Destination: Arizona | Hunting Desert Game Birds | Wood Plank-Smoked Gambel’s Quail over Live Fire

Join us for the launch of our Destination Wild West Series, on an extraordinary adventure in the southern-most reaches of Arizona, where the rich history of hunting meets the beauty of its rough, rugged and breathtaking landscapes.

In this episode, our host, Chef David W Olson of @livefirerepublic embarks on a behind-the-scenes Gambel’s Quail hunt led by the legendary guide, Ian Cassidy, and his skilled pointing dogs, Demo and Indy, of Ridgeline Pursuit Guide Service (@ridgelinepursuit): https://ridgelinepursuitguideservice.com/

Southern Arizona has a long and storied tradition of game bird hunting, with its unique topography and stunning vistas providing the perfect backdrop for the most serious of outdoor enthusiasts. Game bird hunting has been a beloved pastime in this region for generations, attracting hunters from all corners of the globe who are captivated by the allure of the desert.

The diverse desert landscapes of southern Arizona are not only a sanctuary for the most avid of outdoorsmen, but also a habitat for various quail species, each possessing its own captivating characteristics. Among these, the Gambel’s Quail reigns supreme as an emblematic resident of the region. Renowned for its distinctive appearance, Gamble’s Quail features a remarkable topknot plume, an intricate blend of gray, chestnut, and blue plumage, and striking white face markings. This avian treasure thrives in the arid southwestern climate, often seen foraging in the scrubby desert underbrush, especially during the cooler winter months when food resources become more abundant.

In this episode, we’re taking you on the hunt, behind the scenes, and highlighting the mesmerizing scenery that has made Arizona a sought-after destination for hunters worldwide. And, by the grace of our Good Lord and with great thanks to our pointing dogs, the harvest of this hunt was bountiful.

Back at hunt camp, Chef David kicks will light the fires and craft the most mouthwatering Southwest-inspired wood-plank smoked quail.

While there area 1000 methods of prepare quail, we’re firing up a cornbread stuffing with a kick of heat, featuring a butter-sauteed mirepoix, shiitake mushrooms, poblano, jalapeno, cilantro, toasted pinyon pine nuts, and honey-cornbread, all brought together with a homemade chicken stock. The quail, seasoned to perfection is filled with the cornbread stuffing, wrapped in hardwood smoked bacon and placed atop lightly charred wood planks, then loaded into the XL Primo Ceramic Grill at 325°F until the thigh reaches 160°F internal.

Don’t miss this unforgettable journey, where the traditions of hunting, the beauty of the Arizona desert, and the art of gourmet cooking converge into one epic outdoor culinary adventure. Explore, savor, and indulge in the Southwest flavors that define this remarkable experience!

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Ridgeline Pursuit Guide Service: ridgelinepursuitguideservice.com
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RECIPE: Wood-Plank Smoked Gambel’s Quail Stuffed with Poblano-Jalapeno and Shiitake Mushroom Stuffing

8-12 Gambel’s Quail, dressed and spatchcocked
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper corn
Roasted granulated garlic
Dried and ground sage
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup each of carrot, onion, celery, roughly chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, finely sliced
1 poblano pepper, roughly chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, roughly chopped
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Toasted pinyon pine nuts
Dried crumbled honey-cornbread
Homemade chicken stock

Instructions:
Pre-heat a full chimney of charcoal briquettes. Set up the Primo Ceramic Grill in 2-zone fashion, with charcoal piled high on one side of the grill floor, while the other remains empty. Over the indirect side, load up a ceramic deflector plate for a secondary level of heat mitigation.

In a skillet, melt butter and sauté carrot, onion, celery, and garlic until softened. Add shiitake mushrooms, poblano, and jalapeno, and sauté until fragrant. Mix in cilantro, toasted pinyon pine nuts, and dried crumbled honey-cornbread. Moisten the stuffing with homemade chicken stock until it reaches your desired consistency.

Stuff the well-seasoned quail cavity with this flavorful mixture. Wrap the quail in hardwood smoked bacon. Place them on charred wood planks and set them on the directly heated grill grates of the primo ceramic grill. Close the lid and smoke at 325°F until the thickest part of the thigh reaches 160°F internal. Allow for carry-over cooking, then carve and savor the smoky, flavorful quail.

