Recipe for honey-soy glazed oven-baked quails

Every now and then I come across some young fresh quails, and cannot resist buying them. They're sold oven-ready here, so it's just the matter of seasoning the birds and popping into the oven for half an hour. A weekend night dinner that looks pretty elegant and is a little bit more exciting than your average roast chicken - is ready in less than an hour (and that includes the marinating time). Here's a lovely recipe I discovered a while ago from Jill Dupleix's excellent Simple Food. Jill uses honey to sweeten the glaze. Although it's lovely with honey, it's even lovelier with a good maple syrup, and that's what I've been using recently.

PS Our kids - both the one-year old and the three-year old - love this dish, especially the drumsticks!

NB For other Chinese recipes here on Nami-Nami, click here.


Honey-Soy Quails

(Mesine ja sojane vutt)
Serves 4



4 quails about 200-250 g each
2 Tbsp runny honey or 4 Tbsp maple syrup
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

Flavouring salt:
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1 Tbsp sea salt flakes

To serve:
2 Tbsp sweet Thai chilli sauce

Rinse the birds, pat dry with a kitchen paper. Tuck the wing tips behind the back, tie the legs with a cotton string.
Combine honey/maple syrup and soy sauce in a large bowl. Add the quails and turn them in the marinade. Leave to marinade for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F.
Remove the quails from the marinade and place into an oven dish where they fit snugly. Drizzle with sesame oil.
Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, turning them once or twice, until the meat is cooked and the skin is crispy and golden.
Sprinkle some five-spice salt on top and serve with sweet chilli sauce.

For a side dish, Jill suggests some stir-fried spinach and mangetout/sugar snap peas and spring onions. Something green and quick and simple.

Cauliflower with creamy bell pepper and pesto sauce

I LOVE cauliflower and one of my favourite ways of eating it is simply boiled and dabbed with some melted butter. However, that only works with young cauliflowers in late summer. The older the cauliflower, the harsher the cruciferous flavour, and you'll need a gutsy and strong-flavoured sauce to dress the cauliflower. Here's a recent - and very excellent find.

You can serve it as a side dish (enough for four), or as a main dish with some crusty bread (enough for two)

Cauliflower with creamy pepper and pesto sauce
(Lillkapsas paprika-pestokastmega)
Adapted from the Swedish Arla site.

1 red bell pepper
1 large cauliflower (about 600 g)
1 to 2 Tbsp butter
200 ml double/thick cream
3 to 4 Tbsp basil pesto
salt, to taste

Cut the cauliflower into small florets. Blanch in a lightly salted water for 3-4 minutes, until al dente.
Meanwhile, deseed and chop the pepper. Heat some butter in a small frying pan, add the bell pepper and sauté gently until softened. Add the cream and pesto, stir until combined. Simmer for a few minutes, until lightly thickened, then season to taste with salt, if necessary.
Drain the cauliflower thoroughly. Place into a serving bowl, spoon the red bell pepper and pesto sauce on top.
Serve hot or at room temperature.

MORE DELICIOUS CAULIFLOWER RECIPES:
Cauliflower cheese with mustard
Cauliflower and mince gratin with cheese and dill
Cauliflower with crispy breadcrumbs
Roasted cauliflower
2 recipes: spicy cauliflower with tomatoes AND sautéed cauliflower with sage and boiled eggs

Home-made fish fingers and mushy peas

My kids love fish, both of them. Our precious daughter (3 years 1 month) loves fish a lot (including small whole ones, like sprats and Baltic herring in various forms) and she adores shellfish, including mussels and sea whelks (bulots) and such like. Our little boy (1 year 2 months) prefers fish fillet at this stage, but that's fine with me. Here's a little quick delicious dinner idea that is suitable both for the little eaters and the large ones. The secret? Dredging the fish pieces into (wholemeal and coarsely ground) rye flour. Of course, you could use oatmeal or plain wholewheat flour, but somehow the rye works especially well with oily fish like salmon.

I love serving this dish with mushy-minty peas, but simple mashed potato would be a good accompaniment as well.

Salmon fish fingers, served with green peas
(Kodused lõhefileepulgad)
Serves four



about 500 g salmon filet
lemon pepper seasoning
freshly squeezed lemon juice
about 7 Tbsp rye flour (wholemeal is perfect)
salt*

oil and butter, for frying

Remove the skin from the fish filet and cut the fish into chunky fingers. Season generously with lemon pepper seasoning and a little bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice.
(* If you're using salt-free lemon pepper, then sprinkle some salt over the fish as well).
Dredge the fish fingers into rye flour.
Heat oil and butter on a frying pan. Brown the fish fingers on all sides and cook for a few minutes, until done.

Serve with mashed potatoes and/or mushy peas. To make the latter, simply heat some butter in a small saucepan. Add frozen peas, season with salt, pepper, lemon juice and mint, and heat through. Mash lightly and serve with the fish fingers.