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J. L. C to Broil Partridges
Place them in salt and water, an hour or two before broiling. When taken out, wipe them dry, and rub them all over with fresh butter, pepper and salt. First broil the under or split side on the gridiron, over bright, clear coals, turning until the upper side is of a fine, light brown. It must be cooked principally from the under side. When done, rub well again with fresh butter and if not ready to serve them immediately, put them in a large shallow tin bucket, cover it and set it over a pot or kettle of boiling water, which will keep them hot without making them hard or dry and will give time for the many "last things" to be done before serving a meal. When served, sift over them powdered cracker, first browned.--Mrs. T.
A gridiron recipe for small game birds, with an unusually practical holding trick built in. Most of the work is in the fire and the splitting; the rest is butter.
- What "partridge" means hereIn nineteenth-century Virginia usage, partridge usually means the bobwhite quail, a bird of roughly 4-6 oz dressed. Farmed quail are the closest match; two small Cornish hens, split, will behave similarly but need longer.
- Split the bird firstThe recipe assumes the birds are already spatchcocked — backbone out, breast flattened — since it refers to "the under or split side." Do this before the salt soak, and press the bird flat with your palm so it sits evenly on the grate.
- The salt and water soakAn hour or two in salted water is a brine, and for lean wild birds it is worth doing. The original gives no proportion, so keep it light: about 2 tablespoons of salt per quart of cold water for birds this small. Drying the surface thoroughly afterward is what lets the butter brown rather than steam.
- Fire and gridiron"Bright, clear coals" means charcoal burned down past flame to a steady glow — no smoke, no flare. A gas grill on high or an oven broiler with the rack near the element approximates it. The instruction to cook "principally from the under side" is the hinge: the bone side takes the sustained heat, the breast gets only enough to colour, which is what keeps quail from drying out.
- DonenessSmall birds need perhaps 5-7 minutes cut side down and 2-3 minutes on the breast. Poultry should reach 165F in the thickest part; quail dry out quickly once past that, so check early.
- The tin bucket over boiling waterThis is a improvised bain-marie for holding cooked food — a covered vessel set over, not in, simmering water. A covered heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water does the same. It works for fifteen or twenty minutes; longer and the birds will steam.
- Powdered cracker, brownedPlain unsweetened soda or water crackers, crushed fine and toasted in a dry pan or a 350F oven until light gold. Panko toasted the same way is a reasonable stand-in. It is a garnish for texture and colour, sifted over just before serving.
- YieldThe original gives no number. Reckon one to two quail per person as a main course, one as a first course.
Housekeeping in Old Virginia (1879), compiled by Marion Cabell Tyree, gathered contributions from some 250 Virginia households, and its recipes are signed with initials and titles rather than full names — hence "Mrs. T." and the "J. L. C." attached to the heading. Bobwhite quail, called partridge throughout the upper South, were common in the field-and-hedgerow farmland of post-war Virginia, though they were also a market commodity in this period, and broiling on a gridiron over hardwood coals is often said to have been the usual treatment for small birds. What sets this entry apart is the second half: the covered tin bucket over boiling water is a piece of practical kitchen management, written by someone who knew that a meal of many dishes is lost in the last ten minutes, and that a broiled quail held too long over direct heat is ruined.