Pair with Chef David’s favorite cactus cocktail, featuring Ember Craft bourbon, prickly pear syrup, and a squeeze of fresh lemon, poured over ice. Enjoy this Southwest-inspired culinary masterpiece!

Yo what’s good this is Chef David Olson with live fire Republic and we’ve landed here just north of the US Mexico border in very Southern Arizona but this isn’t where our day started at Sunrise we met up with my very good friend hunting guide Ian Cassidy a Ridgeline Pursuit

We’re on the chase for the most incredible desert gamble Quail you’ve ever seen by the grace of our good Lord our Harvest was plentiful and later on today at hun Camp we’re throwing down the ultimate cornbread stuff and bacon wrap smoke Quail on the Primo ceramic

Grill all over live fire I promise you don’t want to miss this or touch that let’s Go Ian what’s up man how are you glad to see you can make it good to see you how are you I’m doing good I’m doing good I’m excited to be out here man yeah no it’s good it’s good time it’s a great day we don’t have too much wind you know

Good you know uh uh just good weather in general we got both the dogs indie and demo are ready to go as you can hear these dogs are ready to go I know that for sure so uh man why don’t we uh why don’t we jump on over to the truck let’s

Get geared up we’ll talk a little bit about the day and the strategy we have ahead and uh and we’ll run it out from there yeah that sounds good okay all Right I’m experiencing this firsthand but I mean tell tell those watching out here what makes this area so unique and so different I mean we’re hunting desert birds that to me is extremely cool but so unique as well yeah well I mean Arizona is a unique place where I mean

We have three different species technically four but uh really three different um huntable species of quail uh in the Arizona area uh and they’re all within driving distance right so today we’re out here hunting the gambles Quail which is the the the most you know proliferous you know of the quail out uh

In Arizona and they range um through probably uh about 70% of the state give or take um and don’t hold me to that but uh um but they’re kind of all over the place and and uh and so this year is kind of a special year uh for them

Because we’ve had two really good wet monsoons prior to to this year and really what what uh um changes the the uh amount of birds that you’re going to see on the ground right and that you’re going to be able to hunt is th when once

You hit three wet uh Seasons prior to the hatch then you’re going to have a whole bunch of birds on the ground so we’re at two right now and if we get another really good wet winter this year uh then we’re going to see an even better U desert bird population next

Year in a good day you know in in a day where the the quail are actually going to cooperate for us right um once we break up those cuvies those birds start calling even more usually takes with between you know 15 and 20 minutes give

Or take some times less um and uh and those birds will start calling and then we start hunting those singles and we just let the dogs do the work and uh uh as soon as they go on point it’s your job to get up there and and uh flush

Those birds out and uh take those shots which yeah working are not easy no they’re not easy I mean it’s incredible because I mean you know there are you know traditional flushes where you know you could have 10 20 30 Birds flushing out right and then we have others where

I mean if they’re sitting and they’re staying close to you know the ground I mean they could be at your feet you wouldn’t even know it yep and then they’re popping up and they’re ready to go Y and you got to be ready to rock uh

So I don’t know this has been a lot of fun man and I know that we put in a lot of work up here today why don’t we uh finish hydrating up uh we’ll get the dogs ready to rock and then we can get on out and uh let’s put some birds in

The bag yeah let’s do it man all right all Right B Frny right here yo Ian check it out birn down oh yeah that’s a male that’s a male what a beauty good shot yeah that’s awesome got him good there we go man these things are near impossible to hit aren’t they tough it’s unbelievable I mean they just stick low yeah they go

Quick they Dart they want to put something between them and you right so if they can find an obstacle that’s what they’re going for every single time what is I mean and you know obviously caring first for safety number one of us and the dogs um man oh man you’re just

Waiting for these things just to lift enough off the ground to get a clean Target that’s tough but this is absolutely beautiful man it’s awesome yeah it’s good it was a good shot and uh and that’s a good- looking mail bird and uh it’s going to be good eating too well

We’ve had an awesome day out here and I know that we’re going to get on uh to the rest of the hunt in the rest of the day so uh when we pop this inside the bags and get going huh yeah we got to go switch dogs out too man right let’s go

