Barbecued Quail, Arizona Style

Ingredients

8 quail, backbones removed and flattened
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

BBQ Sauce:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter or lard
1/2 onion, grated
2 shots of tequila
1/2 cup honey, mesquite bean syrup, or prickly pear syrup
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon chopped sage
1 to 2 teaspoons ground dried hot chiles, or hot sauce to taste
Salt to taste

Directions

Make the sauce first. Heat the butter or lard over medium heat, then add the grated onion and sauté until it turns translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, stir well and simmer slowly for 30 minutes or more. I always pour the sauce into a blender and puree it, but you can serve it chunky if you want.

Flatten the quail. Remove the backbones with kitchen shears by cutting along either side of the spine. Put the quail breast side up on a cutting board and press to flatten. If you want to be fancy, carefully snip out the ribs and the curved saber bones near the wishbone. Salt the quail and toss them in the vegetable oil.

Grilling. Get your grill hot, but leave an open space with no coals, or with one gas burner left off. Lay your quails, breast side up, on the cool part of the grill and cook with the grill lid down for 10 minutes. Paint the breast side with the sauce, and repeat this two more times until you’ve cooked the quail for 30 minutes. Check the doneness, either by inserting a thermometer into the thickest part of the breast (it should read 150°F to 155°F), or by testing where the legs meet the thighs: They should want to come apart when wiggled, but not fall apart. You might need another 10 or even 20 more minutes to get to this point, depending on how hot your barbecue is.

To finish. Turn the quail over and paint the cooked side with sauce. Grill the breast side for 2 minutes with the lid up, then turn over again and paint with the sauce one more time. Cover the grill and cook for a final 2 minutes. Take off the grill and brush with sauce one more time.