Southern-fried quail with blue cheese dressing

This style of deep-frying is normally done with chicken wings, but quail makes a more refined alternative, as would pieces of rabbit.

SERVES 4 PREP 10 mins plus at least 6 hrs marinating COOK 6 mins MORE EFFORT 100ml buttermilk

¼ tsp ground cumin

3 quails, split in half through the middle so you have six halves sunflower oil, for deep-frying celery leaves, to serve (optional) For the dressing

4 tbsp mayonnaise

4 tbsp buttermilk

40g soft blue cheese, crumbled pinch celery salt

For the spiced flour

250g plain flour

½ tsp each cayenne pepper and onion salt

¼ tsp each dried oregano and chilli flakes 1 Mix the 100ml buttermilk, cumin and a large pinch of salt together in a bowl. Put the quail halves in the buttermilk mix so they are completely covered, then chill for at least 6 hrs or overnight.

2 To make the dressing, beat the mayonnaise, buttermilk, cheese and celery salt together – don’t worry if it’s not totally smooth. Keep chilled. 3 When ready to cook, mix all the spiced flour ingredients together. Heat a deep-fat fryer or a deep pan with sunflower oil to 175C. Remove the quail from the fridge, then dip each half in the spiced flour and carefully drop them in the fryer.

4 Fry for about 6 mins until golden and crisp, then drain on kitchen paper and leave to rest for 2 mins or so. Pile onto a large serving plate, put the blue cheese sauce on the side for dipping, and scatter over the celery leaves, if you like.

GOOD TO KNOW iron

PER SERVING 689 kcals • fat 42g • saturates 6g • carbs 51g • sugars 3g • fibre 3g • protein 25g • salt 0.9g