All right great work Ian they say there’s a thousand ways to skin a cat I’m confident there’s less maybe with a quail yeah there I mean you know there’s only a couple different ways that I will normally do them and I’m sure there’s tons of guys out there maybe even

Watching right um that are like oh I don’t I don’t you know skin my Quail like that I don’t clean my Quail like that that’s okay you know however you want to do it you can do it your way well you uh have a methodology for spatchcocking quail and I’m super

Interested in spatchcocking because we’re going to take the birds uh that we’ve captured here today that we’ve harvested and we’re going to do a really cool stuffing uh with those birds we’re going to lay them over wood planks and then we’re going to slowly smoke them so

I think spatchcocking is really neat cuz we’ll put them that breast side down rib cage exposed we’ll put a stuffing in the inside truss them with some butcher twine season them gently and then uh just let the primo and the smoke do what the primo and the smoke does yeah that’s

Awesome yeah that that sounds really good um and the reason that I that I like to do the spatchcocking I mean you can just breast these these you know birds out of um obviously and and that is really the easiest way and probably the way that that a lot of guys will

Will end up doing it um I like to to have a little bit more options especially if it’s a mature bird uh and and those legs are a little fatter right um and that’s especially true for the MS Quail whose legs are are really big um

And I really like to uh to use this method for them as well but it does give you a lot of options and obviously as you as you know and I’m not a chef but um you know when you’re spatchcocking them it just really allows you to lay

That bird out a little bit more and these birds can dry out super super fast because there’s just not much to them so you really it to me I end up cooking a better Quail um when I’m able to to kind of lay it open and then throw it on the

Barbecue or the smoker or something like that and really uh um you know watch that uh that Quail closely so that it doesn’t overcook so uh I’m going to turn over our Harvest here to you my friend and uh good and learn me learn me how to

Spatch [ __ ] Quail all right all right well um really uh it just comes down to um you know get yourself a good pair of shears um which I carry these with me all all the time and they’re nothing special just something out off of Amazon

Or whatever but uh but a nice pair of shears is this hunting shears is it wife has gardening shears is it the same deal as it yeah know these these are like you know your your standard kitchen shears they kind of look a little bit more gnarly I guess they they’re pretty

Gnarly um but uh but they do just a really good job um on these Quail uh most of the time and so uh so these are the ones that I keep with me and uh and so if a client’s asking me to clean birds in the field before we leave um I

Can do that and uh and send them home with with them kind of ready to go so yeah so let’s uh I’m think I’m going to pull this up as a table real quick perfect just to give myself something to work with yeah get get here I want to

See how this happens yeah so um so first thing is whether its legs wings or head it doesn’t really matter but we’re going to clip them off um as close to the breast as possible okay uh that’s just going to make the skin in a lot easier

Um so get One Wing which is where you where you shot them through there Y and number W Wing number two thr those down and then uh legs legs I just I like to go up to um really uh right right below where those feathers are right and um uh

And just clip those guys right through that joint yep right through that joint um get that down there and what I find is if I if I get below where there’s still just skin on the leg and uh and don’t get much feather when it skins off of the leg

It will hopefully uh take all of the feather with it um sometimes if you cut them a little bit to to uh um High then it ends up leaving a little bit and it’s uh it’s kind of kind of funky um or I mean you can always cut it off later on

But that’s what that’s what I like to do and then finally just the head and we just clip that guy off and now we’ve got our Bird that’s pretty much you know ready to go right we’re ready to to uh you know get this thing skinning um it’s

Going to hopefully skin right over over the back and right off the legs in kind of one Fell Swoop and then the last thing I do is I’m going to cut the tail off that’s great so we’re just going to peel that open peel that breast open so

You’re starting in with the breast meat on the bottom side of the bird just kind of peeling in Center cavity that’s right yep exactly so I find that you know middle of that breast and uh and just start uh start peeling that guy off wow right so we just start getting that

Squared away I try not to get as many feathers in it as as I can but as possible but uh you know sometimes they don’t like to cooperate so once I get it kind of peeled off of the breast and around um you can kind of get those legs

