Instructions
Step #1 - Wash Quail and place in gallon size zip lock bag, cover with buttermilk, add 4 tsp of kosher salt and sprinkle in some black pepper. Place in refrigerate for a couple of hours.
Step #2 - While the quail is in the refrigerator, place the 6 oz of Baby Bella Mushrooms in a bowl of cool water to soak. This will help infuse the water with a Mushroom flavor, creating a kind of mushroom stock.
Step #3 - Remove Quail from refrigerator, rinse and place on a swallow tray on a wire rack to dry. Place back in the refrigerator for one more hour.
Step #4 - After one hour, remove quail. Coat then with vegetable oil spray, then salt and pepper both sides. Fill your smoker drip pan with water and get the temperature of the smoker around 225. Smoke the quail using your favorite wood chips, I used pecan, for one hour or until the internal temperature is around 160-165.
Step #5 - Once the Quail have reached the desired temperature, remove from smoker and set aside to rest.
Step #6 - Remove the mushrooms from water, clean, remove stems and slice.
Step #7 - Pour reserved mushroom water through paper towel into a measuring cup, this will help filter out any dirt.
Step #8 - Dice shallots and garlic.
Step #9 - Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a 10" skillet and set heat to medium. When skillet is hot, add the sage leaves and fry until crispy. Remove to a plate covered with paper towel and set aside. This will be used to garnish our dish later.
Step #10 - Add shallots and mushrooms to hot oil and cook for 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft and starting to brown on the edges. Season with salt and pepper.
Step #11 - Add garlic and cook an additional minute.
Step #12 - Add flour, chopped rosemary and thyme, mix well, let cook for another minute.
Step #13 - Add Marsala wine and let reduce for a few minutes.
Step #14 - Add chicken stock and mushroom water, then let simmer for 30 minutes.
Step #15 - Turn heat off, add heavy cream and mix.
Step #16 - Shred the quail with your hands and add to sauce, mixing to combine.
Pasta Noodles
Step #18 - To make noodles. Add All Purpose flour and Whole Wheat flour to mixing bowl.
Step #19 - Create a well in the center of the flour and add eggs and olive oil.
Step #20 - With hands, combine flour, eggs and olive oil.
Step #21 - Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes with hands until the surface of the dough springs back when pressed in with your finger.
Step #22 - Divide the dough into quarters. What you don't use, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for another time.
Step #23 - If you don't have a kitchen mixer with a pasta attachment, you can roll your dough flat with a rolling pin, folding the dough back in on itself a few times. Once you get the desired flatness for your dough, you can cut it into noodles with a knife at your desired thickness. Fettuccine (1/4 inch) or Linguine (1/8 inch), would be an idea size, in the pictures we used Linguine.
If you have a mixer with a pasta attachment, follow instructions for making your pasta. We have a Kitchen Aid. We gradually fed our dough through the mixer at the widest setting a few times, before stepping down to lower and lower settings, until we got the thickness we wanted.
Step #24 - Once we had a dough rolled, we changed attachments to Linguine attachment and ran our dough through that attachment on a speed of 5 1/2.
Step #25 - Once all our noodles were cut, we hung them on a pasta drying rack for a half hour while we waited on our water to boil, but it could have gone straight into boiling water. While this step wasnt necessary, we used the pasta rack to keep the noodles from sticking together.
Step #26 - Heat a large stock pot filled with water on high heat until it starts to boil.
Step #27 - Add enough salt to the water so that it tastes like sea water. Usually, we use about two heaping palmfuls. Don't try to taste the boiling water, without cooling it down enough not to burn yourself.
Step #28 - Add noodles and cook for about 3 minutes, fresh pasta takes considerably less time to cook. If you want to go with store bought pasta, cook per the instructions on the packaging.
Step #29 - Drain noodles
Step #30 - Add to plate, cover with Quail Ragu, top with Parmigiano-Reggiano and Fried Sage Leaves.
