAIL WITH JALAPENO RANCH DRESSING

Chef Dean Fearing, owner and chef of Fearing’s says of his Dallas restaurant, “Texas cuisine without borders. Our mainstay is definitely a strong Texas cuisine with bold flavors, but I love Asian, curry, French food, Spanish food, Mediterranean, Lebanese. So whatever we feel like doing, we do that also. It opens up the menu a bit, and gives people different items with combinations of flavors.”

“We are a modern Texas restaurant. We have all the flavors of Texas in one restaurant, but the look of our restaurant is striking. I have seven different rooms—an indoor bar, an outdoor bar, and five different dining areas. Three are indoor dining areas: one an antebellum room, one a glass pavilion, and one a kitchen room with all the tables surrounded by the working kitchen. Then we have a wine cellar room that is like a private dining room within the wine cellar, and an outdoor dining area in a park with water features and beautiful trees and landscaping. It’s an amazing restaurant because when people come in, they don’t realize how big it is.”

The full “Born into the Business” feature and additional Dean Fearing recipes are published in the August-September issue.

Photographs by Dick Patrick

The following is a recipe from the feature, provided by Chef Fearing:

INGREDIENTS

• 4 quail, about 4 ounces each, semi-boneless
  Salt and black pepper, to taste
  8 julienne strips jalapeño pepper
  8 strips thin sliced smoked bacon
  1 cup warm barbecue sauce, use your favorite
  1 cup buttermilk
  ½ cup mayonnaise
  ⅓ cup seeded and chopped jalapeño pepper
  1 (1-ounce) package ranch dressing mix
  Tabasco, to taste
  Lime juice, to taste

FOR THE BARBECUED BACON-WRAPPED QUAIL

• 4 quail, about 4 ounces each, semi-boneless
  Salt and black pepper, to taste
  8 julienne strips jalapeño pepper
  8 strips thin sliced smoked bacon
  1 cup warm barbecue sauce, use your favorite
  1 cup jalapeño ranch dressing, recipe to follow

PROCESS:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a clean cutting board, using a small chef knife, cut off the wing tips and legs from the quail. With the remaining boneless quail body, cut the back side of the quail (opposite of the breast meat) in the middle lengthwise to open up flat, skin side down. Repeat for each quail.
2. Season all sides of the quail with salt and pepper. Place two strips of jalapeno between the breasts. Starting on one side of the quail, roll into a tight cylinder. Repeat for each quail.
3. Lay 2 strips of bacon side by side. Place the quail at one end of the bacon. Roll into another tight cylinder, making sure the bacon has completely covered the quail with several rotations.
4. Place each cylinder of quail 2 inches apart, seam side down, on a sheet pan. Put in the oven and cook for 12 minutes, until the bacon has browned. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
5. With a serrated knife, cut 1/2 inch rounds from the quail cylinder and place a skewer through the bacon. Dip the quail into the barbecue sauce to glaze. Serve warm with jalapeño ranch on the side for dipping.

FOR THE JALEPENO RANCH DRESSING

• 1 cup buttermilk
  ½ cup mayonnaise
  ⅓ cup seeded and chopped jalapeño pepper
  1 (1-ounce) package ranch dressing mix
  Tabasco, to taste
  Lime juice, to taste

PROCESS:

Blend buttermilk, mayonnaise, jalapeño pepper, ranch dressing mix, Tabasco, and lime juice in a food processor or blender until mostly smooth.