Out a little bit but I like to go right over uh the spine and and get this neck out so I’ll kind of peel it right back over the back here you’re almost caping per se and pulling that that skin right off of that rail yeah right right around the back

And so once I once I get it around the back see I can get my finger through there like that I do then I can just kind of pull that hopefully right up and over the the neck like so okay now it becomes a lot easier for me as I’m

Working down the back I’m you can see the legs starting right here right I can so I can do and and we got uh of course yeah right where he’s been shot so he’s where he’s been dispatched at maybe not just kind of so you’re having to work

Around a little bit where the the entry point was from from the bullet per se yeah so I’m just going to kind of get that you know and there obviously there’s no rush right so you know I can I can work on this guy I can be real

Fast with him or I can you know uh or I can just take my time and try to get that whole leg out so I’m going to because this is the hard side I’m just going to kind of work on that a little bit okay and then just peels right off down

Through the end so you see where it left a little bit of the skin and and or a little bit of the feathers and I just kind of pulled them off so then we just keep going get this other leg out of here right here just like that pop that guy

Off and we’ll just make sure that he’s skinned all the way down this way all right and then you can see that connection if the feathers will cooperate you can see that connection for the tail right there right down at the tail yep and I’m just going to pop

That right off of there there you go and that should just pull out some of the entrails yeah that did pull out a little bit out cuz he was he’s been gut shot and so now we’ve got our you know I if I had some water here obviously qu I could clean

Him up but uh but we’ve got our our quail and he’s been totally skinned and he’s and he’s good to go um and he’s ready for the Second Step Right which is going to be the spatchcocking part um and so in this part I like to start

Literally right at the neck right you can get that kind of gizzard out of the way um and when I come in I come in right next to the neck neck um along between that spine and the scapula right there at that NE exactly right and I

Just do a little clip and I’m also I’m holding pressure upward okay so CU I’m trying to not get any of his any of his uh organs or anything else kind of squared away and then I’ll just do these little Clips kind of all the way down

That uh that spine as I get all the way down here when it comes to bigger Birds this always that last piece down on the tail that joint is so tough to get through sometimes is yeah yeah you’re not going to worry about those with the with the quail they they go right

Through these things and then I’m going to go right on the other side doing the exact same thing although he’s he’s been uh shot up over here so that’s just going to be the way it is um and then I can take that entire all of that stuff

Right there and just give my put my thumb in there and just rip everything right out and my leg’s going to kind of come off a little bit uh but you end up having a Rel atively clean bird with no water and now when you open that bird up

Now that the spine has been removed you’re going to uh snap into the breastplate yep and then open that bird up and now you have a bird once it’s cleaned it’s seasoned to so we can just break that just like so boom there you go and now that bird is you know with

Some with some water and some cleanup uh we’re uh we’re pretty much ready to cook this guy yeah that’s amazing I this has been so much fun uh these birds look out absolutely beautiful and quail doesn’t get any more fresh than this we we had

So much fun man this is an amazing day thank you yeah no problem man I’m glad you guys got to come out I’m glad you contacted me for sure you know because this is definitely a new experience for me and uh and I’m just happy to be here

Man well we’re going to do it again for sure so I appreciate you brother thank you so much I know you got to get the dogs back home uh we’ve got to get our fires lit so probably here’s where we part ways yeah absolutely good luck with

The cook thank you man all right man all right [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] what an awesome day quail hunting with Ian demo and Indie our Harvest as you can see was great we’ve landed back here at hunt camp uh and as we like to say it’s time to kick the tires and light these Fires now that charcoal is only going to need about 10 minutes to come up to temperature before we spread it evenly across the base of the grill floor put down our deflector plate and get ready to cook now let’s talk about what we’re firing up today we’re going to do a

Fullon stuffed Quail people ask what what does quail taste like to me it tastes like the dark meat of chicken and if prepared appropriately it’s sweet it’s tender it has a very minuscule gy taste but it’s Quail it’s not chicken we’re going to pair it up with a

Cornbread stuffing we’re going to be using pablano a little bit of jalapeno a miroa of carrot celery onion and Shake mushroom this is going to be awesome now we only have about 10 minutes until that Grill’s ready to rock so let’s get on the miror POA [Applause] [Applause] and we came out to Camp ready to go with our mirror pla already prepared me in place that being said we have in here a little bit of carrot our celery onion with a rough chop and dice and our Shake mushroom that’s been thinly sliced set

