Here are two Yuletide recipes, both closely associated with the state where I live, South Carolina.

Quail Hash

Ingredients:

• 12 quail
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 5 stalks chopped celery
• ½ cup light cream
• 1 ½ cups uncooked wild rice

Place quail in a large saucepan and add two cups of water along with the onion and celery. Simmer gently, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Reserve the liquid, removing the onion and celery (use a colander), then boil until reduced to one cup. Add the light cream and set aside.

Once the quail have cooled, debone and julienne into strips. While the quail are being prepared, the wild rice should be cooking. Place four to five cups of water in a saucepan, bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain, rinse rice, and start again. Repeat the process a third time (total cooking time of 45 minutes).

After about 10 minutes in the final cooking period, watch rice to see if the husks have burst. When that happens the wild rice is done. Don’t overcook because that leads to mushiness. Drain and keep warm while preparing sauce for the hash.

Quail Hash Sauce

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons potato or rice flour
• 1 ½ cups liquid (1 cup of the poaching liquid plus the ½ cup light cream) heated
• 4 mince shallots
• 1 minced celery stick
• 1/2 cup minced parsley
• 1 teaspoon chervil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Melt butter in a large saucepan and add flour. Let bubble gently for three minutes over medium heat. Heat the poaching liquid/light cream and pour it into the butter and flour, whisking constantly until thick and creamy. Set aside over hot water in a double boiler.

Sauté the parsley, shallots, and celery over medium heat until soft. Add salt and pepper to taste. Grate the nutmeg into the sauce and add the julienned quail meat. Mix thoroughly and heat long enough to be piping hot.

Serve over the boiled and buttered wild rice. Make sure not to overcook the quail.

Note: This recipe requires quite a bit of work, but it is well worth the effort.

Venison Roast

Ingredients:

• 1 venison haunch
• 1 chopped onion
• ½ pound sliced bacon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Wash the venison haunch and dry thoroughly. Mix onion with salt and pepper, cut slits in the haunch, and stuff with the mixture. Cover the haunch with bacon strips and place in a large roasting pan. Add one cup of water, cover, and cook in slow oven until done (allow 25 minutes per pound).

Baste frequently with moisture in the pan. Roast of venison tends to be dry, so you may want to make brown gravy to serve atop the thinly sliced haunch.