Spinach Salad With Hot Honey Mustard and Bacon Dressing

Instructions

Spinach Salad

Spinach is grown in sandy soil, so it's best to wash it well. Pluck or pull large stems and veins from the leaves in a sink or large bowl of water. Agitate, then let rest. Gravity will finish the job. Lift the spinach from the water and drain well. Curly leaf or flat leaf varieties are both good and have loads of iron and vitamins A and C.

Go ahead and use semi-boneless quail. They are available at better butcher shops.

Hot Honey Mustard and Bacon Dressing

Cook the bacon in a single layer, drain and crumble.

Mix the bacon, vinegar, ½ cup honey and mustard together in a saucepan and bring to a light simmer.

Honey Cilantro Ginger Glaze

Combine all glaze ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat; simmer for 4 minutes. Hold on warm, at 180º or less.

Smoke quail. This can be done earlier in the day. Re-warm quail in a 250º oven for 5 minutes after dipping it in the glaze.

To assemble salad, toss hot dressing onto cold spinach, ¼ cup per salad.

Garnish with sliced mushrooms, julienned apples, and red onions.

Dip quail in glaze one more time. Rest quail, glazed and hot, atop the wilted spinach salad.

Variation

Squab, duck, pheasant, wood pigeon, dove or goose can all stand-in for quail and be tasty -- okay, okay, chicken, too.

Tools

• Smoker
• Pastry Brush
• Sauce Pot
• Whisk
• Bowl
• Sauté Pan

Timing:

You can make the dressing and glaze the day before and reheat, pulling everything together quickly.

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