It aside now on the way out here to hunt camp today we wanted to spice things up so we brought pablanos and jalapenos we’re going to give them just a fine dicing and mints they’re going to go inside the miraa and then in the skillet

And over the fire no hard and fast rules here we’re just going to put an easy mints on these pablanos and Jalapenos and done is it perfect absolutely not is it good enough for who it’s for Yes all right now you saw that we piled the charcoal high on one side of the grill it’s because we have two very different Cooks taking place we’re going to be sautéing down our miraa the pablano jalapeno mushroom carrot celery and onion on the directly heated portion of the grill grate underneath the

Charcoal on the opposite side of the charcoal we’ll have down our deflector plate a grilling surface and our wood planks and that is where we’re going to be slow smoking or Quail now Juniper wood is literally everywhere here in the desert you saw it all over our hunt

Today but it’s just not everywhere or anywhere it’s right here we picked up a few chunks of dried out juniperwood we’re going to bury it inside the charcoal and the grill we’re going to integrate that beautiful woodsy essence of the Juniper directly into the Quail now that Grill is ready for a bird smoke now the first step to any great sauté is get your cast iron ripping hot onto the grill directly over the charcoal we’re going to close our lid give it about 10 minutes and that pan is

Going to be ready for our mirror to me the tastes flavors and textures of wild game should never be masked only elevated and it’s why we’re keeping things Ultra simple today we’re going with olive oil kosher salt cracked black peppercorn roasted granulated garlic in sage and we’re going to gently massage

The kosher salt crack black pepper corn roasted garlic and Sage into the gambles we’re then going to let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes this is going to drive flavor deep into those proteins and it’s also going to help tenderize the meat now to set the base for our Mira we’re

Going with three knobs of butter and a few glugs of olive oil how much is a few knobs and a couple glugs it’s however much your grandma says butter for the health benefits olive oil for the Flavor Mira In now we’re just going to gently work the miraa around the pan we’re looking just to get a really nice color on this we want to ensure the mushrooms release of all their liquids we’re going to cook this down a fair bit those Quail are not

Big in terms of their cavity we want to get as much of this mirror plot and those birds as we can next cilantro we’re just going to Bunch our cilantro up and rough chop curling those fingertips back ensuring that plade doesn’t catch your fingers and done little splash of Ember craft

Blowtorch and what we’re doing here is we’re burning off the alcohol from the bourbon but we’re integrating all of those beautiful oy caramelly flavors seasoning with our same blend of roasted garlic kosher salt cracked black peppercorn in Sage cilantro and toasted pinion pine nuts locally Harvest Ed right here in

Arizona now fold together the cilantro pine nuts in with the Mira POA seasonings butter and the oil before crumbling in day old cornbread now we have a small loaf of cornbread we’re just going to crumble this all over the miraa and then fold these ingredients together for the most

Incredible stuffing for quail you’ve never had now the nice part about this is is that day old cornbread is just going to soak up all of those flavors all of that miraa we’re going to have a really nice finish on this in the event that it turns out a little bit drier

Than expected you can always drop in a little bit more butter some oil and I’ll tell you what no one’s ever hurt by a little bit more bourbon now to finish and to bring this all together we’re just going to pour in about a cup of chicken stock

And that is how that is Done and we’re preparing our game birds today on wood planks now these boards have soaked overnight but to amp up that Smoky flavor we’re torching these bad boys with a little bit of propane and Flame now we’ll let the grill do the rest of the work I just want to torch that board enough to see that beautiful grain that my friends is a board ready for some Quail we start now by placing our game Bird’s breast side down rib cage side up

And you can see the spatch coocking that was done here by Ian really really beautiful work now we’re just going to lay these birds directly across the board and then we’re going to bring that stuffing filler in right over the top that one’s missing a leg I’m sure at one point it had

One now let’s go in with the stuffing we’re just going to load that stuffing just pile it ultra high right on top of those birds load up that cavity now a lot of people debate is stuffing uh better than dressing is dressing better than stuffing I have no

Idea but I’m just going to tell you these birds with this stuffing is delicious and no matter how you prepare it whether it’s these birds on a standalone spatch cocked above the boards stuffed with stuffing or dressing set on the side no matter which way you

Go this is phenomenal now we’re going to turn these birds over stuff them in wrap them up and we’re going to place them cavity side down now the last step before these birds are ready for the grill stuff that bird wrap its legs around turn it upright expose those breasts and we’re

Going to wrap it to keep all that stuffing in place with hard wood smoked bacon quite frankly because everything is better with bacon all right just maintaining all that stuffing inside the cavity of the bird we’re going to wrap the bacon around this is the best replacement for butcher twine that God ever

Made nice and easy it twists up no big deal again Bacon’s good no matter if it’s twist it up or not there we go next in bacon around bacon wrapped and stuffed Quail who knew this is how you do Arizona huh before I wrap that last Quail I think it’s really important to

Knowe uh the bacon isn’t just intended to keep all that stuffing inside and for the flavor of course but it adds a necessary fat to the exterior of that Quail to continue to base and keep that breast meat moist throughout the course of the smoke grills to temperature we’re going

To set the board down over the ceramic deflector plate and away from the heat now you’ll notice the game bird legs are towards the charcoal the breast is away from the charcoal there’s less intramuscular fat in those breasts we want to ensure to protect them throughout the course of the cook with

About 5 minutes left we’ll turn the board around just to finish Cris up that breast and bacon meat we’re going to be ready to rock till then it’s probably time to do what we do best let’s drink some bourbon most game birds just like Quail are extremely lean which makes them

Difficult to cook on the grill we’re going to prepare these birds to 160° in the thick of the thigh remove them from the grill and allow carryover cooking to finish the job now that’s going to take about 15 to 20 minutes until then let’s get ourselves on a prickly p bourbon

Cocktail now just like our cook we’re going to keep our cocktail simple we’re starting out with live fire Republic’s Premier release of Ember craft this is a 7-year double barrel Ultra custom micro badge has a beautiful caramelly buttery coverage across the pette in a nice bit

Of spice in the finish of every single taste now that being said we’re going directly in to the bottom of the glass about an ounce and a half or two on the poure we’re going to be using a prickly Paar syrup to tune this up now one of my very

Favorite cocktails is just simply bourbon in Maple this is going to remind you of that but with an Arizona desert twist a little bit of a por we’re going to finish with a squeeze of lemon and that my friends is a cocktail good enough for who it’s for If you’ve loved this episode as much as we’ve loved taking you on the adventure do a couple things for me smash that subscribe hit the like leave us a comment down below don’t forget to send some love over to our friends Ian Indie and demo at Ridgeline Pursuit Primo

Ceramic grills Matt Jamie and Olivia over a cloth in flame for all these recipes and more get at us at livefire republic.com until then the time for talk is over let’s Eat what a remarkable day what a fun cook but nothing’s left to do at this juncture but dive into the birds here we go look at how beautiful these gambles are you have that malard reaction that caramelization that fat has rendered down that bacon is super crispy you can

See there’s a nice bit of crunch on that cornbread this is going to be awesome so here we go we’re just going to dig in fork in through the breast take a super sharp knife here and just rest out that bird now we’re going to work alongside edge of that rib cage just

Kind of fold it open and carve down we’re going to get some of that bacon there we go that’s what we’re looking for to me that’s the best bite in all of wild Game that is so good that’s amazing you get the richness from that bacon only a slight amount of gaminess from that bird but it’s just like eating dark turkey meat or dark chicken meat it’s so rich so flavorful you not only get the salinity from the seasoning and the

Bacon but you also get a bit of that smokiness and the spice from that cornbread stuffing but it’s that honey in the cornbread the bourbon Essence it just coats across the entirety of the pette that my friends is phenomenal and this has been wild gamble Quail with cornbread stuffing on the preo ceramic

Grill all over live fire stay Hungry good M we’re going to be using the San D thans now let me show you how to get the grill set and wood planks what this is going to allow us to do heat from getting on the applicate now we’re going to be using the double indirect we have essentially two

Different we’re going to be using two oh then Wild game uh Wild game should be seasoned to elevate its natural